Amid a flurry of controversy, confusion and last minute changes, Canada’s premier mixed martial arts organization, TKO, held its 18th show on November 26th at the Pierre Charbonneau Center in Montreal, Quebec. Originally intending to host two shows in the same month, TKO was forced to make some dramatic changes to these plans. TKO 18 was first scheduled for November 6 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and promised to showcase a bevy of local favourites, while TKO 19, planned for November 26th, was being hyped as the biggest mma lineup Canada would see to date. No official word was released to clarify why the change of date had to be made, but TKO 18 was pushed back to November 26th, and TKO 19, shill being promoted as Canada’s greatest mma card, won’t be happening until January 28th.

With the date for TKO 18: Impact finally in place, the problems now shifted over to finalizing the seemingly cursed fight card. Last minute drop outs, injuries and licensing problems all reared their ugly faces on this card, but in typical TKO fashion, the show held together and gave the fans everything they came to see. In front of a smaller than average audience, twenty two combatants stepped up to make this show happen, entertaining the predominantly local crowd and leaving them hungry for more.

Sonny Leong vs Dave Parizeau

Looking to improve his less than stellar mma record, Team Tompkins fighter Sonny Leong opened the night’s events, facing off against Team Legion newcomer Dave Parizau. The first round began with both fighters trading solid kicks, with Leong getting the upper hand on the exchange and landing a convincing head kick. Parizau responded with a takedown, landing in guard and handing down some ground and pound action before the fight was brought back up. Although it did not connect, Leong’s spinning back kick attempt was a testament to the energy and exciting style he offers in the ring. Leong secured a guillotine choke on Parizau, and followed through by slamming the newcomer’s face to the mat. Still holding onto the choke, Leong was cranking back hard on Parizau’s neck. But Parizau remained composed in his debut performance and managed to escape the hold and get the fight back to the feet. Parizau was able to land a hard right, dropping Leong to his back, but he could not follow through with anything effective, so the fight was stood up. Leong ended the round with a double leg takedown, scooping up Parizau and dropping him down hard.

Round 2 saw the two battling for position in the clinch, with Leong winning the duel and getting to guard after an easily executed double leg takedown. Lack of action forced the fight back up momentarily, until Parizau scored his own takedown from the clinch to land in Leong’s guard. Striking down from the guard, Parizau seemed to be gaining momentum and control, when an unintentional low blow broke up the battle and took a point off of Parizau’s score. Ending the second round in explosive fashion, Leong threw out a spinning back fist, connected with a knee, and scored a takedown, showing that he might have been down at some points of the round, but he should, by no means, be counted out.

Leong came out in the final round looking more hesitant to commit to anything, and Parizau capitalized on this change in behaviour, making his way to Leong’s back and sinking in his hooks. Leong escaped the dangerous position, stood back up, then ended the bout with two perfectly executed throws, bringing his opponent down and landing in side control. A marketed improvement in the officiating was already noticeable in this opening bout, with fast restarts happening when the action showed down. This exciting matchup went to the scorecards for the judges to decide a winner. In the end, the bout was ruled a draw, not helping to improve Leong’s record, and handing Parizau a draw in his first professional bout.