On March 10th, the best Muay Thai athletes in the country gathered in Denver, Colorado for the 2022 International World Games Qualifiers and Combat Corner was there as an Official Sponser. The IW Games are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and take place every 4 years. Featuring over 200 sports and athletes from over 40 countries, it is a truly world-class event and one of the highest levels of competition available to Muay Thai athletes.
Over 100 athletes from around the nation were selected to compete for one of the few slots available at this invitation only event. And making things even tougher, professional athletes were allowed to compete for the first time, which resulted in the participation of fighters from GLORY, Lion Fight, the Pan American games and more. The result was the greatest concentration of American Muay Thai talent in history!
Day One
Probably the biggest story from Day 1 came by way of professional Glory kickboxer Nick Chasteen. After an impressive R3 stoppage of Anthony Au Young, Nick was disqualified post-match for intentionally throwing his opponent out of the ring.
Other impressive victories included:
- Ashley Thiner def. Thai-Ngan Le via second round TKO
- Walid Snoussi def. Tyrese Cunningham via Ref Stoppage in the third
- Jair Rocha def. Jake Ramirez via third round TKO
- Luke Lessei def. Guerby Noel via first round Ref Stoppage.
- Spenser Mix def. Will McCutcheon via second round Ref Stoppage
Day Two
Day two saw a significant increase in competitiveness as the brackets began to thin. The majority of fights were tightly contested, resulting in judges’ decisions in most of the matches.
Of the few finishes on day two, of note were Shawn Gorman first round stoppage of Siron Harrison to move onto semi-finals and Walid Snoussi’s first round ref stoppage of Jair Rocha to move onto semi-finals.
Day Three
Day three was the last day before the finals, and it was obvious that the cream was rising to the top. Although there were few stoppages (due to the toughness of the competitors), the majority of bouts today had clear winners, with one fighter dominating the scoring and most of the decisions coming in 30-27.
One fighter that had a bit of luck was Luke Lessei. He got a free ride into the finals due to the disqualification of Nick Chasteen on day one, allowing him to rest up and recover ahead of a tough last match. But, his gain was our loss, because the Chasteen vs Lessei fight would have been a banger!
Day Four
The tension was in the air as the athletes warmed up on the final day of competition. These are a few of the matches that stood out.
48kg Female Finals
The first fight set the bar high as Janet Garcia Borbon and Jessie Lee both immediately let loose with a barrage of kicks, knees and punches that continued throughout all three rounds. When it was all over, Janet Garcia Borbon inched out a very game Jessie Lee to take the gold medal.
57kg Female Finals
The fourth bout was another noteworthy battle between Tierra Brandt and Natalie Morgan. Both fighters left it all on the table, but the high paced and technical striking from Brandt was too much for Morgan to deal with, leading Brandt to the gold medal.
63.5 kg Male Finals
Bout 9 was a nail biter, with the first round going back and forth non-stop. But once the bell rang for round 2, Joseph Mueller went all in, landing some vicious kicks to the leg of Sean Climaco that resulted in a ref stoppage. The victory overcame Mueller with emotion and left the ring in tears.
71kg Male Finals
In bout 11, Luke Lessei started off the first round strong, staying in range and leading with a high volume of kicks and knees. Jordan Weiland responded in the 2nd and 3rd, coming out strong and landing some great shots. But Lessei’s attack proved too much for Weiland, and in the end, Lesseis’ hand was raised for the gold.
81kg Male Finals
This fight was amazing from start to finish. Aaron Ortiz appeared to be the more technical striker combined with the advantage of age, size and cardio. But Zachary Bunnell showed incredible grit, continuing to push forward non-stop and landing some great shots along the way. But despite a great show of grit, in the end it wasn’t enough, and Aaron Ortiz walked away with the gold.
91kg+ Male Finals
The ground shook as the Superheavy weights made their way to the ring with Bellator MMA pro fighter Sullivan Cauley facing Joseph Stripling for the gold. Clearly the dominant fighter, Cauley’s professionalism shined as he landed strike after strike. But Stripling reached deep into his bag of tricks and pulled out some spinning sh*t to try and catch Cauley off guard. In the end, the veteran Cauley was prepared and took home the gold in the final bout at USMF ’22 World Games Qualifier.
Combat Corner
There’s a reason that we make the highest quality Muay Thai gear on the market. And there’s a reason that we sponsor world class events like the 2022 USMF World Games Qualifiers. We do it for the Athletes.
We believe that the future of Muay Thai in the US is bright, and the athletes that traveled here to compete are that future. We are proud to sponsor the USMF and to help them in their mission to grow the beautiful art of Muay Thai in the United States. If you share that vision and that belief, then come by our booth next year and say Hi!