RepreZent VI: The Smoke Show - April 18, 2026

Sorry… I tried… short blogs are just impossible!

At RepreZent, Muay Thai Ontario (MTO) said, “SURPRISE!!!! C class is now kickboxing!! Clinch is only 5 seconds.”

WAKO said, “What now??!! Do we have to sanction this??!”

And Clinch Culture… they’re just avoiding eye contact!

I also attended the first day of the MTO Officials Seminar that weekend. The session was immensely informative! Kru Laura opened the information session for referees by saying that “the best referee is the one who makes the least mistakes!” So… kind of like the weatherman!

RepreZent – The Smoke Show:

With five title fights on the card, Godfather (aka Kru Rommel) really splurged on buying belts, but he kind of saved on equipment costs once MTO said “no more elbow pads for C class.” I applaud the fighters who came all the way from the US and Alberta and stepped into the ring to go against some of our best fighters! Getting in the ring is one thing, but travelling to the opponent’s territory and going against a strong fighter and his strong community at the same time, that is certainly next level. We sent them all home defeated for now, but maybe we’ll be nicer next time, ha? Let’s get to those fights:

Guarav Sumal from Large Martial Arts got in the ring again at +91 kg. This was my second time watching Guarav fight and he is starting to look too ripped to be in the 91 kg bracket. Guarav yet again won a fight with his high‑volume boxing, impressive cardio, and without a single kick. His oversized opponent, however, gassed out in 10 seconds and had to call CAA for a tow truck.

Victor Squires from M‑Town had a rematch with Joey Nugid from Pound4Pound. Victor won the previous match on Destiny’s fight card not too long ago, on April 3, 2026!! They had another heated fight, after which the judges unanimously decided: this is ridiculous, you literally fought three weeks ago. Let it go! Find another match.

B‑class fight between Matthew Artwell from Southside MT and Samuel Khalaj from Kingdom MT: My interview with Matthew was kind of interesting because he interviewed me before he let me interview him. I had never had a fighter ask for my blogger credentials. For the record, I passed! Three years ago, Matthew took a survey (I think he reads Cosmo) that told him he should start Muay Thai. I asked Matthew what event had stood out the most in his three years of training. He said, “I never forget the day I was introduced to the veterans at my gym and learned how there are so many levels to this game, with some people having over 20 years of experience, and I’ve only been training for three.”

The fight between Matthew and Sam was cut short. Sam went in with his combos in the pocket at high speed, and Matthew intercepted with clinch and dominant power. Matthew won by a stoppage in the second round! Matthew is moving on to fight A class at ISH Fight Promotions on May 2, 2026, with only eight fights on his record.

A‑class fight between Daniel (Danny) Ge from Ajax MMA and Ezekiel Finuma from Gracie Barra. I was really looking forward to speaking with Danny because I’ve seen him fight under quite a few different gyms. I asked Danny why he’s changed gyms so many times. He said it’s because he moves around a lot. I asked him why he moves around so much, and he said, “I don’t! I’ve always lived in Markham.” But as we continued chatting, he said, “Every gym is different with respect to strategy and philosophy, and I just had to find the best fit for myself.” So I concluded that at Ajax MMA, they also teach good philosophy! Danny said, “This is the most skilled I’ve ever been. I used to put an insane amount of weight on the outcome of the fight, but now I just try to be the best I can be for all three rounds.”

Ezekiel was brought to Muay Thai because all other gyms were closed during the pandemic and he saw an ad for a Muay Thai gym, Gracie Barra. Ezekiel said, “The first time I stepped in the ring, the lights were in my face and I went wild, charging at my opponent and swinging at his head. I fell in love!!” I’m a little concerned about the circumstances under which Ezekiel falls in love, but let’s save that discussion for a column in Cosmo!

The fight between Danny and Ezekiel was a very close one, with both fighters throwing volume and scoring. The clinches stood out for me because almost every clinch ended with Ezekiel throwing Danny around, but those don’t score in Muay Thai (told you the seminar was informative). Their fight resulted in a unanimous tie, which was the third tie of the evening! I think the officials were still scratching their heads over the new clinch rules.

A‑class fight between Derek Baggerow from Soi Dogs and Troy Wisdom Tragvon from SBG Scarborough. Troy has been training just over three years. He started Muay Thai to get into shape, but mainly he wanted to learn how to protect himself!! Troy is about 82 kg, around six feet tall, with a muscle tone that makes you whisper “Herculis.” If Troy feels he needs self‑defense, I don’t know what the rest of us are going to need. The fight between Derek and Troy was very entertaining. In the first two rounds, Troy dominated while Derek kept throwing spinning backfists that didn’t land. When Derek finally gave up on the spinning attacks, he actually did better in the third round by going for the clinch. Troy won title by unanimous decision.

The co‑main event: Jacob Ordonez (aka Siga) from M‑Town vs. Gavyn Legge from Honey Badger/Arashido Sherwood (Alberta). Gavyn is 19 years old and has been training for 12 years, competing for the last four. We haven’t seen much of him around here because he has mostly competed at tournaments such as WBC, WKA Scottish, and WKU around the world. At one of his fights at WBC, Gavyn was going against a much heavier guy, and while he was waiting in the corner for the fight to start, the announcer called out his record: one win, nine losses. The referee yelled out “whaaaaaaaaa,” looking at the skinny white guy in the corner. Gavyn got his second win that night.

I asked Gavyn, “Do you know Siga?” He laughed and said, “Of course! I took this fight on three days’ notice! I will either win this fight or learn a great deal from the experience.” Their fight started slow with a few low kicks until Siga got in the pocket with his volume and dropped Gavyn. I almost yelled at Siga, “BE NICE!!!” Siga won the title that night, but Gavyn also got his second wining scenario. Gavyn has got... heart!

Main event: Caelyn Sunga Balac from M‑Town vs. Christine Roule from Iron Strong Muay Thai (Massachusetts). I had interviewed Christine a while back when she was fighting at Prestige Fight Series III (read PFS blog). Christine told me that she started Muay Thai for self‑defense, and at her previous gym they told her she would never fight. At her first B‑class fight, while she was getting wrapped up, she asked a friend, “How do you defend an elbow?” Her friend told her, “Try to elbow first!!” Christine has been fighting in Canada a few times now, and each time she has taken belts and cups away from our fellow Canadians. I still stand by my opinion that she should pay tariffs for every push kick she throws to a Canadian face! At RepreZent, Christine took it too far by walking to the ring to “American Woman.” Caelyn scored a lot in the clinch and by throwing knees and elbows, but this was mostly the fight of push kicks, except this time it was Caelyn who threw the push kicks to the head. One of Caelyn's teeps to the face got Christine an eight count. Caelyn won the title that night and sent the American home defeated. I’m being mean, but I actually like Christine a lot and have been following her fights ever since our first interview. She’s one tough cookie. I’m sure we’ll see her around again in no time.

The night definitely had smoke coming out of all our heads. Shout‑out to Godfather and M‑Town for this amazing evening. I’m not sure what was going on, but Godfather seemed quite gassed that night. I think he has good cardio, so he couldn’t have been gassing just from shuffling between cornering, handshakes with the VIPs, dancing to the walk‑out songs, and tending to blogger inquiries. A few times during the event, I noticed him walking around wearing latex gloves… so he wouldn’t leave any fingerprints? Did anyone go missing that night?

I’m going to be covering another kickboxing event. This is the first professional kickboxing event in Ontario, EVER. Most of you amazing fighters are on that card, so see you all at Rise of the Warrior 8 on May 9, 2026.