Almighty FC is set to host their third show of 2022, following up two action-packed events that went down in Houghton le Spring and Barnsley.
The Olympia in Liverpool will be the next stop for promoter Ray Thompson, with Almighty FC 24 touted to be one of the best cards of the calendar year. The English based promotion has kept the fight announcements rolling out ahead of April 2nd with some spectacular bouts and a truckload of notable names within the UK MMA circuit.
Despite the hype around the fight card, there were two fight announcements that left Almighty fans scratching their head. Ray Thompson announced two title fights in the same division. One being a contest between Kurtis Campbell and Kyle Jones for the amatuer lightweight interim title. The other being an amateur lightweight title fight between Teddy Stringer and Tiarnan Loughran.
With some confusion as to why two title fights within the same division were on the line at Almighty FC 24 we spoke with promoter Ray Thompson to clear it up.
Teddy Stringer vs. Tiarnan Loughran
Kurtis Campbell vs. Kyle Jones
Ray Thompson Talks Amateur Lightweight Title Fights
“For the first time in our short history, we will have a title fight and an interim title fight for the same belt. This is very unusual. So I wanted to explain the circumstances.
“Before lockdown, Kyle Jones won on Almighty by KO, earning a title fight. He was due to face Teddy Stringer, but the fight was put on hold due to the pandemic. On our first show back, Kyle got injured. So the fight didn’t happen, and Teddy fought and won the vacant title.
“Due to commitments on other shows, we could never rebook that fight. We pencilled in AFC 24 to rebook this fight, but Teddy injured his hand in the world’s and could not commit.
“A deadline was set and missed for Teddy to get the all-clear. So it was agreed that Kyle Jones would face Kurtis Campbell. Campbell had been on a good run in other promotions and picked up multiple belts (UKFC and FCC).
“So we announced Kyle and Kurtis for the interim belt. About a week later, Teddy said he had been given the all-clear to fight. He was aware the deadline had passed, and we had already discussed the interim title, and he was on board with that happening, but Teddy was fit and also wanted to fight.
The Final Puzzle
“The final piece of the puzzle was Tiarnan Loughran was due to fight George Staines back in February. Unfortunately, George was pulled out due to illness. We wanted to push the fight back to Liverpool, but George was not going to be ready in time. So we offered Tiarnan the fight with Teddy.
“Now, we would never normally do a title and an interim title on the same show for the same weight class. This is why we wanted to explain why it had been done. Regardless of the situation, anyone who follows the UK scene will agree that Teddy Stringer v Tiarnan Loughran and Kyle Jones v Kurtis Campbell are two excellent fights despite the circumstances.”
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