RINGS Holland "I have a dream" big success!

By Fredrik Willems, 2 December 2003

Body slams, devastating kicks, knock-out punches, choke holds and excruciating armbars and leglocks. All were part of the fantastic RINGS "I have a dream" event that took place on November 30, 2003 in Enschede, the Netherlands. The sellout crowd of 1700 enthusiastic people were treated to 16 Muay Thai and RINGS fights. Here's a quick rundown of the RINGS fights:

Audry Cijntje (MMA Skils) vs. Ton van de Berkel (Oscar van de Veen) -70kg Novice-class 2x3

Cijntje was clearly superior in the striking and kicking department. He scored with clean and hard lowkicks and punches. But Van de Berkel was a real gutsy fighter who didn't even blink. The fighter of Oscar van de Veen took Cijntje down a couple of times, but he didnât follow up with a submission attempt. Because neither of the two scored a knockdown or a rope-escape the fight ended automatically in a draw.

Jeffrey Pedro (Van de Vathorst) vs. Sam Turkey (Sportcentrum Kops) Open weight Novice-class 2x3

Pedro trained in the past with former RINGS and Sambo world champion Chris Dolman, but a few years ago he moved to the pro-wrestling circuit. Now he finally returned to the freefight ring taking on Sam Turkey of Kops Gym. Sammy started fast with hard knees and punches. Pedro survived, took Turkey down and applied a leglock. After a short scramble Turkey succeeded to apply a heel hold of his own and Pedro had to tap out after a minute and a half.

Stefan Boeren (Team Schreiber) vs. Bruno van Tongeren (Oscar van de Veen) -75kg Novice-class 2x3

A battle between two young fighters who gave everything they had. Both didn't score a knockdown or a rope-escape so the match ended in a draw.

Vincent Striesenau (Wout Kist) - Fernando Martinez (Angelo Gym) -85kg Novice class 2x3

Striesenau was a head taller than Martinez. But those who thought that Martinez would be a piece of cake for Striessenau were wrong. After a barrage of punches of Striessenau Martinez went for a front choke and the Wout kist-fighter could barely make a rope escape. Striessenou seemed to be dazed and it looked like it would not take long before he was going to be punched out by Martinez. Unfortunately for the latter Striessenau went down after a series of punches while he was with one knee on the canvas. This resulted in a yellow card for Martinez. Eventually Striesenau found a way to exploit his physical advantage and ended up matters in the second round. Martinez received a standing eight count after a barrage of kicks and punches in the last minute of the bout. It costed him the fight. Striesenau was awarded a hard fought victory on points (2-1).

Mo Fozey (Vos Gym) vs. Ricardo Turky (Team Schreiber) -87kg contract Novice class 2x3

Turkey didn't hesitate to demonstrate his excellent shooting ablility, shooting a double leg takedown in the first minute of the match. Fozey didn't look comcomfortable on the ground, but he was saved by the referee who broke the action. But it was just a delay of execution for Fozey because immediately after they were stood up Turkey brought him down again, passed his guard and apllied a textbook armbar. Fozey didn't want to tap out and kicked Turkey twice in the face which resulted in a deep cut for Turky. The referee intervened and diqualified Fozey immediately.

Milco Voorn (Team Schreiber) - Ramon Temmink (Bullyâs Gym) +100kg A-class 2x5

This one looked like a good match up but Temmink had to forfeit because he was involved in a car accident just a week before the event.

Marc Lange (All-Inn Sports) vs. Danny de Jong (Angelo Gym) -85kg Novice-class 2x3

De Jong and Lange had an intense staredown which almost took longer than the match itself. De Jong succeeded in taking Lange down, but he ended up in an armbar and had to tap out.

Robbie Nelson (Van de Vathorst) vs. Chico Martinez (Angelo Gym) -80kg A-class 2x5 Dutch Title

A thrilling fight between two well matched opponents. Nelson is a former European and World champion kickboxing. He is undefeated in 4 RINGS fights with 2 draws against Gilbert Ballentine. Martinez sports a record in RINGS of 4 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws. Both men were eager to win the Dutch RINGS title and fought hard for it. Suprisingly Nelson showed good skills on the ground and Martinez did very well on his feet. After two hard fought rounds the fight went into overtime. Again both fighters gave everything they had, but the fight had to go to the judges. Nelson got a unamious decision but in my opinion it could have been the other way around too!

RINGS Holland delivered again a very spectaculair and well organized event. Their next event will be on April 4, 2004 in Urecht. The main event will be between Joop Kasteel and Cheik Kango for the RINGS open weight world title!