School of Hard Knocks 31: Estevan Review
Central Canada’s top MMA promotion returned as Hard Knocks Fighting Championship presented School of Hard Knocks 31: Estevan, at the Spectra Place. The action packed 13-bout amateur card featured 11 finishes showcasing many of the top up and coming superstars of the Great White North. HKFC is the top proving ground for rising prospects in Western and Central Canada and the 31st installment delivered another great night of fights once again.
In the main event, Devon “The Giant Killer” Smith (6-1) from Prestige Worldwide defeated Kevin Legasse (3-2) from I&C Kickboxing/Team Extreme via TKO in round one do to a dislocated shoulder to win the HKFC Light Heavyweight Championship. This makes 6 wins in a row for Smith, all by stoppage. Smith stuffed a takedown attempt in the early going. Legasse was persistent in his attempt, trying to drive through Smith’s sprawl to put the bigger Smith on his back. In the scramble for positioning, Smith grabbed a kimura on Legasse as the fighters continued to battle in the standup game. Legasse twisted out of the move and once again went for a takedown attempt, this time a single leg. Smith shook off the takedown attempt again and went for a standing arm in choke that served more to halt Legasse’s takedown attempt. Smith transitioned to a guillotine that Legasse fought off as the fighters fell to the mat for the first time in the fight. Legasse was hurt by this point and mostly covered up as Smith scored with some ground and pound. The fight was called off after the first round do to Legasse’s arm being dislocated. It wasn’t clear when the injury occurred, if it was when the fighters fell to the mat or just a freak accident, but either way, it was a solid win by Smith who now holds two titles in HKFC, the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles.
In co-main event, David Swanson (4-1) out of Winnipeg Academy of MMA defeated Chris Chapman (4-2) representing Arashido via split decision in a razor thin high action fight, to win the HKFC Lightweight Championship. Early in the fight, both fighters were energetic as they landed strikes and had solid wrestling games when the fight hit the mat. Swanson was able to land more takedowns throughout the fight which helped him score points for the majority of the fight. But in round five, Chapman controlled Swanson on the mat by keeping Swanson pinned on the canvas, while also looking to improve his position as he stayed on top of Chapman for the duration of the bout making the final decision very difficult to score. Both fighters have a lot to be proud of as they had the same energy in round 5 as they did in round 1. Maybe a rematch is in the works for down the line, which will be a win-win for the fans of HKFC.
Don’t miss this electrifying event featuring Western and Central Canada’s finest MMA athletes as Hard Knocks Fighting Championship presents School of Hard Knocks 31: Estevan. Order the show and own it for life on video on demand only on GFL.tv.
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