Jordan Watson
Jordan Watson | |
---|---|
Born |
Leeds, England | December 4, 1987
Other names |
The British Bulldog Quadzilla |
Nationality | English |
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
Weight | 70.0 kg (154.3 lb; 11.02 st) |
Division |
Welterweight Middleweight |
Style | Muay Thai |
Stance | Orthodox |
Fighting out of | Leeds, England |
Team |
Bad Company Thai Boxing Gym Jitti Gym |
Trainer | Richard Smith |
Years active | 2000-present |
Kickboxing record | |
Total | 53 |
Wins | 41 |
By knockout | 18 |
Losses | 10 |
By knockout | 1 |
Draws | 2 |
|
Jordan Watson (born December 4, 1987) is an English Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division. A powerful kicker, Watson began training in Muay Thai at six years old with Richard Smith at Bad Company, Leeds, UK and first came to prominence when he reached the final of the K-1 UK MAX Tournament 2007 Pain & Glory at nineteen. He won the ISKA World Super Welterweight Muay Thai Championship in 2010 and then found further recognition the following year by finishing as runner-up on The Challenger Muay Thai reality television show. He began fighting for Glory in 2012.
Career
Jordan Watson started Muay Thai training at the age of six with Richard Smith at Bad Company Thai Boxing Gym where he is a training partner of Liam Harrison.[1] He had over seventy fights and won eight titles during his amateur career and turned professional as a seventeen year old in 2004.[2]
Having built up an undefeated record on the British Muay Thai scene, Watson made his first foray into Oriental kickboxing rules and his K-1 debut at the K-1 UK MAX Tournament 2007 Pain & Glory in London, England on May 20, 2007. After outpointing Killy Guelladrss in the quarter-finals and knocking out Harvey Harra in the semis, he suffered the first loss of his professional career at the hands of Sophiane Allouche in the tournament final. He was floored twice by the Algerian in round two, forcing the referee to stop the fight.[3][4] In November 2008, he won the UK qualifying tournament for the second season of The Contender Asia in Watford, England, taking decision wins over Tim Thomas and Craig Jose before stopping Chris Shaw in the final. The show was cancelled due to financial difficulties, however.[5]
After wins over international opponents such as Halim Haryouli[6] and Kouider Oukbi[7] in 2009, Watson took a big step up in class to fight Buakaw Por. Pramuk at MSA Muaythai Premier League 3 in London on May 29, 2010. He was dropped with a body shot in round three and lost the fight by unanimous decision, although he gave a good account of himself against the vastly more experienced Buakaw.[8] He rebounded with a second round technical knockout win over former Rajadamnern Stadium champion Hino Kiatti in Blackpool, England on October 2, 2010[9] before facing Toshiya Nakagawa for the vacant ISKA World Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153.2 lb) Muay Thai Championship on November 20, 2010 in Birmingham, England. He knocked Nakagawa down with a high kick in round three and won a clear-cut unanimous decision to take the title.[10] Watson ended the year by competing at the 2010 edition of the King's Cup in Bangkok, Thailand on December 5, 2010. He defeated Antuan Siangboxing on points in the quarter-finals but lost to eventual champion Yodsanklai Fairtex by the same margin in the semis.[11][12]
