On May 10th in Nevada at the Harrah’s Casino Sinister Brand sponsored Fighters Toby Imada, and Waylon Kennel kept their winning streak alive, and Toby kept his belt.
The break down: The cage was outside of the Harrah’s Casino which was cool, but the desert + bright lights + bugs = I got eaten alive. The bugs were minor though, and it was ok the venue was fun. I didn’t realize Laughlin was even that big, so I was stoked that Harrah’s gave me an excuse to go out there. It was warm enough for me to wear flip flops, and shorts so that was another plus, and we got free food so I was happy! Now, all that had to happen was our two guys needed to win, and that’s a %100 night. But I would never put that kind of pressure on a fighter….
Waylon Kennel Waylon Kennel took his 3rd fight, well… let me restate that. This was Kennel’s 6th scheduled fight, but as can be the case 3 fights so far have been canceled for this young fighter. One time the cage broke 2 hours before the event, and last time in S.D. hands wrapped and ready to go Waylon was told his opponent had a stomach ache. So this was Waylon’s 3rd fight he actually got to go through with, but 6th scheduled.
Having said all that Waylon smashed his opponent in the 1st round. Originally Waylon had decided to focus on his new talent of boxing. Normally Waylon grabs the guy and slams him in the clinch, and then he works a solid ground and pound for the win. So Waylon wanted to change it up a little and throw some elbows. This didn’t happen. Waylon’s opponent rushed him for the clinch very quickly, and the two tried to gain the upper hand for a while. Then Waylon landed a slam, and the two stood back up. Waylon’s next slam wouldn’t be shrugged off so easily and after a quick mount Waylon pounded out the victory and the Ref stopped the fight.
Everyone was happy to see Waylon win in good fashion, and we all cheered, except for the token drunk guy who didn’t see enough smashing and handling. Waylon got some much deserved time on the Microphone, and he is actually getting better at the whole talking in public thing.
Congrats Waylon good job.
Toby” Sakura Son” Imada,
Toby Imada added a 5th fight to his current streak by defending his title against Shad Smith of the Tapout crew. This was a title defense in the 155 lbs weight class for Toby and it was the main fight of the evening.
Training only with the best in San Diego Toby got ready for this fight with the aspirations of climbing the ranks to the UFC or another big show. He didn’t let anyone down as he ended the fight via TKO due to a referee stoppage with some hard knees in the 1st round.
Early in the 1st round Toby landed some good punches, and had Shad on the defensive for the rest of the fight. Once against the cage after being hit with some good shots Shad tried to roll into a knee bar, but Toby was all to aware of how to defend on the ground. On the ground Toby landed some tough body and head shots, and after a brief stall the two men returned to their feet to trade more strikes.
On their feet Toby landed some more punches that caused Shad to retaliate with some wild flurries, a few shots hit Toby to remind him he was in a fight, but he didn’t seem to notice. The fight didn’t land much longer as Toby was able to land some great knee strikes while in the clinch. At the end of the fight Toby had Shad against the cage and was using hard Knees over, and over until Shad collapsed one to many times and the referee stopped the fight. Once the fight had been stopped the crowd cheered and everyone was ok with the stoppage, all accept the token drunk guy in the corner that proceeded to challenge some corner men to “a real fight at a real gym”.
But we had just seen a real fight between two tough as nails guys that take fights with little notice and much conviction. Shad put on a good fight as is known as a guy that is hard to finish. Toby is known as a lose, lose situation when you fight him, because no matter what happens you take a beating. We were glad to see Toby on the microphone thanking his friends and family, and I swear I think he was sort of smiling in his own way.Great Job Toby, 5 wins in a row with a few title defenses is a good thing.
A big Thanks goes out to Pat Speight, Rick Slaton, and Wade Ship for their help in cornering over the weekend. Ron Pinegar for the upgraded tickets and the “Aloha”!. Harrahs Casino for the press passes, and the chance to let the Ma6hine do his think with the camera. Thanks to the highway patrol for not pulling us over as we drove over the speed limit on the way home at 4am from Nevada to So-Cal. From MA6HINE, Thank You Tavis Heinzelmann for charging 24/7 and being a tremendous “Stunt Double” from me... Last but not least thanks, and congradulations to Toby and Waylon for sporting our gear and representing the Sinister Brand Family!!!
Side note for the people:
Trying to fight a MMA guy or his corner during or after a fight is not only a bad idea but it makes you look like a fool. In my opinion that’s like a bunch of drunk’s after a NFL game with some pads and challenging the winning team to a pick up game at a local park. If you don’t get paid to play you’re not a pro, and if you do it for fun then go do it where it is appreciated like in an alley behind the bar.
If you don’t make any money, and you get wasted and challenge people to fight saying you are a real MMA fighter you need to do the following:
- Stop being a side show, and adding this element to MMA, because it is actually keeping away the real sponsors with big wallets. You are just hurting our friends, the ones that need bigger pay day’s so sit down.
- Don’t challenge people on the way out of the parking lot, it scares the kids and parents see this and won’t take children to shows. Again you are hurting every ones wallet, stop it.
- Go to a real gym and train, if you feel inclined challenge people sober, because it takes way more balls to challenge people in a structured area, and that is where the “real fighters” are found, plus those guys need punching bags anyway.
This goes out to all the fighters harassed after events, or fighters not fighting in the crowd, but really wants to smash some dumbass fan that had too much to drink.
“Let them have their adrenaline and talk all they want, save your hands and elbows for getting paid. If they needed to heckle you from the side like a maniac that’s ok as long as they bought a ticket, sooner or later they will reap what they sow.”
SINISTER BRAND ..
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