Chi Lewis Parry One FC Walk Out [Photo Credit Cheryl Tay]British athlete, Chi Lewis-Parry has signed with GLORY and will make his debut at the upcoming GLORY 20 DUBAI event on Friday, April 3rd.
The current ONE FC heavyweight athlete, who is 4-0 inside the cage, will debut against rising Californian talent Xavier Vigney (6-1, 6 KO’s) on the GLORY Superfight Series 20 section of the card.
Chi Lewis-Parry vs Xavier Vigney
Lewis-Parry stands at an astounding 6ft 9inches, weighs 265 lbs which also explains why he also used to be an ex-professional Basketball Player, (click here on earlier interview), he then transitioned into K1 early 2011 and eventually MMA. The rest we say is history.
I spoke with Chi earlier today who had this to say about his new signing:
Glory World series and myself are not too dissimilar. We’re both heavyweight at what we do.
Glory is the premier promotion for K1 competition in the universe and I come to smash. I love this shit!
GLORY 20 DUBAI and GLORY Superfight Series 20 take place on Friday, April 3 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The former airs in the US on Spike TV at 10pm ET while the latter airs via tape-delay on the CBS Sports network on Friday April 10 at 11pm ET.
Ultimate Impact held their fourteenth event last night at the GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester, in what was to be there best card yet.
Here are the full results:
Ultimate Impact 14 Event Poster
WELTERWEIGHT TITLE BELT
Adam Bousiff Def Shane Riley via Modified Guillotine Round One #AndStillWelterweightChampion Adam ‘Boa’ Bousiff
LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE BELT
Marc Allen Def Terry Doyle Via Referee Stoppage due to Injury (shoulder dislocation) Round One #AndtheNewLightweightChampion
Marc Allen – UIC 14 Lightweight Champion
Steve Smith Def Dave Conlon Via UnanimousDecisionK1 Pro
Lee Russell Def Ian Dalby via Armbar Rnd One Flyweight pro
Ffion Davies Def Laura Handy via RNC 2 mins 36 secs Round One Bantamweight ammy
I’m Extremely blessed to be part of such a strong team of competitors and coaches. I can’t wait to do it all over again in Sunderland next week!
Amy O’Mara Def Paulina Malina Via Split Decision Strawweight ammy
Harry Davis Def Olly Myers Via UnanimousDecision Welterweight ammy
Bryony Tyrell Def Jemma Jacques via TKO (GnP) Round Two Flyweight ammy
My coach has decided that my fight name should be ‘Killa Bee’ from now in, since after two subsequent wins by Ground N Pound the Gazelle is no longer. I would also like to say a big thank you to my coaches and all the people who came up to support me
Andree Warbrick Def Ashleigh Johnson Via unanimousDecision K1 ammy
Polly Beauchamp Def Charlotte Freeman Via Split Decision Strawweight ammy
Will Jones Def Jordan Patey Via T/KO Round One
Mack Stevens Def Josh Ozane Via RNC Round Two
Bartosz Rusiecki Def Laurence Coates Via UnanimousDecision K1 ammy
Dave Tibbetts Def Pat Benson Via Guillotine Round Two
Ultimate Impact returns to the GL1 leisure centre, Gloucester, on February 21st for their 14th event. With two pro MMA Title fights on the line, a pro flyweight bout, along with 1 pro K1 fight, four female amateur MMA fights, one female amateur K1 fight and four male amateur MMA fights, one amateur K1 fight it is safe to say this is there best card yet.
Ultimate Impact 14 Event Poster
Fightcard:
SHANE RILEY V ADAM BOUSIFF 77.2kg Welterweight Title
MARC ALLEN V TERRY DOYLE 70.4kg Lightweight Title
STEVE SMITH V DAVE CONLON 78kg Catchweight k1
IAN DALBY V LEE RUSSELL 56.8kg Flyweight pro
LAURA HANDY V FFION DAVIES 61.3kg Bantamweight ammy
PAULINA MALINA V AMY O’MARA 52.2kg Strawweight ammy
HARRY DAVIS V OLLY MYERS 77.2kg Welterweight ammy
JEMMA JACQUES V BRYONY TYRELL 56.8kg Flyweight ammy
ANDREE WARBRICK V ASHLEIGH JOHNSON 54kg Catchweight k1 ammy
POLLY BEAUCHAMP V CHARLOTTE FREEMAN 52.2kg Strawweight ammy
JORDAN PATEY V WILL JONES 90kg Catchweight ammy
MACK STEVENS V JOSH OZANE 74kg Catchweight ammy
BARTOSZ RUSIECKI V LAURENCE COATES 72kg Catchweight k1 ammy
DAVE TIBBETS V PAT BENSON 90KG Catchweight ammy
DATE: 21st February 2015
TIME: Doors open at 4pm
WHERE: GL1 Leisure Centre, Gloucester, GL1 1DT
COST: £360 VIP table of 8 (£45 per head), £35 Cageside seating & £25 Standard Ticket
You’re currently undefeated in the UIC cage [under K1] and the current flyweight K1 champion [Congratulations]. Why the change now to compete on the show in MMA when you are clearly having a great career in the K1 scene?
