When the ref stopped Saturday night鈥檚 main Battlefield Fight League 46 event, giving Squamish鈥檚 Cole Smith the pro bantamweight MMA title, Smith had the champ Jamie Siraj in a chokehold.
It wasn鈥檛 the expected decisive blow considering how the fight began, something even Smith conceded after the fight. Early on, he was landing kicks and punches, cutting Siraj a couple of times, and by the first bell rang the champ was a mess, bleeding heavily from his nose and a cut to the side of the head.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting to choke him,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 was expecting to finish with a cut.鈥�
After being cut, Siraj had tried to grapple and get Smith on the mat. While Smith was often pinned up against the side of the octagon, he slowly and methodically worked his way out of the holds.
If Smith did not look in control over the first couple of rounds, it was clear by the third he was methodically wearing down Siraj and waiting for the right time to spring a full-on attack. By that time, he was taking Siraj to the mat, beating the champ with his own strategy.
After the third round, Smith needed only basic maintenance in his corner while Siraj was getting ice to the back of the head and having his cuts soaked up by his team.
In the fourth, Smith came out quickly, landing some kicks, and in little time had Siraj pinned in the hold at which point the ref called the fight, giving Smith the win on a technical knockout.
Exuberantly, Smith propelled himself over the octagon and ran into the crowd to greet supporters inside Coquitlam鈥檚 Hard Rock Casino, who had been chanting 鈥淐ole Train鈥� the entire fight.
After the fight, Smith admitted he did not start the way he had planned by fighting standing up and in open space, but changed his tactics at the urging of one of his coaches.
鈥淚n that first round, I didn鈥檛 follow the game plan,鈥� he said.
Siraj had come in with a 2-1 pro record in BFL. Smith had won at the amateur level but had only a 1-0 record in BFL at the pro level. He has been gaining pro experience in Thailand though and looked far more seasoned than his the champ did on Saturday.
Smith credited his sparring partner Gwyn Berry at the Sound gym in 麻豆社国产for helping him get ready.
鈥淚鈥檝e got nothing but love for Gwyn,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very day he鈥檚 beside me鈥�. He鈥檚 the next big thing coming out of Squamish.鈥�
Berry was also on the card for Saturday鈥檚 fights, taking on Mitch Burke in an amateur lightweight matchup. If the mentor did not always look in control of the title fight, Berry on the other hand made short work of his opponent.
Like Smith鈥檚 title fight, Berry won on a TKO but he never really was on the defensive against Burke. Berry came in at 2-0 in BFL fights compared with Burke's 1-5 BFL record.
Berry landed blows early, slowed things down in the second round while he and his opponent grappled, then came out quickly in the third. When he hit Burke with a succession of knee blows to the side and a few punches, he set the table for the TKO. It took only 15 seconds into the third round for the ref to stop the fight.
After, Berry said he did not want to sound overly confident but he was almost caught off guard by how little his opponent came at him during the fight.
鈥淚 honestly thought it would be a bit harder,鈥� he said, adding he had been training rigourously leading up to the fight. 鈥淚 trained so hard,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e put everything we had into this.鈥�
Berry also credited his mentor, Smith, for helping him progress in the three years he has been training.
鈥淏ecause of Cole, I鈥檝e been able to skyrocket,鈥� he said.
