Highlight Video: Eersel Ices Nattawut at Knockout-Filled Lion Fight 29

Jo Nattawut was supposed to defend his Lion Fight super welterweight title Friday night inside Foxwoods Resort and Casino on AXS TV. But the Lion Fight 29 main event had some turmoil as “Smokin” Jo’s opponents kept falling through, leaving the popular Thai fighter to settle for a final replacement opponent on two weeks’ notice.

As it turned out, Nattawut might have been better served to just sit the event out as Dutch fighter Regian Eersel didn’t just topple the champion, he knocked him dead in the final round.

Nattawut’s title wasn’t on the line; their encounter was a non-title bout at middleweight. But that didn’t deter Eersel (40-4, 15 KOs) from fighting like a belt was on the line against his heavily-favored adversary. Though Nattawut won a few rounds on the scorecards, Eersel took the fight to him and applied pressure throughout.

A lead left elbow through the guard, followed by a straight right, dropped Nattawut (56-6-2, 18 KOs) in the second. The Thai star suffered a cut from the combo but he wasn’t hurt by it. Nattawut eventually found his rhythm in the middle stages of the fight, but needing the final frame to probably win the decision, Nattawut reached a little too far during an exchange. Eersel missed a rocket of a right hand but he followed it up with a vicious head kick, dropping “Smokin” Jo flat on his back. Veteran referee Dan Miragliotta ended his count halfway through, officially signaling an end to the battle at the 2:02 mark of the fifth.

Ognjen Topic also scored a sizeable upset in the co-main event as he out-pointed fellow lightweight Dechsakda Sitsongpeenong (67-28-4) over five rounds, the only bout on the main card that went the distance. The duel was as close as they come but a third-round knockdown of the Thai fighter from a left hook was the difference. In the end, Topic (19-11, 5 KOs) was awarded the victory via majority decision with scores of 47-47, 48-46 and 49-45.

Lightweight Julio Pena continuously tried to goad Travis Clay into a brawl and when he finally did, he paid the price. Clay (2-0) scored the first knockout of his professional career by starching Pena (4-1, 3 KOs) with a missile of a left kick to the head, knocking the deputy sheriff completely out. The official time of the knockout came at 2:45 of the second.

It took featherweight John Nofer (8-1, 7 KOs) a while to get his offense going but when he did, he wasted little time in dispatching Jared Tipton. After dropping the first few rounds based on limited activity, Nofer drilled his foe with a crushing body shot, slamming his left shin deep into Tipton’s liver. Referee Bryan Minor counted Tipton (1-2) out, officially ending the fight at 1:57 of the fourth.

Welterweight prospect Asa Ten Pow looked like a 10-year veteran against Bryce Lawrence as he picked him apart in every aspect of the duel. Ten Pow (2-0) destroyed his opponent’s left leg with a ruthless barrage of low kicks, turning the limb into a multi-colored kaleidoscope of bruises and welts. Finally, with Lawrence (2-2) barely able to stand and taking punishment in a corner, Miragliotta had no choice but to halt the mugging at 1:34 of the fourth.

Diego Llamas had to pick himself up off the canvas when he was dropped by a spinning back elbow midway through the second before he opened the Lion Fight 29 telecast with a sensational knockout. PJ Sweda had gotten a bit overzealous in trying to put his adversary away, eventually walking right into a perfect counter left hook. The punch sent Sweda (1-1) face-first into the bottom rope, completely out. The fight ended at 2:42 of the frame, allowing Llamas to improve to 7-2 with 6 KOs.