I’ve always wanted to compete in MMA, my strongest point was striking so I used K1 to gain experience in the cage. I’ve had 6 k1 fights now so I just feel the time is right to make the step to MMA.
Does this mean that you will not be competing in K1 for the time being and the focus is more on MMA or will you do both [K1 and MMA] side by side?
The plan is to see how this first fight goes. I know I have a lot of work to do with regards to my ground game and the last few months have been a big learning curve. I’ll still fight k1 to keep my striking strong and hopefully do both side by side.
How has the transition been going in learning all aspects of MMA?
It’s been a tough couple of months trying to bring everything together but I’ve been having 1-1’s with my coach Ryan Norwood and working with people like Wayne Drake and Chris Hipkiss to help pull it all together.
Have you had any ‘taster’ tournaments such as any ‘interclubs’ or ‘BJJ’ tournaments to gauge yourself how you feel you are progressing or are you leaving it all in your capable coaches hands?
No I haven’t done any interclubs etc but it is something I want to do after this fight just to gain more experience.
I know from when we first spoke in your first interview with me that it has always been your aim to evolve into the MMA scene. Can you tell me what it is about the sport in whole that appeals to you and why?
MMA is appealing to me basically because you can never predict a fight, you’re always learning and developing.
Have you got a new ‘training’ addiction? [Last time we spoke it was weight training].
I’m still a big fan of weight training and have added in lots of Hiit and circuit training to this camp too.
You’re going to be fighting Ffion Davies who trains out if Chris Rees Academy in Wales at UIC 14 on February 21st. Do you know much about Ffion?
I know that Ffion fought last year and won via submission, and I know she’s coming in to the cage with a high level grappling game but I haven’t watched any videos.
This is a classic ‘Striker Vs Grappler’ fight. It’s fair to say with Ffion being a BJJ champion and yourself a K1 champion, to the fan this is a great match up made by Paul Sutherland. Where do you see the fight going yourself?
Yeah it’s a great match up, albeit a tough one. I know Ffion will want the fight on the ground; without giving too much away I’ve been working on all areas so I have to just stick to what we have been working on.
Laura Handy just after her winning her K1 Flyweight Title Fight
How do you think you will adjust to the time of the rounds in MMA being longer than K1?
In all my fights I tend to feel more comfortable as the rounds go on so I think the longer rounds will suit me better and give me time to adjust to my opponent.
With each fight is the nerves getting any better? If so how are you dealing with them now?
No, I’m still a bag of nerves on the day lol! It’s just something I have to deal with and once we’re in the cage the nerves just have to go!
Has this training camp been a lot harder in trying to manage the quality time you still spend with your daughter Ayva and of course absorbing all the new training techniques?
To be honest it’s ok, most of my training is at night-time and most nights Ayva is usually in bed by the time I set out for the gym. I have two days off work in the week which I spend doing things with her!
After this fight on February 21st will you be indulging in Ayva’s ‘Chocolate Freddo Bars’ with her?
Yes I will be eating my body weight in chocolate and ice cream lol!
You’re known for bringing a crowd with you, how much does the noise of your own supporters help you when you’re in the cage?
It helps a lot to hear everyone shouting! During the last fight against Linzi Edwards our supporters were having a shout off which was quite funny! But yeah it does help to keep me going and keep me focused and I’m grateful that they want to come and support me.
Lastly, is there any sponsors or anybody you would like to thank?
Yes big thanks to Warrior Fightwear for all my training and fight gear! And thanks to Ryan Norwood and everyone else at FuryMMA for helping me through this fight camp and helping with my ground work!
Thank you for your time Laura.
You can keep up-to-date on everything Laura is doing on her athlete Facebook page or her Twitter page.
Laura Handy ‘Fight Page’ Banner Credit: Mack
If you have not done so yet, you can purchase tickets to see Laura make her MMA debut at UIC 14, GL1, Gloucester on February 21st here, or contact any of the fighters to see of they still any.
On May 16th, London. Wembley Arena will play host to the first UK Super Fight Series, Cosmic Collision.
