It was a very long day at Canadian Muay Thai League 5. Nima and I arrived there at 3 pm. Kru Arash, Coach Hamed and Ako had been there since the weigh ins in the morning. Andy, Jonah and their crew had been there since 2 pm.
Ako’s fight was number 17 on the chart which meant pretty much at the end of the day. I thought Ako must be anxious, nervous and restless. I asked Ako how he felt. He said “ I’m here to fight and I’m here to win. That’s what I do going into every fight so that’s what I’ll do today. I’m going to win”. I asked if he had met his opponent. “ I shook his hand. His hand was cold. He is scared”. He then pointed to his opponent, Ritik Karnwal, standing in the red area across the net. I found Ritik with my eyes.
I felt anxious, nervous and restless.
4:00 pm: Ehsan had arrived too. Ako had started to strategize. “ I’m going to finish him in 30 seconds. He won’t see it coming. Make sure you’re recording every second from the beginning because if you don’t, you’ll miss the ending. You’ll miss how he falls.
5:00 pm: Noah arrived too. Coach Hamed was going around throwing knees and keeping everyone on their toes. We were all watching the fights, some exciting and some not. Ako was still strategizing. “ I’m going to throw him over the ropes face down on the judges’ table, that’s what I’m going to do. Make sure you’re recording every second or you will miss it”. You could tell he was getting tired of the wait and looking for some excitement. Kru Arash was keeping him engaged, reminding him how to get out of a clinch and rubbing his shoulders.
6:00 pm: Ako is still strategizing. “ I’m going to finish it in 30 seconds. Throw him over the ring so high, he hits the wall. No! I’m going to sever his head and throw his head through the basketball hoop. We all looked up at the basketball hoop almost hanging over our heads. Kru Arash took Ako to put him down for a nap. As he was leaving, Ako said “there will be blood”.
7:00 pm Kru Arash and Ako returned. Ako was cold and oily. Ehsan had started discussing his diet and why he had lost 1 lb over the past month training very hard every night. Ako mentioned it might be because he eats enough for 20 people. Ako’s fight was coming up soon so Kru Arash took him to get wrapped up and warm up. We all followed them. Ako was in the zone.
8:00 pm: Ako was kneeling at the start of Tomaj Salehi’s song BATTLEFIELD, Kru Arash and Coach Hamèd on either side of him and the scene was epic. As Tomaj started singing Ako rose and started walking towards the ring and we all followed him.
8:15 pm: the bell rang. It felt as if Ako was safe in our home ring when I saw Kru Raj was refereeing the fight. Ako started throwing his heavy punches. The ones which hurt even through the pads. There were a couple of reverse kicks which landed giving Ritik a few shakes. But the punches were slowing Ritik down. Kru Raj stopped the fight a few times counting for Ritik. There was a jab that landed on his nose and the fight was stopped to cleanup the blood. Ritik pushed through the three rounds knowing he had lost. Solid fighter.
8:30 pm: Ako came down the ring hugging his gold cup. He lifted Kru Arash first and then gave each of us a hug. He turned to me and said “I told you there will be blood”.
Written by Tahmineh ✍️
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