John Wai Martial Arts fighter Maurice “Mo” Morrison acquired the chance to struggle for his first Combined Martial Arts title shot and the 155-pound light-weight didn’t disappoint.
He entertained a house crowd and received a unanimous three-round resolution to take the Fight Night time MMA championship belt. The occasion was promoted by Prodigy Sports activities and Leisure.
Morrison is an teacher and fighter from the John Wai Martial Arts Academy in Plantation. He’s coached and educated by proprietor John Wai.
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It was a busy MMA schedule with 15 fights on the Fight Night time card on the Sway Nightclub in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The 25-year-old Morrison defeated a tricky and skilled fighter out of Miami, Chacho Trinadad, and is at present on a five-fight successful streak. His newbie report stands at 6-4-0.
Morrison and his youthful brother Daniel have been coaching within the artwork of Chinese language kung fu for the reason that age of 4 and have realized their martial arts craft on the John Wai Martial Arts Academy for the final 15 years. Morrison has received a championship title in Muay Thai and a event title in jiu-jitsu.
“This MMA title is extra gratifying as a result of I had a shedding streak and needed to overcome that to work my up for a title shot and now, I’ve a five-fight successful streak and a belt,” Morrison mentioned. “The distinction was all psychological. I’m locked in now and wasn’t overthinking something. I like large challenges and need to preserve testing myself.”
Morrison wasn’t overlooking his opponent and was targeted on the title struggle. There are various challenges that lie forward and South Florida has a popularity as top-of-the-line coaching grounds for MMA fighters.
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“My opponent had been combating just a little longer than I’ve and going into this I knew it was going to be a tricky struggle,” he mentioned. “I educated and was ready for a tricky struggle, and I received each spherical, however it was shut. He was the perfect boxer that I’ve fought and was very quick and highly effective along with his punches. I saved pushing him and was very aggressive. I lastly really feel I’m on my approach to the place I need to be. The final word objective is to be an expert world champion.”
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Apart from being coached by Wai, Morrison can also be educated and coached by Eric Morel in Muay Thai and MMA and Joe Watson who teaches fighters the artwork of wrestling. Having a supportive and educated group in his nook is paying dividends for the younger fighter.
After years of coaching within the artwork of Chinese language kung fu, Morrison later moved on to kickboxing and MMA. The Plantation resident shall be seeking to struggle one of many high fighters in Florida earlier than turning skilled.
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“I need all our fighters to struggle the perfect opponents, which can put together them for the longer term,” Wai mentioned. “His opponent was robust and it was a decent struggle. We labored on the jab and takedowns and Maurice is a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, so we had been very assured in his take-downs. We don’t need any straightforward opponents and wish the problem. All MMA fighters need to struggle the perfect and Mo is able to struggle once more.”
After a brief trip, Morrison shall be again coaching on the academy for a few upcoming alternatives that may contain one other title shot.
“Maurice is one in all my most technical fighters along with his putting, wrestling and his on the bottom abilities,” Wai mentioned. “His largest problem was the psychological recreation. He labored on that and made the mandatory enhancements. When Mo goes on the market and lets it unfastened, he’s a really robust fighter and may win standing up or taking it to the bottom.”
Fight Night time MMA is likely one of the largest promoters in Florida and has been conducting matches within the state for 10 years. They’ve hosted over 92 occasions and over 1,000 fights, which has offered alternatives for a younger technology of fighters.
Go to johnwaimartialarts.com.