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Avalanche junior KO'd by shady fighter

Avalanche MMA's Ryley Johnson had an opponent who was not overly concerned with the conventional niceties between fighters, at Warpath 3 in Chilliwack, B.C.
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CHILLIWACK, B.C.

Avalanche MMA’s Ryley Johnson had an opponent who was not overly concerned with the conventional niceties between fighters, at Warpath 3 in Chilliwack, B.C. on Friday.

At the start of the fight, when Johnson went to touch mitts with his opponent as a sign of respect, Gagan Gill from Mumba MMA in Abbotsford, B.C., forewent the custom, opening with a kick and effectively stealing the fight’s momentum.

“Right at the beginning of the fight I brought my hand up, thinking he was going touch gloves, but right away he started kicking,” said Johnson. “I started to throw some kicks and took him down, but he managed to flip over. I tried to submit him but that’s all I remember after that.”

Though Gill, 16, said he did touch mitts - an obvious lie for anyone who saw the fight - he did add: “A fight’s a fight ... I don’t care, they can say whatever they want. I’m not going to see him again.”

In the junior division fight for the 145-pound weight class, Johnson, 15, managed to recovery a bit from Gill’s premature attack, exchanging some blows in the corner. But soon after, Gill had Johnson on the matt, knocking him out from a mounted position 58 seconds into Round 1.

It was both fighters’ first amateur bout and the first junior bout for the Whitehorse gym.

“When I found out I lost in the change room I was pretty discouraged, but now I’m just more pumped to fight than before,” said Johnson, the son of Avalanche owner/operator Cliff Schultz. “It was a good experience. I just need to be a little more cautious at the beginning and train harder so I can be victorious next time.”

“I did what my coaches told me and that’s it,” added Gill. “It was good fight.”

Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com