Open workout: A fans perspective
By: Tom Harland
It was late at night when I received a call from Fazan Khan himself, he told me that it was my lucky day. Apparently, their newly hired news reporter Madison Lewis flaked out so they needed someone to payroll to cover their event. So 24 hours later, here I am!
I spoke with Juanita Sanchez, she is such a sweet and cool girl! She seemed a little nervous but carried herself with an unspoken confidence that I really loved. She was open and told me a lot about how her camp, that her camp went great and assured me she's never felt better.
Juanita Sanchez
Trait 1--> This fighter will opt to focus more on GNP over submissions. Trait 2 --> This fighter will look to mix her striking up with grappling and take down shots to keep her opponents off balance. +90 stamina, 80 consistency
After I spoke with Juanita Sanchez, I ran into Krystal Knight and her training partner Awut Somaskul. Awut was very quiet, he simply held the pads while Krystal drilled some heavy kicks but something in his eyes told me he knew he was in for the fight of his life. He did have a few facial markings which indicate he's been heavily sparring and looks to be in amazing shape.
Awut Somaskul
Trait 1 --> This fighter will try to lay on his opponents to tire them out and stall the fight for a judges decision. Trait 2 --> This fighter will try to grapple and push his opponents against the cage to wear them out for a judges decision. Trait 3 --> This fighter will opt to utilize dirty boxing within a clinch whenever possible. +100 stamina, 90 consistency
And Krystal Knight? I'd say she's better than pretty good. I tried to hassle her during her session and probably over stepped my boundaries as explained to me by local security but she was kind enough to sign an autograph for me at the conclusion of the event anyways. This girl's muay Thai is insane and her technique was looking super sharp.
Krystal Knight
Trait 1 ---> This fighter will try to clinch whenever she has an opening to initiate a grapple. Trait 2 ---> This fighter will specifically try to transition into a Muay Thai plum when clinching with opponents. Trait 3 ---> This fighter will focus almost exclusively on getting back up to her feet when grounded. + 100 stamina, 90 consistency.
At the event, Hilite FC was one of two gyms who had their own workout sections in the building and the team seemed to be centered around Takeshi Kato. Thought to be the highest ranking member of the fighting club, he was working the mats with several team members running a gauntlet of sorts... the dudes cardio is insane and he knows exactly what he needs to do on Saturday night.
Takeshi Kato
Trait 1 ---> This fighter will try to take the fight to the ground and keep it there by any means possible. Trait 2 ---> This fighter has an increased chance of locking in triangle chokes. Trait 3 ---> This fighter will implement a gameplan centered around counter striking in stand up exchanges. + 100 stamina, 90 consistency.
Although I wasn't sure if Mila Sauvage was an official member of the Hilite FC, she was seen hanging around their workout booth. She was pretty chill, observant, didn't say too much but man... she looks big, strong and powerful and looks like she can rag doll at least 95% of the other women here. It's hard to scale but I feel like she was in the best shape, period.
Mila Sauvage
Trait 1 ---> This fighter will opt to focus more on GNP over submissions. Trait 2 ---> This fighter will try to take the fight to the ground and keep it there by any means possible. Trait 3 ---> This fighter has an increased chance to escape arm locks and arm bars among other technical submissions. + 100 stamina, 90 consistency.
The other gym that was being represented was T.W combat led by Rob Jones and newly signed heavyweight, Tommy Ward. They are a tight nit group that seemed to really enjoy each others company. Rob Jones was seen drilling his TD with Ward, while me and Scotty exchanged a few word about Jones and his prep for the big tournament. His camp is said to have went amazingly well. The team as a whole really seemed confident in Mr. Jones ability and it seemed to piss off a lot of people there but I personally found the whole thing rather amusing.
Rob Jones
Trait 1 ---> This fighter will implement a game plan centered around counter striking in stand up exchanges. Trait 2 ---> This fighter will throw a high volume of low kicks. Trait 3 ---> This fighter will focus almost exclusively on getting back up to his feet when grounded. + 100 stamina, 90 consistency.
As the event came to a close, I also had the opportunity to catch up with Finn MacGowan. He was seen doing some light pad work but I didn't see enough from him to make a pre-fight assessment.
Finn MacGowan
+ 70 stamina, 40 consistency.
Also notably, Jessica House was not present at the open workouts citing the need to rest. It's believed she suffered an injury in training and while she is set to compete this Saturday, it will likely hinder her performance in the tournament.
In closing, I think this will be a great event and although some fighters looked to be out of shape and unmotivated; I reckon that will quickly change when the cage door closes and they find themselves standing across a trained killer. So help them god!!!
I'd like to thank Mr. Khan for the invite once again and I hope to cover more GCC events in the future!
OOC note: Anyone who scored an amazing/5 star report, please DM me on twitter or message me through the forums if you are okay with me using your report as the ''golden'' standard for new sign ups moving forward.