With a card stacked from top to bottom and a who’s who from the world of Kickboxing and K1. This is the event of the year and not to be missed. Having five 4 man tournaments in different weight categories, with a cash prize for each of them in one night, this is one event you do not want to miss out.
Super Fight Series – The Face Off
Late last night [10.30pm] the draw was made for the four athletes in the 90kg Tournament division, to see whom would be facing each other of the £10,000 Winner Takes All Tournament.
On Saturday June 28th, Ultimate Impact held there 12th event at GL1 Leisuire Centre in Gloucester, to an aswesome, hyped up, vocal crowd.
With three title fights on the card this was one not to be missed, and boy, it lived right up to its name, in fact, the current two MMA title holders lost their belts, two NEW TITLE holders were crowned and of course we had the ladies first ever K1 Flyweight Title fight.
K1 Champion Belt
This night did not disappoint, from the amateurs at the start of the card, right through to the Pros on the card, infact with every event it is getting harder to top the last one! I cannot wait for #UIC13 on November 15th at GL1 Leisure Centre.
Here are the Official Results:
Amateurs – Undercard
Lawrence Coates Def Jack Price UD K1
Greg Artis Def Thomas Karminski via Guillotineround 1 MMA
Raymond Nelmes Def Dan Reeves via UD K1
Sophie Tidey Def Camille Schmiez via TKOround 1 K1
Nathan Powell Def Mason Carter via UD MMA
MAIN CARD
Bryn Cooper Def Matt Harthill via TKOround 3 K1
Jack Shore Def Piotor Egert via Americana round 1 MMA
Craig White Def Jon Williamson via Submissionround 1 MMA
Aaron Khalid Def Mark Finney via UD MMA
Toby Hartman Def Chris Astley via Split DecisionMMA
LW TITLE FIGHT MMA
Terry Doyle Def Wayne Drake via UD
#New #LW #Champion
FEMALE FLYWEIGHT K1 TITLE
Laura Handy Def Cheryl Flynn via UD
#New #FW #K1 #Champion
Laura Handy
Laura had this to say after her hard earned win:
Awesome feeling when all the hard work pays off!!
Thanks to my coach Ryan Norwood for all the time and effort and to my good looking corner men! Well done to all the other Fury Fighters, win or loose your all awesome.
WW TITLE FIGHT MMA
Adam Bousiff Def Phil Wells via RNCround 2
#New #WW #Champion
If you need convincing that little bit more, here is a statement written by Ultimate Impact owner Dan Richards:
Tonight at GL1 lesiure centre we return with one of finest fightcard ever put togther by match maker Paul Sutherland. The card feature some of the very best up and coming K1 and MMA fighters from around the Midlands and South West region. Ultimate Impact 12 kicks off at a slightly earlier time of 4.30pm featuring 4 amatuer MMA and K1 amateur bouts, and the main card starting at 5.30pm
One of our good media partners Split Decision was kind enough to give some of the fighters on the card some media exposure and here is what they had to say;
Phil Wells: “I predict it will be a good fight”
This weekend see’s Ultimate Impact return with their 12th installment, with three main event title fights, and set to defend his Welterweight Championship is Phil Wells.
Sophie Tidey: “I never underestimate any fighter”
Taking to the cage at Ultimate Impact 12 this weekend is Sophie Tidey who takes on Camille Sch in an amateur K1 bout and could easily take away fight of the night honors.
Aaron Khalid ahead of UIC 12: “Its an honour to be fighting on it”
UIC 12 takes place this weekend with a bumper line up of fights, live from the G1 leisure centre in Gloucester. Competing on the card is Aaron Khalid who looks to showcase his ever developing skill set and ahead of his match up, I caught up with him to get his thoughts on his fight …
Jack Price: “I will be looking to control the fight”
Jack Price is no stranger to the Ultimate Impact show, after competing on the promotion in the past, and this weekend he returns to the show fight in a K1 bout.
Terry Doyle: “I’ve trained my ass off for this fight and I’m coming to win”
This coming weekend see’s Ultimate Impact host their 12th show, with a packed line up of fights, and one of the championship fights on the evening features Terry Doyle as he aims to take home the lightweight championship.
Ultimate Impact 11 was a great event and those that were there will certainly 2nd that… for those that were here is a preview of what went down, and why UIC12 will be yet another great event:
Ultimate Impact 11 was a great event and those that were there will certainly 2nd that… for those that were here is a preview of what went down, and why UIC12 will be yet another great event:
Here is a breakdown of the fightcard for tonights event:
Current UIC welterweight champion Phil Wells fighting out of Swindon Vale Tudo will make his first defence after an impressive and dominate performance at UIC10 when he beat Rob Leybourne with an impressive TKO finish. Looking to take the belt from Phil is highly touted Adam Bousiff fighting out of Force MMA under veteran head coach Daz Jones. Adam scored one of the quickest finishes in Ultimate Impact history when he TKO’d Chris Astley following a pin point accurate hook and followed up with some heavy hammer fists before Leon Roberts stepped in!
