On the evening of December 14, Elijah 'The Hitman' Jennison (14yrs - 75kg) from Northam PCYC's STRYKA Fight Team fought his way to a dominant unanimous decision victory over his opponent Joseph Wi John at the Pacific MMA Red Dust Fight Night 2 event in Kalgoorlie in his kick boxing debut. Wi John had previously been defeated by another STRYKA fighter Mitchel 'Baby Bull' Daley at the first Red Dust event in devastating fashion six months previously at 62kg and was clearly looking to get back in the winning column by training hard to increase his power and stamina in working his way up to a more comfortable weight division.
The bout which was fought under WA Combat Commission K1 Kickboxing rules, was scheduled for 3 x 2 minute rounds and Wi John managed to more than hold his own for most of the first round before beginning to succumb to the Hitman's relentless pressure near the end of the opening stanza, when the Northam fighter started turning the tide on his older and more experienced opponent as he relentlessly pursued him around the ring utilising his superior cardio conditioning to close the distance and take the fight into the trenches.
Wi John was breathing heavily at the second bell but came out firing gamely before he began to wilt under the continuous onslaught of kicks and punches from the increasingly confident Hitman, which prompted referee Alan Pond to issue a standing 8 count around the one-minute mark of the second round. This standing 8 count allowed the now visibly shaken local fighter to regain enough energy to hold off the now rampaging Hitman until the next bell.
The extremely vocal Kalgoorlie crowd which had already been roaring their approval for this fast paced contest throughout the first two rounds began to go absolutely berserk as both fighters dug deep to come out firing with all guns blazing at the start of the Third. There was no doubting Wi Johns courage as he bravely weathered repeated devastating attacks from the determined Hitman who was also having to dig deep into his energy reserves to keep up the pressure for the remainder of the round.
The final bell signalling the end of this thriller was met by thunderous applause from the crowd as they showed their appreciation for the fiercely contested bout they had just witnessed. There was little doubt as who the victor was however; and the unanimous decision in favour of the Hitman was met by more roars of approval.
This latest dominant victory has topped off an amazing year of successes for STRYKA and further serves to cement the team's growing reputation with their rapidly expanding fan base.
