Ballito’s champion fights his way to silver

South African junior champion Cameron Coulson returned with a silver medal from the SA national amateur MMA championships final match against Frank Wetdewich at the weekend.

Coulson lost on points after a fierce contest at the championships, held at CMH Suzuki in Umhlanga from March 5-8.

He was competing in the junior division of the championship and was the only fighter from Ballito, out of the 60 to 80 fighters from all corners of the country.

“Walking into the cage l felt confident, focused and ready. I felt I had done everything right then. The fight went the full nine minutes. I’ve never felt so fatigued in my amateur career. The first round was high paced and intense and l experienced adversity. The second round I clicked into the action and started implementing what l needed to do. Third round, I felt as if I had complete dominance and was controlling the fight,” said Coulson.

He said his fight was testimony that it’s important to finish a fight instead of leaving it to the judges.

“There were three judges, each one of them holding their views and opinions and that is why it is never safe to let the judges score. I and others felt that I had won. But it only makes me stronger and hungrier to be better. I take this as a lesson, not a loss.”

He congratulated his opponent and praised him for bringing out the best fight he ever had.

“I consider him a friend after the fight. It was a privilege to share the cage with him and we will also now be training together for further events especially world championships. We may have to fight again and that will be great,” said Coulson.

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