Rough Fight League goes to Hope Gardens tomorrow night

A stacked line-up of mixed martial arts (MMA) and kickboxing fighters are set to be on show at the Rough Fight League (RFL) at Funland in Hope Gardens tomorrow night.

The eighth staging of the event will kick off at 8 p.m. and will see 14 fighters in seven fights.

The highlight of the night will see Shiaeine ‘Da Great’ Blake, who has held the number-one spot across three weight classes in the Caribbean, making his professional debut against Daron ‘Avatar’ Weir, who is known for his skilful tactics in the boxing ring and is now seeking to display the same in the MMA cage.

Managing partner of RFL MMA, Kyle Chin, said this matchup will help get some questions answered.

“We want to see if the old saying that boxers are better than MMA fighters matters in the MMA cage,” Chin said.

Also in the line-up is Demar ‘Force’ Haslam, RFL’s 145-pound amateur champion, making his pro debut against Nakia Anderson.

Theron ‘The Iron Prince’ Rose-Green will also face off against Jaheem ‘Imru Makonnen’ Morrison in an amateur welterweight championship fighter.

Spectators are in for a treat when Tyrece ‘Tank’ Thompson, the 2024 Pan American Super Heavyweight International Mixed Martial Arts Champion, meets Samuel Campbell in the cage.

Chin said these fights provide a major opportunity for the local fighters.

“This is the important part, that we can offer them a space where they can get experience as an amateur and move in to a professional arena, where they can now get paid and they can also build a record towards being recruited abroad and probably make it in to the big show,” Chin said.

He said this will help facilitate the growth of grappling sports like wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu which is incorporated in MMA.

“Those combat sports have always been sort of missing from the Jamaican forte. Traditionally, we are very strong with karate, boxing, and tae kwon do. We were always very good at the striking sports, but recently, we started to develop and learn a lot more of the grappling sports. In terms of MMA on a larger scale, we have now become more formidable as opponents,” he said.

In addition to promoting entertaining fights, RFL also seeks to offer a holistic experience with food and other attractions.