Destiny Friday Night Fights 3 - March 27, 2026

I swore I would write shorter blogs, knowing you’re all lazy readers, but this event, organized by Southside Muay Thai and Pound 4 Pound MMA, really stood out for me with respect to the stories I heard from the fighters and the support it received from the community. I had never seen a banquet hall get so packed, wall to wall, from the first bell right to the last! You want to read this, trust me!

Before I get deep into it all, here is a random fact, and don’t ask me how I know this, but if you turn on the Shazam app while the Wai Kru track is on, it will tell you… hang tight… this is tough… sorry, I can’t help you!

Fatin Jalal from Southside Muay Thai fought Christian Lyn from Pound 4 Pound.

Fatin used to be a heavyweight until Kru Mike took him under his wing and coached and mentored him. Six months into training, he had his first demo. Last year, Fatin lost his job and went through a breakup, and he believes Muay Thai saved him from a very rough patch. I agree, as he now works an armored truck! In one of his earlier B-class fights, Fatin went against Mason Shilaei (now at Mitten Muay Thai). He won two rounds against Mason but got knocked out by a spinning elbow in the third round. Now Fatin sizes up his opponents against Mason and tells himself, “I held my ground against Mason, I can face anyone.” Fatin had a steak shortly before he got in the ring with Mason, and to this day, Kru Mike sends him a text on fight day: “No steak!”

Christian is 19 and got into Muay Thai after his family friend whom we all know, Leo (from Return of the Dragon), held pads for him. When the fight started, Christian was striking at high speed, and I thought to myself, okay, this is speed vs. power. But when I saw Fatin crumble in pain from Christian’s body shots (two bruised ribs), I realized Christian had both speed and power! Christian won by injury in the third round.

Co-Main Event: Noah Rauthier from Legends MMA fought Emmanuvel Pillai from Ajax MMA.

My interview with Emmanuvel was one of a kind. He’s a great storyteller, and I could listen to his stories for hours. Emmanuvel went to AMMA with a good friend to test out Muay Thai, and his friend told him he was a natural. Only a few months into training, his coach told him he could fight, but fighting at 125 lbs, he kept going through fight camps but not getting matched up. So he decided to have his first fight at a WAKO provincial tournament, where he won the provincial title. He said that tournament and having four fights in two days made him. “I evolved so much from one fight to the next in such a short time, but couldn’t have done it without my coaches and some sweet potato.” Emmanuvel left B class unfinished after a seven-win streak and registered in A class at TBA (kids, don't try this at home!). He said, “I decided I’d much rather lose in A class than have another win in B class”. Emmanuvel lost his first A-class fight at TBA by split decision.

Noah started with boxing in 2021 and then moved to Muay Thai. Six months into his training, he got a concussion in a demo and had to take eight months off training with no contact to the head. Noah said, “I used to train one hour a day and do sparring once a week. Now I train three hours a day and do a lot of drills. I’ve noticed a big change in my performance.” Something Noah said really resonated with me: “You don’t have to be special to be great. You can work hard and be special and achieve your goals.” The two fighters put on an amazing show. Noah won the fight by unanimous decision.

Main Event: Title fight between Rabichan Ravichandran from Southside Muay Thai and Youssef El Zeir from Martial Arts Fitness Academy (MAFA).

Rabichan first started with soccer, but when he didn’t become good at it, he switched to Muay Thai (we were his second choice). Rabichan started in Montreal, and since Muay Thai is not legal in Montreal, he had a lot of K1 fights. I asked Rabichan where he wants to go from here. He said, “I want to fight at ONE Championship or Glory.” I told him that’s what all fighters tell me, 9.9 out of 10 (that 0.1 is me), and he said, “I know that’s what every fighter wants but none of them train as hard as I do! I train three times a day, every day! If I wasn't sure I'm going to make it, I wouldn't be doing it.” I was convinced. The fight between Rabichan and Youssef was a hard one to keep track of, as both fighters were amazing at slips and leaning back with punches. But I was also distracted because Youssef has nicer curls than I do. Hey, I didn’t know wearing our curls down for a fight was even an option! Youssef won the title by split decision. I’m impressed Youssef could actually see through all that hair and fight, not to mention win. Doesn’t the hair block his peripherals?

Thank you Southside MT and Pound 4 Pound MMA for such an amazing night The energy from this event will be one to remember!

On a different night and a different fight card, Hamed (aka: Sokdat Mafia) from Kingdom MT had his first fight, and I have to mention this fight not because it was the first C-class fight that made main event or that Hamed stepped in the ring against an opponent 30 lbs heavier and 5” taller, but because, one, Hamed is a dear friend and I would never pass on an opportunity to talk sh#t about him, and two, fighting at 300 lbs (I added 50 for good luck), how can I not talk about the elephant in the ring!!

The first difficulty with Hamed’s fight was finding a mongkhon that fit his very large head, and from what I understand, they gave up looking and just braided three together. The second difficulty was that he was led to believe his opponent was the same weight and 4 inches shorter. I know we often pretend size doesn’t matter, but an extra 4 inches can mean a great deal to a lot of people, the absence of which can be a dealbreaker… and I’m not going to get into Hamed’s diet and how what he eats affects the people around him, but let me just say that if Hamed was in Iran today, he’d have to be in hiding because he would be mistaken for enriched uranium! Anyways… as for the result of Hamed’s fight… I think it’s beyond the point now….

Have you noticed once you pass 70 kgs, fighters don’t get picked up by their coaches after they win? Kind of disappointing if you ask me.

See you all at RepreZent on April 18th. It’s going to get SMOKEY!