Video of my Fight - 5 Round Rematch War - Johnny vs. Jomerawe 2

My original opponent backed out last second again which kind of sucks because he would have been perfect for me.  The same size, height and experience level which is hard to find in Thailand.  He even had the exact same amount of fights as me, making it a perfect match up.  Instead, I ended up fighting the one guy in Thailand that I really did not want to fight again.  Jomerawe who I fought back in January, asked for a rematch.  He was winning the first three rounds of the fight, had better technique, better kicks, elbows, reach, height and a ton more experience.  The only reason why I won that fight was because I turned it into a street brawl and kept pressing forward until I ended up catching him in the third round with a knee to the face.

I didn't have much motivation to win last night's match, as having two wins over the same guy doesn't really mean that much.  So I decided to take the chance to gain experience by pacing myself and fighting more of a Muay Thai style than I usually do.  As expected Jomerawe's Muay Thai was better than mine, but I learned a lot from this fight and I'm not ashamed to have lost. I showed up, found hard, and tried to finish the fight a few times.  I also got to attempt a head kick and spinning elbow, both of which I've never done in a fight previously.  Anyways, here's a video of the fight in it's entirety, it was a long fight as it went the distance so I cut out all of the non-action, pacing, and circling to keep the video from being too long.

Why I lost:

In Muay Thai rules, punches don't score points unless it results in a knock down.  Kicks, knees and elbows score the most which is why my opponent won on points.  He was also just better than me. =)  

What I learned:

My opponent had 58 fights, and this was my 6th, somethings just take time and practice to get good at, including Muay Thai.  It's funny that random guys that I don't know would give me advice after the fight.  I tell them thank you, and keep it in mind.  But honestly, it's completely different when you're actually in a fight.  I know to keep my hands up, but when you are exhausted and the lactic acid is building up in your arms, and you know that your only chance to win is to rush in and throw everything you got, you too might drop your guard.  But that's what the fight video is for, so I can review it and see what I need to improve on.  

Honestly, I feel like I learned more from losing this fight than from winning the last one.  I'm going to continue to work on my technique, cardio, and continue to lose weight.  My record now is 4 Wins and 2 Losses.  

A big thank you:

To everyone who came out to watch the fight, thank you. It means a lot to me to have support and familiar faces in the crowd.  Thank you to my trainer Chon from KC Muay Thai, you genuinely care and push me to my limits.  Thank you to Oliver and the grew from England for buying me drinks all night after the fight.  I haven't drank for months before my fight so it was fun as hell and much needed to get some drinks in me.  

What's next:

Saying my body is a bit beat up is an understatement.  

What's worse than waking up with a black eye?  

Waking up with two.  

I'm going to take two weeks off to rest and recover.  I knew that Jomerawe's kicks were going to be devastating to my shins and ankle which is why you can see in the video that I taped it up before the fight.  My left foot is swollen up, my shin feels like it blocked a wooden bat, and my ankle is a bit fucked from checking the kicks.  The good news is my lower back is completely fine now.  Or maybe it could be just because every other part of my body hurts that I don't even notice it.  

So a well deserved rest is in order.  I'm going to finish updating the book, 12 Weeks in Thailand and fix the random spelling errors I didn't catch the first time around, then i'm going to meet up a friend at the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan and party it up or a few days.

Warm Regards,

Johnny

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