Matt Coakley (9-4) Team Roc, Raleigh, NC is the proud new owner of the previous vacant Bantamweight Title, which he quickly captured at “Rock at the Dock III” on May 14th during the co-main event. Matt truly was rocking the dock last night in Mooresville, NC by defeating Antonio Woodard by KO close to two minutes into the first round.
Matt was calm, cool and collected before entering the cage, after being given a pep talk by his trainers Billy Dowey and Jason Culbreth. Matt stated that his trainers lit a fire in his eyes that could not be controlled by a very inspiring pep talk prior to the fight.
Matt came out to “Welcome to the Jungle” and did his pre-victory dance to establish his dominance and to show he was ready to do work. His trainers told him no eye contact until your attack begins, and Coakley followed the directive to the letter. This upset his opponent because when it was time to touch gloves before the bell rang, Coakley said he felt disrespected because his opponent did not take the touch up seriously.
When the bout started, Coakley circled around Woodard and was hit with a heavy leg kick that was not checked by Coakley. Soon after that Coakley smashed his opponent into the cage and landed some heavy knee and thigh kicks approximately 10 times.
Coakley could tell he had done some damage and knew he was controlling the round. Unfortunately, Woodard suffered an unintentional kick to the groin area and after a recovery period was able to regain his composure and return to the fight.
Coakley observed heavy breathing from Woodard when the fight was restarted, and that was all he needed to go in for the kill. Coakley landed a leg kick to Woodard who then dropped his hands and Coakley came forward with a vicious right hook that landed right on the button, and that should have been the end of the fight, but the referee did not stop it there, so as any good fighter does Coakley dropped down and landed a few hammer fists. Finally the referee saw that Woodard was out cold and called the fight quick, fast and in a hurry.
What is next for Matt Coakley? He will be fighting in the SC ISKA Grand Prix, which will be held May 21st at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Then on June 25th Coakley puts his 135 TN ISKA and 135 3FC titles on the line against a very tough Len Cook (Absolute Jiu Jitsu, Bristol, TN). This event will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center, Knoxville, TN.
Mr. Coakley is a man on the move and definitely one to keep your eye on. He is one the list of movers and shakers all around the Carolinas and Tennessee. Congratulations on yet another great performance!
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