Aeron MMA FC held their first show last night in Rhyl. The show took place inside the Rhyl Pavilion, and was a hit with Welsh fans.
Not only did we see a decent amount of fans turn out for the show, but we also saw a fair few Welsh prospects fighting. The turnout was impressive considering the fact this was Aeron’s first show, and it was Easter Sunday. The promotion also had Welsh TV channel S4C on board.
S4C sent camera crews out the the Pavilion, and filmed the night, capturing the fights, the fans, and everything that went on behind the scenes. The footage they shot is set to be aired on Wednesday at 9:30pm. Although a blessing, having S4C there inevitably caused a little bit of stress, but Aeron dealt with it perfectly, and the show ran without any problems.
The amateur preliminary card featured a number of fun fights, including MMA, Boxing, and K-1; How much more could you want? The lone K-1 bout was a hit with fans as head kicks were thrown, and landed, time and time again. That bout ended in the first round, but was definitely one of the funnest fights of the night to watch.
Usually, at shows, big or small, you see staff running round backstage, looking panicked and busy, but last night I didn’t see any of that. Being backstage for most of the night, I saw a lot of the staff working the event, but the majority of them were calm, and seemed to know what they were doing.
All of the fighters I spoke to both on and off camera never had a bad word to say about the show, with most saying it was smoothly run, and they had been treated well throughout the night and since they signed to fight.
Speaking to UFC Bantamweight Brett Johns, he admitted that he was delighted to see more promotions in his home country of Wales, adding that it’s even better that they’re sprouting up in the North.
The crowd turn out was surprisingly good considering it was a Sunday, a bank holiday, there was limited public transport, and it was the first show the promotion had held. An overall very good night was capped off by Gavin Kelly’s first round stoppage in the main event.
Kelly brought a lot of fans with him, and it showed when he walked out, and then finished the fights, with banners being shown, and the crowd going crazy.