Watson made the first defence of his ISKA world title against Cédric Muller at Siam Warriors in Cork, Ireland on April 16, 2011. Utilizing damaging low kicks and crisp boxing, Watson won by unanimous decision and retained the belt.[13] He then joined the short-lived Muaythai Premier League and, in his only appearance in the promotion, lost to Ky Hollenbeck by unanimous decision after being floored with a spinning backfist in a three round bout at Muaythai Premier League: Strength and Honor in Padova, Italy on October 8, 2011.[14][15][16] Towards the end of the year, Watson joined the cast of The Challenger Muay Thai reality television show, the unofficial successor to The Contender Asia, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[17][18] The format of the show consisted of sixteen middleweights fighting in a tournament for a $100,000 prize. He defeated Cyrus Washington,[19] Cédric Muller in a rematch,[20] and Mostafa Abdollahi over sixteen weeks on the road to the final where he faced Mardsua Kunchat in December 2011. Both fighters exchanged throws and Mardsua cut Watson badly with an elbow in round four. After five rounds, all three judges awarded the fight to Mardsua.[21]
On April 3, 2012, Watson competed in the WMC Grand Prix at -72 kg/158 lb in Bangkok.[22] He met Ilya Grad in the semi-fnals and the Israeli was content to trade kicks with the – by consensus – vastly superior kicker in Watson. Watson looked comfortable, however, and sailed through the three, two-minute rounds with a points decision and went up against Saiyok Pumpanmuang in the final. Saiyok fought aggressively as is typical of his style and Watson was more than willing to oblige as the pair exchanged kicks, punches, knees and elbows for five rounds. At one point, Saiyok caught Watson with an elbow that resulted in the loss of some of his teeth. In the end, it was the Thai who did enough to take home a decision victory it what was a close and exciting fight.[23][24] When Andy Souwer withdrew from his fight with Johann Fauveau at Urban Boxing United in Marseille, France on May 19, 2012, Watson replaced the Dutchman in the ISKA World Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153.2 lb) Oriental Championship match.[25][26] Fauveau won by decision to take the vacant belt.[27] He was set to fight Aikpracha Meenayothin in the WMC Prince's Cup 2012 in Bangkok in July 2012 but was replaced by Marco Piqué for undisclosed reasons.[28][29] Watson put an end to his two-fight losing streak when he won a decision over Hamed Hassan in a three rounder at Thai Fight: Leicester 2012 in Leicester, England on August 17, 2012.[30][31] Having signed with the Glory kickboxing organization in August that year,[32] Watson made his promotional debut in a non-tournament bout at Glory 3: Rome - 2012 70kg Slam Final 8 in Rome, Italy on November 3, 2012, relying mostly on his kicks as he took a unanimous decision over Mustapha Haida.[33][34] Watson's fight with Aikpracha Meenayothin finally came to fruition on December 15, 2012 in Bangkok for the WPMF sanctioned World Fighter Spirit -71 kg/156 lb World Championship. Aikpracha cut him after landing elbows and a big knee in the second, and pressed home his advantage in the third, managing to trip and dump the Englishman several times. Round four saw Watson land the right body kick on Aikpracha several times and he pressed on in the fifth, but was visibly tired by the strength of his opponent, who threw him to the canvas a couple more times. The Thai did enough to take the judges' decision and the belt, despite missing the contracted weight.[35][36]
In yet another close but unsuccessful fight with a top Thai, Watson fought to a draw with Kem Sitsongpeenong in a three round bout at Yokkao Extreme 2013 on January 26, 2013 in Milan, Italy.[37][38][39] He made his return to kickboxing and his sophomore appearance in Glory at Glory 5: London on March 23, 2013, defeating Steve Moxon by unanimous decision.[40][41] He was initially scheduled to rematch with Aikpracha Meenayothin at MAX Muay Thai 3 in Zhengzhou, China on August 10, 2013[42] but his opponent was instead changed to Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong, and Watson lost by way of a controversial decision.[43][44] He had a scheduled match with Albert Kraus at Glory 10: Los Angeles - World Middleweight Championship Tournament in Ontario, California, United States on September 28, 2013[45] but was unable to compete due to visa issues and was replaced by Ky Hollenbeck.[46]