In our first female championship fight, Laura Handy and Cheryl Fylnn will take to the cage to become the first ever UIC K1 champion! Laura has been on a tear recently winning her last 3 fights, all of which have been at Ultimate Impact Events and she has shown a determination that is rarely seen. Her style means that she never takes a backward step and just keeps coming round after round until her hand is raised at the end. However she will be taking on Cheryl Flynn who arguably has more technical striking and also keeps coming forward. Cheryl is known for her agressiveness and high volume style so this match up is set for fireworks, which ever lady takes it will have certainly earnt it.
Veteran UIC lightweight champion Wayne Drake seems to improve each and every time he steps inside the Ultimate Impact cage and is the perfect example of someone who does his talk inside the cage. Always very well prepared Wayne will most certainly have the grappling advantage over the heavy hitting challenger Terry Doyle. Terry has knockout power in both hands and Ultimate Impact fans will know all about it! This is a true grappler vs striker match and I personally can not wait to see who comes out the champion.
The rest of the card is as follows:
Chris Astley v Toby Hartman
Craig White v Jon Williamson
Mark Finney v Aaron Khalid
Jack Shore v Piotr Egert
Matt ‘George’ Hartill v Bryn Cooper
Cadre Abdulafur v Duane Barnes
Undercard:
Mason Carter v Nathan Powell
Camille Sch v Sophie Tidey
Lawrence Coates v Jack Price
Thomas Karpinski v Greg artis
Raymond Nelmes v Dan Reeves
Doors open at 4pm and the first fight is at 4.30pm, with the main card starting at 5.30pm.
Tickets are available, just use the link below to purchase your ticket, or tickets are available from the GL1 reception all day and throughout the evening.
Laura Handy is a 28-year-old married mother of one who lives in Stourbridge with her Husband and daughter Ayva [2]. On Saturday 28th June she will be fighting for Ultimate Impact [UIC 12] K1 Flyweight Title against Cheryl Flynn at GL1 Leisure centre in Gloucester.
Born in Wordsley and raised in Blackheath, Laura and her older sister who both used to swim for Oldbury Swimming Club, would train for four/five times a week then come the weekend it would be Gala time, ‘I think that is where my competitive nature comes from, not necessarily with my sister, but as we were always used to competitions with other clubs’.
Competiveness, I would say runs in the family with Laura, who, also has a younger brother [Dan] who is a black belt in Judo and has represented Team GBR in Judo in his teens, ‘Dan has not competed in the last few years due to university commitments but has travelled to Germany and Belgium amongst other countries whilst representing Team GBR’.
Laura currently trains out of Fury MMA in Stourbridge under head coach Ryan Norwood, who is a veteran in the sport, having had 10 professional fights going back to as early as 2002.
Laura being the very supportive wife that she is [Luke and Laura have been together for 11 years married for four of those years] used to go and watch husband Luke play football, ‘When we first moved into our house Luke would go and play a lot of football and I would always go and watch; stand on the side-lines in the rain, snow, sometimes the sun [laughs] and all I would hear about would be football’.
Deciding she was getting real bored of football pretty quickly, Laura needed to do something for herself, in steps, Ryan Norwood, who was advertising his new gym Fury MMA, it happened to be just around the corner from where Laura lived, she thought she would give that ago ‘I was the only girl there and got on really well with Ryan and the other lads that attended, I then got addicted to it really and trained for fun for a year before having time off to have my daughter Ayva. When I returned the same year [Oct 2012] Ryan asked if I wanted to fight, I was like ‘of course’ [laughs]’.
Having had no inter-club fights under her belt, Laura got straight into ‘fight’ training mode, for which Laura has already been making huge sacrifices for the sport she has now fallen in love with. Working full time [Thursday – Mondays] in Sales for a Building Contractor selling New Build Houses; her Husband Luke owns a Cleaning business in both the domestic and commercial field, whilst also spending as much quality time with two-year old Ayva as possible.
Laura fits her training in around the time Ayva has gone to bed and before she gets up in the morning so she is not missing out on spending time with her. That in itself is dedication. But, Laura took it one step further and added in weight training to her usual regime ‘I started going because my debut fight with Asha Patel was at 62kg. I was struggling to stay at 62kg, with all the extra training the weight was just dropping off so I thought of just going to lift some weights and I got in touch with a friend of mine Em, who used to train some body builders and she started training with me’.
