Jeez Luis as Erik ‘The Animal’ impresses in Island bout

Newbury’s Erik ‘The Animal’ Luis produced an explosive performance to beat a far more experienced opponent in the Island Fight League’s first ever event, held on the Isle of Wight.

Luis, of Newbury Muay Thai, was taking on Emanuel Ceronei, who had a considerable size advantage on the West Berkshire man.

In fact, Ceronei missed the weight the day before the fight and entered the octagon as markedly the bigger man.

Unphased, Luis demonstrated his huge potential and took the fight to Ceronei, who is the older man by 15 years.

Unable to make use of his experience, Ceronei struggled to keep pace with Luis, who was supported by more than 30 members of the Newbury MMA community and was on the front foot from the off.

Catching Ceronei with a succession of powerful shots, Luis put his opponent down towards the end of the second round.

Smelling blood, Luis went for the kill at the beginning of the third round and knocked Ceronei to the canvas again, prompting the referee to call time on the fight and awarding Luis the win by technical knockout.

With his record extended to four wins from five fights, Luis, whose bout was voted fight of the night, looks to have a hugely exciting future in the sport.

Cameron Croft, also of Newbury Muay Thai, was making his MMA debut on the same card, taking on Ben Pateman.

Croft produced a focused and composed performance, steadily dismantling Pateman as he dominated the fight.

Croft knocked his opponent down several times and, despite Pateman showing enormous spirit to carry on, he was floored again towards the end of the third round and his corner threw in the towel.