Championships and awards
Kickboxing
- The Challenger Muay Thai
- The Challenger Muay Thai Tournament Runner-up
- The Contender Asia
- The Contender Asia UK Tournament Championship
- International Sport Karate Association
- ISKA World Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153.2 lb) Muay Thai Championship
- K-1
- K-1 UK MAX Tournament 2007 Pain & Glory Runner-up
- World Muaythai Council
- WMC Grand Prix Runner-up
Kickboxing record
Kickboxing record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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41 wins (18 KOs), 10 losses, 2 draws
Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes |
External links
References
- ↑ Official Yokkao profile
- ↑ The Greatest Muay Thai Fighters ever! Jordan Watson
- ↑ Bad Company profile
- ↑ results K-1 Max UK
- ↑ The Greatest Muay Thai Fighters ever! Jordan Watson
- ↑ ISKA Thaiboxing
- ↑ World Championship Thai Boxing Leeds Town Hall
- ↑ MSA Muay Thai Premier League featuring Thai superstar Buakaw Por Pramuk
- ↑ Top King and Backstreet Brawler Present England vs. Holland on Oct 2nd
- ↑ Watson dominates Toshiya to take ISKA Crown
- ↑ Kings Cup 8 man tournament draw, Pique, Oberg, and Askerov out
- ↑ Yodsanklai wins Kings Cup
- ↑ Event review: Watson shines at Cork Muay Thai show
- ↑ Fight Card for MPL's "Strength and Honour" event in Padova, Italy
- ↑ Results and Recap: Muaythai Premier League "Strength and Honour"
- ↑ MuayThai Premier League Second Round Results
- ↑ Three North American fighters on The Challenger Muay Thai TV series
- ↑ The Challenger Muay Thai - New Reality Show, Features Worldwide Talent
- ↑ The Challenger Muaythai - Episode 7 Jordan WATSON vs Cyrus WASHINGTON and Marco PIQUE vs Frank GIORGI - See more at: http://www.muaythaitv.com/news/the-challenger-muaythai-episode-7-n1893.html#sthash.q2pymlUZ.dpuf
- ↑ The Challenger Muaythai - Episode 10 Jordan WATSON vs Cédric MULLER - Quarter finals - See more at: http://www.muaythaitv.com/news/the-challenger-muaythai-episode-10-n1944.html#sthash.ULYh1PsZ.dpuf
- ↑ The Challenger Muaythai Champion Emerges as Thailand’s own MADSUA!!!
- ↑ Saiyok Phumpunmuang, Jordan Watson, Vuyisile Colossa and Ilya Grad To Fight in 4 Man Tournament in Bangkok
- ↑ Results and Recap: Super 4 Tournament; Saiyok edges Watson in Finals
- ↑ Saiyok wins WMC Grand Prix: Jordan Watson is still King without a Crown
- ↑ Andy Souwer Withdraws From May 19 Fight, Cites K-1
- ↑ Aside From The Big Players, There's Tons Of Kickfighting This Month
- ↑ Johann Fauveau Defeats Jordan Watson, Yetkin Ozkul Defeats Thomas Adamandopoulos In France
- ↑ Jordan Watson vs. Aikpracha in the Prince’s Cup: WMC 4-man Grand Prix Part II!
- ↑ WMC Prince’s Cup 2012: Pique Replaces Watson to face Aikpracha
- ↑ Thai Fight England Results: Buakaw Returns With KO Win
- ↑ Results and Recap: Thai Fight UK
- ↑ Jordan Watson Signs With GLORY
- ↑ GLORY 3 Rome - Final 8: Live Results
- ↑ Glory 3 Live Play By Play
- ↑ World Fighter Spirit: Overweight Aikpracha Edges Out Watson In a WAR
- ↑ Aikpracha Meenayothin Beats Jordan Watson In Bangkok
- ↑ Results from this past weekend Yokkao Extreme event in Milan, Italy
- ↑ Yokkao Extreme 2013 Live Results
- ↑ Yokkao Extreme 2013 Recap: Askerov Upsets Souwer, Thais Showcased
- ↑ GLORY 5 London Live Results
- ↑ Results and Recap: Glory 5
- ↑ MAX Ultimate Fights Revealed: Buakaw vs. Dong Wen Fei, Aikpracha vs. Jordan Watson
- ↑ MAX Muay Thai in China: Buakaw Victorious
- ↑ Max Muay Thai China Full Fights & Result run-down
- ↑ GLORY 10 Adds Kiria vs. Groenhart, Watson vs. Kraus, Guidon vs. Wilnis
- ↑ Jodan Watson out, Ky Hollenbeck in vs. Albert Kraus at Glory 10