IRVINE, CA — Romie Adanza sent Canadian fighter Kim Morris back north beaten and bloodied in under two minutes. Adanza knocked down Morris twice and scored a technical knockout at the 1:54 mark of the first round when the referee stopped the fight in what turned out to be a one-sided main event in front of 450 fans at the Adrenaline III Muay Thai kickboxing event on Saturday night at UC Irvine’s Bren Center..
Adanza, 24, who trains with Team Oyama at No Limits gym in Irvine improved his record to 17-1-1. Morris, who traveled from Medicine Hat’s Southern Alberta Combative Arts fell to 19-10-2.
Adanza did not take long to welcome Morris to Southern California as he floored and bloodied Morris with a straight, right punch in the opening 20 seconds of the 122-pound super bantamweight bout.
“His (Romie’s) power is pretty good,” Morris said. “When he cracked me in the nose, that’s the hardest I’ve been hit.”
It did not get much better for Morris as Adanza dropped him again in the first minute with a combo that finished with a body shot that dropped Morris to a knee.
Morris just beat the 10-count, but Adanza came back with another flurry of shots that sent Morris spinning towards the corner. The referee stepped in to stop the fight there.
Adanza was pleased with his outing and an efficient victory.
“It was my quickest victory,” said Adanza, “I was expecting more kicks, but overall it was a good night.”
It was also a good night for the crowd at the Bren Center who were treated to a five-round classic Muay Thai bout in the co-main event before the Adanza/Morris fight.
In the bout, Joe Schilling (Los Angeles/Super Chai Muay Thai) turned in his second memorable performance in an Adrenaline event when he scored a majority decision over Brandon Banda (Oceanside/Extreme Power Gym).
“It was exhausting,” said Schilling, who fought a five-rounder for the first time in his career. “I’ve never fought someone who was close to my height, moved that fast or hit with that kind of power.”
The bout had a little bit of everything.
After Banda scored the first punch, Schilling knocked him down with a surprising spinning right backhand. Schilling said he got lucky with an opening and his choice of attack.
“It you have a chance to spin, you might as well,” Schilling said.
It set the tone as the two fighters took turns taking momentum in the fight.
Banda pulled even by dropping Schilling in the second round with a sweep of the leg.
Schilling regained the advantage in the third round by scoring right-hand punches.
The fourth round was even as Banda scored a clean left-hand punch, but Schilling came with a flurry of shots starting with a flying punch as he chased Banda into a corner.
The fifth round left the crowd on their feet. During the round, after time was suspended when Schilling lost his mouthpiece, Schilling came with an all out attack of kicks and punches. Banda staggered but regrouped with strong punches of his own as the two fighters collided for a combo at the final bell.
Schilling sustained action and aggressiveness through the bout gave him the edge in the decision.
“I got tired, but I just had to keep landing shots,” Schilling said. “He was better in the clinch than me, but I scored enough right hands to win.”
Adrenaline III, the third California Athletic Commission-sanctioned event by No Limits Fighting Sports Group and Fitness, also featured seven undercards featuring up and coming pro-am Muay Thai kickboxers.
Adrenaline III fight results:
Main Events:
Romie Adanza (Irvine, CA) def. Kim Morris (Medicine Hat, Alberta),
first round TKO (122 pounds)
Joe Schilling (Los Angeles, CA) def. Brandon Banda (Oceanside, CA),
majority decision (190 pounds)
Undercard bouts:
Laurence Madariaga (San Diego, CA) def. Krit Saeung (North Hollywood, CA),
unanimous decision (190 pounds)…Madariaga sustained his attacks and put together strong punching combos to earn the decision over Saeung in a tightly contested bout.
David Huerta (Los Angeles, CA) def. David Catano, unanimous decision (130 pounds)…Huerta’s experience proves too much as he scores a knockdown on his first kick and rolls to a unanimous victory.
Gabriel Ibarra (Los Angeles, CA) and Kevin Totanes (Oceanside, CA), majority draw, (160 pounds)…Judges score a majority draw. Two scoring at 28 each with one judge scoring bout to Ibarra. In a fight that left the crowd on its feet, Ibarra came out strong scoring a knockdown with a straight right punch in the first round. But Totanes battled back in rounds two and three, stunning Ibarra with punches in the third round to fight back for a draw. The bout was definitely worth a future rematch.
Mark Beecher (Hermosa Beach, CA) def. Ivo Kytka (North Hollywood, CA), unanimous decision (160 pounds)…After feeling each other out in the first round, Beecher took control of the fight in the second round by twice catching kicks by Kytka and sweeping him to the mat. Beecher also put together a few punch combos. Kytka struck back and scored a clean sweep to knock down Beecher in the third round, but it wasn’t enough.
Damian Martin (Van Nuys, CA) def. Jesse Hernandez (Fresno, CA), split decision (175 pounds)…Martin scores decisive points with variety of punches and kicks to score split decision over Hernandez
Chris Dawson (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) def. Daniel Gutierrez (North Hollywood, CA), unanimous decision (190 pounds)…Dawson utilizes height advantage with long kicks and scores a second-round knockdown with a sweep to take unanimous decision over Gutierrez.
Luis Bio (San Diego, CA) def. Freddy Medrano (Los Angeles, CA), third-round knockout (160 pounds)…Though Medrano started out fast, Bio’s combos and ring moxie took over. He worked on Medrano’s left leg and put him down three times in the final round with kicks to the leg to earn the knockout.