Laura had her first K1 fight for Ultimate Impact Fight Night 1 on 10th August 2013 against Asha Patel and won via Unanimous Decision.
Next up was Ultimate Impact 10 and Laura’s opponent was Sammy Donnelly, fighting at 58kg in a K1 fight, so again Laura incorporated her new found ‘dedication’ of weight training into her routine. ‘The shape of my body has changed so much from just weight training, I like the look, the way my muscles fill out, and it is a little bit addictive [laughs], as soon as you start to see your body change you get addicted to that. At 58kg people said I looked scrawny and that was another reason, I wanted to build some muscle. I did not want to look scrawny or skinny at flyweight I just wanted to look toned and lean more than anything else. I am competitive not just against other people but with myself. Every time I go I like to do that very bit more, try a different thing just to push myself that little bit more, it’s all part of the training for me though, I wouldn’t go into a fight not knowing I haven’t put 100% in and I think that adds to my strength, agility and cardio. I find it does help with the weight cut as well. The more lean muscle you have the easier you have to drop your weight, well that is what I find anyway’.
Laura won her second K1 fight against Sammy Donnelly on 16th November 2013 at UIC 10 via Unanimous Decision. After that fight, it was announced that Laura would be fighting Anya Baker for the K1 Flyweight Title Eliminator on February 22nd 2014 on Ultimate Impact 11.
Laura fought Anya Baker on February 22nd 2014 at UIC 11 and won via Unanimous Decision, she would now be fighting Cheryl Flynn on June 28th at UIC 12 for the first ever female Flyweight K1 Title.
Learning from her past fights, Laura now knows how she is going to train for this title fight, ‘My problem with the way I dealt with Anya’s fight, was that I kept watching her fights over and over, therefore it did not help me with my nerves. This time my coaches will be the ones watching the tapes over and over and I will just go in their direction’.
Speaking of this Title fight I asked if Laura knew anything about Cheryl Flynn, ‘I know that she has had a couple of MMA fights lately and like I just said I’ve seen a couple of videos, I also watched the fight she had with Katie Sendall which was a while ago now and I respect anybody that is going to get in the cage and is going to fight anybody. Cheryl is a respected fighter, a good fighter; she knows what she is doing; to go up in a title fight against someone like Cheryl Flynn who has had as many fights as Cheryl Flynn has, is good for me and is good for my career in K1. I am excited to fight someone like Cheryl Flynn.’
Knowing that Laura will be filled with emotion for her Title fight on June 28th 2014 she stated, ‘When it was announced that it was going to be a title eliminator against Anya at UIC 11, I was so nervous I couldn’t get it out my head. I just needed to get through this fight first then concentrate on what happens next, but I suffer a lot with nerves; I will be a bag of nerves on the day. I think if you did not get nervous, it does not mean enough to you’. Also adding ‘before the last fight against Anya, Chris Hipkiss, Ryan Norwood and Adam Cartwright had a little chat with me about my nerves just to get me through the first 15 seconds and then said you will be fine; all through the day they had to keep saying little things to me. I was close to tears all day but I got there in the end’.
‘As a girl, I do wear my heart on my sleeve and I do tell people how I feel. The fight was quite near the end of the night as well; it is the whole build-up of it that makes me nervous; if I could just get in there be the first one on, get in and out and get it done I would probably feel a lot better about it but it is all part of it. Once I am in there, and the ref says off you go, I love every single second of it. It is just getting past those nerves to begin with. I do not want to make a fool of myself or let anyone down. Every fight I’ve gone into I know I have trained my hardest, and I have put in every hour I possibly can’.
Laura also gives a lot of credit to Ultimate Impact, ‘It means a lot that Paul Sutherland and Dan Richards have thought enough of the girls fights to think they need recognition for what we have achieved so far. I think all the girls’ fights on all of the UIC shows everyone has enjoyed them. Every single fight has been worth watching and matched fairly, it means a lot that Paul and Dan have put that together and said you guys are good enough to have a title shot at UIC’.
Laura would like to thank the following people:
Ryan Norwood, Chris Hipkiss, Wayne Drake, Karl Evans, Matt Harthill, Lee Sherwood, Adam Cartwright everyone at Fury MMA, my husband who has been to all my fights and does not moan that I am off out training all the time and my New Sponsor Armour Wash.
![Chi Lewis Parry One FC Walk Out [Photo Credit Cheryl Tay]](https://fiveroundswithemma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/chi-one-fc-walk-out.jpg)
Five Rounds with Emma 
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