Fearsome Dutch kickboxer Tyrone Spong reappeared in the MMA world Saturday night at the World Series of Fighting 4. Facing off with the virtually unknown Angel DeAnda, Spong scored a convincing—but not especially impressive—unanimous decision victory.
From the very beginning of the fight, Spong peppered DeAnda with fearsome leg kicks. While DeAnda found homes for his counter-right, he had little answer to Spong’s superior striking.
The fight drew criticism across the Internet due to the clear difference between Spong and DeAnda in both technical prowess and size.
Spong owns an impressive 72-6-1 (1) record in kickboxing and owns wins over numerous well-regarded fighters, including WSOF president Ray Sefo. The 5’8″ DeAnda, whose biggest success in the cage has been standing, was dwarfed by Spong and was likely chosen due to the favorable stylistic matchup for the WSOF rising star.
Spong headed to Florida in 2012 to begin training for MMA with the Blackzilian camp, home to notable mixed martial artists such as Alistair Overeem, Vitor Belfort and Rashad Evans.
He remains one of the hottest prospects in MMA in spite of the uninspiring fight and is the clear-cut, biggest up-and-comer in the light heavyweight division. However, he still dedicates most of his time and training to kickboxing, fighting four times already in 2013 with another fight scheduled for October.
The next step for Spong remains unclear. WSOF remains very shallow on talent at 205 pounds. With the exception of Spong’s training partner, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, no other light heavyweights have fought more than once under the promotion’s banner.
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