Finn Welch strikes against Johnny Craig on his way to winning the WBC MuayThai British Title
Finn Welch strikes against Johnny Craig on his way to winning the WBC MuayThai British Title
A new WBC MuayThai British Champion was crowned to cap a fantastic night of fights at Victory 14.
View this post on Instagram
The main event on June 7th at the Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle saw two of the best young fighters in the UK go back and forth as Finn Welch challenged Johnny Craig for the belt.
The pace was high immediately and both men had success, but round two brought an even higher pace. Welch scored with powerful kicks, but Craig made his mark when he responded by closing the distance to connect with punches.
By round three, the momentum seemed to be doing in Welch’s favor. He was coming inside to take the initiative in the clicnh, and his elbows were always a threat.
As the fight moved into the fourth round, the action was just as intense as in the first. Welch was in a groove and continued to boss the clinch exchanges, and by now, he had found his range to score regularly with punches as well as kicks.
Round five could have been the time to play it safe for Welch, but he never stopped attacking. He consistently struck first and showed dominance by forcing Craig onto the back foot.
The judges scored the contest 50-47, 50-47 and 50-48 for the man from Northern Kings gym, who followed in his brother’s footsteps by claiming a WBC belt in the Victory ring.
View this post on Instagram
A battle of big men saw Brian Houston take on Danford Peters, and every strike that landed left a mark in the opening rounds as kicks to the body and legs caused visible damage to both men.
The intensity picked up at the start of round three as Peters came out of his corner looking to add to the damage to Houston’s leg, but Houston adjusted and began to dominate.
He was picking his shots well. By round five, he was in total control as Peters ran out of gas and ideas. After five rounds, all three judges scored the matchup in favour of Houston.
View this post on Instagram
A clash of world-ranked warriors saw Jack Bullock and Dan Bonner fight tooth and nail for the UK #1 spot.
Bonner began the fight by landing a lot of hard low kicks, while Bullock closed the distance to bang the body with punches.
Bullock stayed on the front foot and put his opponent against the ropes to land punches, but Bonner fought very well on the back foot. He scored with accurate boxing and non-stop kicks.
The contest caught fire in round three. Bonner scored a knockdown when he landed a lifet high kick, but Bullock fought back and rocked Bonner with a heavy elbow that caused a big cut above the left eye. Bullock pounced, but Bonner stayed on his feet to win the round.
The momentum was with Bullock in round four as he put Bonner in the corner, teed off with heavy shots, and scored with some sweeps.
The final round was a war as both men left everything in the ring as Bullock chased the knockout he needed to get his hand raised. He landed some more big shots, but Bonner used all of his experience to consistently land kicks and defend the most dangerous strikes that came his way.
Bonner proved why he is WBC MuayThai World Champion by coming out with a unanimous decision after being pushed all the way by Bullock.
View this post on Instagram
Yasmin Nazary versus Daniella Miranda saw two of the top five bantamweights in the UK battle for five competitive rounds.
Nazary started the night as the #4 bantamweight, two places behind Miranda, but she started strongest in the first couple of rounds by coming forward and imposing persistent offence.
Miranda stayed active with robust offence, but she could do little to stop Nazary picking her shots and taking a clear lead.
As the fight went on, Miranda had more success, but despite her power, she never seemed to hurt Nazary, who didn’t lose a single round to her rival.
The judges gave Nazary a wide decision win that she earned with one of the best performances of her career.
View this post on Instagram
Tyler McKenzie has earned a reputation as an action fighter, and he showed why against Matty Wrightson.
McKenzie was in attack mode from the first bell and looked like he was going for a quick finish, but Wrightson weathered that early storm and soon started to work his way into the fight with some fine technical work.
His left kick was key as it scored and stopped McKenzie from attacking with the ferocity that he wanted to.
The start of the final round looked a lot like the first as McKenze flew out of the traps, but once again, Wrightson started to dictate the pace and rhythm of the contest.
After five rounds, Wrightson emerged with his hand raised via unanimous decision.
View this post on Instagram
Callum Patterson and Logan Chan went to war for five rounds in one of the best fights to take place in the Victory ring.
Patterson landed some huge shots early on, but they didn’t seem to faze Chan, who oozed composure and banked points as he controlled the ring for significant stretches.
Powerful leg kicks marked up Patterson’s lead leg in two, and knees from the clinch also damaged the body in round three, but Patterson never stopped attacking and scoring with punches. Some ferocious boxing saw him make his mark on the contest throughout rounds three, four and five.
Despite Patterson’s efforts, Chan had the edge. He opened a cut above Patterson’s left eye with an elbow in round four and continued to target the wound until the final bell.
“Dragon” had stopped using the leg kicks that had been so effective in the early exchanges, but he scored with just about every other technique from the art of eight limbs to claim a well-deserved unanimous decision.
