Lion Fight 13: Van Soest vs Reece Announced
In the fierce world of women’s fighting, Lion Fight will step up in 2014 to give two of the best standup fighters in the world top honors as the first ever females to headline a Lion Fight event. As announced today by Lion Fight owner and CEO Scott Kent, reigning featherweight champion Tiffany Van Soest will attempt a second successful title defense against Australian Muay Thai Champion Caley Reece at Lion Fight 13.
Van Soest (8-0-1) fights out of Blue Ocean Thai Boxing in San Diego, California. She became the first ever women’s Lion Fight featherweight champion at LION FIGHT 10 with a show-stopping first round TKO over Lucy Payne. The fast-rising Muay Thai star and fan favorite Van Soest will look to increase her perfect record yet again against Australian Muay Thai World Champion Caley Reece.
“Every fighter dreams of fighting in the main event title fight, and to have this opportunity – especially as a woman – is a dream come true,” said Van Soest. “What means even more to me as a fighter is challenging myself against the best. I want that super hard battle to see what I am really made of and I know I will get that with Caley. I am looking forward to a tough fight and to my hand being raised at the end. Thank you Lion Fight and Caley Reece for this awesome event February 7 in Las Vegas!”
Multiple World Muay Thai Champion Caley Reece is no stranger in the world of fighting. Considered one of the greatest fighters in standup sports, the Australian native has held three World Muay Thai Council (WMC) titles and fought as a professional kickboxer. She is a legend in standup and has the experience, confidence and aggression to challenge the undefeated Van Soest for the Lion Fight featherweight strap.
“When Lion Fight called me about this title fight, I was immediately excited because I have what it takes to beat Tiffany Van Soest and take this belt back to Australia,” said Reece. “She is a talented, young fighter but I’ve got years of ring experience and my winning strategy already figured out. I look forward to coming to America and to this championship fight at Lion Fight 13.”
LION FIGHT 13 also features two much anticipated rematches, the first Kevin Ross vs. Matt Embree 2 and the second Coke Chunhawat vs. Rami Ibrahim 2. Ross and Embree first fought at Lion Fight 10 in a battle to determine who among the two was the best fighter in the world at 145-pounds. After five rounds of an evenly matched back and forth brawl, Embree emerged the winner via unanimous decision. Now, on February 7, the American Muay Thai superstar Kevin Ross looks for a rematch to prove himself the best, while Canada’s Embree plans to maintain his standing over Ross in the lightweight rankings.
Chunhawat vs. Ibrahim first took place in November 2011 as a Lion Fight co-main event. Despite both fighters knocking each other down (Coke’s knockdown of Ibrahim was ruled a controversial slip, not a knockdown), the five round fight was so evenly matched and action-packed that one of the judges ruled it a draw. Two other judges scored the fight for Coke resulting in a majority decision. Now, two years later, these fighters meet again to settle the score in a “winner takes all” (winner earns both fighter prize purses) rematch at LION FIGHT 13.
Also on the live card for LION FIGHT 13 is seven-time amateur Muay Thai champion Nick Chasteen, who makes an immediate return to the ring following his successful professional debut at LION FIGHT 12. Chasteen earned a unanimous decision victory over Chris Culley on November 1st, and now looks to increase his pro record to 2-0 in February.
Las Vegas local Josh Shepard, who last fought Damien Earley to a majority decision win at LION FIGHT 8, will take on San Francisco’s Daniel Kim who makes his Lion Fight debut in the second nationally televised fight of the night.
Kicking off the first fight on the main card, Las Vegan Jason Andrada makes an immediate return to the Lion Fight stage following his thrilling elbow to the chin KO over Mohammed Lemjerdine at LION FIGHT 12. Andrada looks to deliver another knockout of the night finish over New York’s Andy Singh, this time, at LION FIGHT 13.
