By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville’s Prathet Muay Thai dojo took a number of fighters to the 7 Flags Event Center in Des Moines, Iowa, for the Muay Thai Classic T.B.A. Open over the weekend. More than 100 fighters showed in all, with the 34 highest-ranked fighters squaring off in the evening’s main card in a 17-bout extravaganza that was shown on online pay-per-view.
One of the fighters in the headlining event was Jacksonville’s Kayla Oudthone. The 17-year-old Jacksonville High School senior came in with an 8-4 record in the girls division, and made her debut in the women’s division against Dubuque, Iowa’s Jerica Veach, representing Team Singto.
Veach, also 17, made her adult debut with a record of 6-4. Insiders gave Oudthone the slight advantage before the match, citing slightly more experience over Veach, and a three-inch reach advantage.
Both fighters came into the event with two IKF belts in their possession, but were fighting for the vacant TBA Ladies’ super welterweight belt.
Oudthone versus Veach was the 11th bout on the card. The two fighters took to the ring at around 9:50 p.m. Oudthone came straight into the ring alongside her trainer and dad, David Oudthone, and would fight out of the blue corner. Veach made her way to the ring after Oudthone, briefly stopping outside of the ring to meditate before entering.
The two would fight in three, two-minute rounds to decide the North American ladies’ super-welterweight championship.
The opening moments of the fight were simply feeling out, as the two were separated during an early tie up before both fighters scored on a dual-takedown. Veach then took the first advantage of the contest, putting Oudthone in the ropes and hitting her with a flurry of knees to the abdomen.
Unfortunately for Oudthone, the early attack by Veach was simply a sign of more things to come. Oudthone survived the initial attack, but was not able to put together a lot of offense of her own in the bout.
Veach went back to trying the knees on Oudthone to start the second round, but Oudthone tied up with her. Oudthone tried for a takedown, but Veach was able to block the attempts.
The action stayed inside for the most part. Veach did move outside long enough to land a kick-jab combo that briefly stunned Oudthone, who looked completely winded by the ladder stages of the second round. The round ended in a tie-up, but the two-minute frame undisputedly belonged to Veach.
The third round would also be all Veach, although Oudthone did score her biggest points of the night in the round with a takedown on Veach in the early stages of the final round after a flurry of punches from Veach to start out the frame.
Veach quickly recovered from the takedown, only to answer with another succession of knees to the stomach of Oudthone, resulting in a standing eight-count on Oudthone as the bout came to an end.
The domination in the match showed on the judges cards. All three judges scored the bout 30-26 in favor of Veach.
“It was kind of a disappointing trip,” said David Oudthone, Kayla’s father and trainer. “She was told early in the match that it was illegal to hook the leg. We thought it was a traditional rules Thai fight where hooking was allowed. The official told us after the fight that is was legal, but it threw Kayla’s whole strategy off for the match. She’s going to fight in Memphis in two weeks, so she’s looking to bounce back.”
Oudthone will take on Micah Duncan in an International rules IKF in preparation for the World tournament in Orlando, Florida later this summer.
