A NUMBER of athletes go their whole career without claiming a title, especially an Australian title.
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But not Ulladulla’s Blaise Taylor.
The 17-year-old recently claimed the light heavyweight division Australian mixed martial arts title, after defeating Junior Tofa on Saturday, June 2 at the Canberra Rex Hotel.
“My preparation was great – I felt fit and strong going into the fight,” Taylor said.
“I knew I had done enough training in the lead up to give me the best chance of winning.”
Heading into the bout, the Ulladulla Southern Fitness and Martial Arts fighter tried to remain calm, listening to music before stepping in the ring.
“In round one, I took it slow and controlled the distance between myself and Tofa,” he said.
“I did the same thing again in round two but focused more on landing a lot of leg kicks.”
After testing the waters, the Richard Neradil trained fighter stepped up his intensity.
“In round three, I was focusing on landing good strong round kicks to the ribs, which led me to landing a number of strong head kicks and knees to the head in round four,” Taylor said.
“Round five was very hard – I was starting to tire and the last 30 seconds seem to go forever.”
After the completion of the five rounds, Taylor was announced the winner by a unanimous points decision by the judges.
“It was an incredible feeling when I was announced the winner, especially when they put that belt on – experiencing the feeling of winning an Australian title is definitely one I will remember forever,” Taylor said.
“I believe I won because I went into the fight a lot fitter than Tofa, as well as fighting smarter and listening to Richard in between rounds.
“This is the highest point of my career to date.”
Taylor credits this title to the hard work of coaches Richard Neradil, Ian Harding, Duncan McIntosh and big Matt.
“I really would just like to thank all my team for helping me prepare for this fight, especially Richard who has taken me on every step of my fighting and has helped me through everything,” he said.
Taylor, who also train at the Bomaderry Southern Fitness and Martial Arts gym, is aiming to turn professional once he chalks up 10 fights.
“This is my passion – I want to compete as long as I’m able to and then teach others just how great Muay Thai is,” he said.
“Winning an Australian title will definitely open more doors to other competitions for me in the future. There a lots of titles around, but I am hoping to eventually fight for the MTA Aussie title as a professional.”