View this post on Instagram
The final fights of the 2025 Victory League also took place at Victory 14 and delivered some dramatic results.
Harrison Degnan was on top of the league in the welterweight division going into the final round, but he had to pass a stiff test against Mohamed Raya from Spain to stay there.
Despite Raya coming in on short notice, Degnan was forced to work hard to make his mark. However, after an even first round, the Northern Kings representative won round two and looked to be on course to claim the title.
He stayed ahead after another even round in the third, but Raya tore up the script when he scored a knockdown off a right hand early in the fourth. He then jumped on Degnan straight after the restart to put him on the canvas for the second time, seconds later.
Degnan got up again and tried to fight his way out of trouble, but Raya pounced once again to get a decisive third knockdown and earn an impressive TKO win.
View this post on Instagram
In the division’s other fight, Cameron Liddle started the night just one point from the top of the league, but he ended up in first place after a great fight with Tyler Weeks.
The first round was a draw, but Liddle won the second thanks to a huge overhand right that caught Weeks on one leg and resulted in a knockdown.
Weeks came back into the contest and got onto the front foot, but he could only win one round. One more round for Liddle gave him the victory after an action-packed final stanza, which saw each man snap the other’s head back with punches.
Liddle claimed four points (two for rounds won, two for winning the fight), leaving him with 14 league points and a cheque that made him £1,000 richer.
View this post on Instagram
The Featherweight Victory League bouts began with Sam Windas and Christian Finnegan level at the top of the table, with Darren James in with an outside chance of winning the grand prize.
In the decisive fight, late replacement Daniel Furlan showed he wasn’t just in Newcastle to make up the numbers when he stunned Finnegan with an impressive comeback win.
The Spaniard tried to impose his height advantage with some strong clinch attacks and teeps at the start of the fight, but Finnegan set a high pace and scored with boxing.
The first and second rounds were drawn, but Finnegan’s body shots paid off as he won round three when Furlan started to tire.
However, despite just three weeks to prepare, Furlan had the cardio to find a second wind, get back on the front foot, and rock Finnegan’s head back with heavy shots to take rounds four and five. That secured the unanimous decision.
View this post on Instagram
That result meant Windas became league champion thanks to his decision victory over James.
Windas was aggressive from the first bell as he marched forward and tried to impose himself in the clinch.
James did a good job of shutting him down and using his boxing to score, which meant rounds one and four were drawn. However, Windas’ success gave him rounds two and three.
That left James needing a KO in the final round, but Windas won that, too. He stayed composed, defended well, continued to score and showed a strong chin when he was caught with a big hook.
Windas earned five points overall (three for rounds won and two for the victory), which left him with 15 points and a four-figure cheque.
Full results for Victory 14 are listed below.
Tickets for Victory 15 on October 18th are now available from our website. To stay updated with announcements, follow us on social media and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
69.8kg WBC MuayThai British Title 5×3 min rounds: Finn Welch def. Johnny Craig via decision
83kg A-class Muay Thai 5×3 min rounds: Brian Houston def. Danford Peters via decision
78kg A-class Muay Thai 5×3 min rounds: Dan Bonner def. Jack Bullock via decision
53kg A-class Muay Thai 5×3 min rounds: Yasmin Nazary def. Daniella Miranda via decision
66kg A-class Muay Thai 5×3 min rounds: Matty Wrightson def. Tyler McKenzie via decision
65kg A-class Muay Thai 5×3 min rounds: Logan Chan def. Callum Patterson via decision
Welterweight Victory League 5×2 min rounds: Mohamed Rayan def. Harrison Degnan via TKO in round 4
Welterweight Victory League 5×2 min rounds: Cameron Liddle def. Tyler Weeks via decision
Featherweight Victory League 5×2 min rounds: Daniel Furlan def. Cristian Finnegan via decision
Featherweight Victory League 5×2 min rounds: Sam Windas def. Darren James via decision
70kg C-class 3×2 min rounds: Connor Partridge def. Dale Mason via decision
78kg C-class 3×2 min rounds: Annuman El Archi def. Aaron Derbyshire via decision
78kg N-class 3×2 min rounds: Kevin Ord def. Scott Robson via points
62kg C-class 3×2 min rounds: Paul Botezatu vs. Lewis Tabard – draw
95kg+ N-class 3×2 min rounds: Jackson Turner def. Byron Crabb via decision
66kg N-class 3×2 min rounds: Journaid El Archi def. Finlay Kaid via decision
82kg N-class 3×2 min rounds: Divin Batshika def. Harry Brown via decision
72kg N-class 3×2 min rounds: Derek De Barros def. Ben Myers via decision
59kg Amateur K-1 rules 3×2 min rounds: Louie Wright vs. Dan Penman – draw
