Ocean's 11, November 29, 2025

So you know how the Ocean’s 11 movie came out and all the cool celebrities were in it? George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, etc. Diamond Capital fight card was the Ocean’s 11 of Muay Thai Ontario fight cards with almost all the cool fighters on this card, and I say “almost” because I wasn’t on it.

Let’s get right into those fights as these celebrities are waiting for no one!

Caleb Tomines from Pound4Pound, cornered by his father, Kru Herb, fought Daniel Deda from Etobicoke Martial Arts. Caleb started Muay Thai when he was 6 years old, but he liked basketball more up until 3 years ago. Caleb didn’t say this, but I think Caleb’s older sister, who was also a fighter, beat him up until he gave up basketball and started fighting. In the first round, Daniel caught all of Caleb’s kicks, and Caleb kept tossing Daniel around. In the second round, Caleb grew wings and started the flying knees but still continued to toss Daniel around. Caleb’s strikes continued into the third round, and he was still tossing Daniel around. I think Caleb could have a future in MMA, although it’s his dream to be a professional Muay Thai fighter in Thailand. Caleb is only 18 but he won the Matt Damon Medal on Ocean's Card that night. When I chatted with him, he said he has a lot of respect for Daniel, as Daniel took the fight on short notice, fighting two weekends back-to-back.

Oh, before I forget, for anyone planning to fight Kru Saj in the near future, Kru Saj giggles before he sweeps you!

Danielle Levasseur from Old School Muay Thai fought Daphnie Molson from Sitboon 6 Gym on Ocean’s card. The two fighters spent the first round in hesitation and examining the minefield, but the ring got heated in the second and third rounds. Danielle was definitely dominating in clinch; Daphnie was fighting back hard, but out of the two fighters, Kru Daryl, refereeing the fight, was sweating the most. Danielle won the bout on Ocean’s card, but we give the Carl Reiner Medal to Kru Daryl as I’m still mad at him for choosing a vacation in Mexico over a post-CMTO interview with me!

Nouradine Osman Hasan from Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts fought Firas Darvish from York Muay Thai on Ocean’s card. Nouradine started Muay Thai out of boredom about 3 years ago. He had to stop for a while to finish school, and that’s when he realized, just like the rest of us, he was hooked for life! When he first started fighting, he was more focused on who the opponents were, but now he’s all about focusing on how he can get to a better version of himself for every fight. Nouradine’s fight against Firas was intense and yet again one of those fights where the spectators have a different opinion than the judges. Firas split Nouradine’s eyebrow open; the fight had to be stopped a few times to wipe out the blood. Nouradine suffered from the same cut in the same location at his previous fight too, and apparently it brings him luck because he won that fight and his fight against Firas. For future fighters who go against Nouradine, I suggest you personally put a dab of Vaseline on his eyebrow and leave it alone. Nouradine won by split decision, and Firas and many spectators weren’t happy about the result. I recalled a very similar situation at Clinch Conquer where a fighter from Kalary Kickboxing lost by split decision when we all thought he had won. I asked the coach from Kalary why he didn’t appeal the result. He said that he tells his fighters to dominate the ring and make it clear who the winner is, and if they don’t and lose the fight, him appealing the decision means he's buying them their win. I recall Kru Alin also mentioning the same at every fighter’s meeting, telling the fighters not to leave it up to the judges to decide who the winner is, and if they do, they should make peace with the result! Nouradine won the fight on Ocean’s card, but we give his cornerman, Kru Aramiss, the Andy Garcia Medal as he did amazing in his pro fight with RWS on a week’s notice.

Samantha Skinner from Toronto Kickboxing and Muay Thai Academy fought Amber Berg from Double Dragon, Winnipeg, on Ocean’s card. Over 20 years ago, Amber went to a professional wrestling show taking place in a basement of a bar, and on the back of her ticket, Double Dragon Kickboxing and Muay Thai had printed a coupon, and that’s how Amber started Muay Thai! For 12 years, when fighting wasn’t legal in Winnipeg, Amber went to Alberta and the U.S. for fights. Amber has had over 20 fights, including 2 professional fights, but Amber’s biggest fear to this day has been teaching kids Muay Thai classes!

I’ve been following Sam’s fights for a while now, and she’s been in two of my previous blogs. Recently, Sam has joined the judges’ bench, and so I asked her if being a judge has made her a better fighter. Sam said that now she knows what exactly the judges see and count as a score, so it has made her fighting a lot more efficient and that much better. Sam and Amber took it very slow in the first round, with Amber throwing a lot of body shots, but in the second round, Sam’s knees and elbows awakened, and of course her teeps to the head. Sam won the National Julia Roberts Belt.

Marco Sanchez from York Muay Thai was against William Wang on Ocean’s card. If you’ve read previous blogs, you know that Marco borrows his friend Tarik’s lucky cup for his fights! Marco didn’t say it, but I’m sure he was wearing the lucky cup that night too (he’s going to kill me for this). Marco has a very calm and chill style in his fighting; kind of like he will give you a genuine smile before he kicks you in the face! That night, Marco was on attack, and his elbows scored a lot, especially in the second round. William landed a few very good teeps, but they didn’t stop Marco from pushing forward. In the third round, Marco got very angry. I’m not sure, but I think William kicked Marco’s lucky cup. Marco won the National Brad Pitt Belt.

The fight I was really looking forward to: Caelyn Sunga Batac from M-Town vs. Kennah Basinga Mae from Ottawa Fight and Fitness. I was particularly interested in this fight because Caelyn and Kennah fight in the 105 lb bracket, which is immediately above mine, and in my very long fighting journey (just a few months), I’ve been asked many times (just once) to go up in weight. Caelyn had the height advantage over Kennah, but this was the first time that I saw the taller fighter not resorting to using their advantage in clinch to win the fight! Caelyn’s technique and power were shockingly dominant, and her push kicks dropped Kennah quite a few times. Caelyn is only 17 years old, but she won the National Angelina Jolie Belt that evening. I don’t know about Kennah, but I’m still traumatized by Caelyn’s teeps. I think I parried one of her teeps in my dream last night. Yeah, I’m staying put in my weight class -100 lb it is.

Darren Johnston from Diamond Muay Thai fought Hany Slam from Ajax MMA that evening. Darren started Muay Thai about 11 years ago when he moved to Canada from Ireland. I’m sure you all picked up on a little bit of an Irish accent in his clinch that evening. For many years, Darren didn’t think about fighting and only trained for fitness, but at his first trial session with Kru Tony at Diamond Muay Thai, Kru Tony asked Darren if he had thought about fighting. That led to him having his first three fights in one year! Darren said he doesn’t care about the result and fights for the Art of War. Darren and I seem to have the same opinion about why we enjoy fighting. I asked Darren a random question: whether it’s true that Irish people drink a lot. Darren said, “We like potatoes in all forms.” Darren won the Scott Caan Medal on Ocean’s card and went on to enjoy some potatoes.

What an amazing night! There was also an Ocean’s Appreciation Award, the details of which were not disclosed, so I won’t name the winner, but I’ll say his name starts with Mr. President!

I think it’s inevitable that we have to give the George Clooney Medal to Kru Tony for putting together such an awesome fight card! But just so no one is confused, Kru Tony looks nothing like George Clooney!

Over in the MMA corner, Jenelle Garcia won the title at her amateur MMA debut. Congratulations to this very accomplished combat sports athlete. I suspect and hope that this is just the beginning of her winning streak!

Hopefully, I’ll see most of you at M-Town Development Day on December 15th. From what it seems, it’s going to be a lot more fun than CMTO (yup, definitely still mad at Kru Daryl).