KICKBOXING
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Wollongong Muay Thai fighters David Penimmpede and Mitch Brisbane won't be slowing down after both brought home NSW State titles earlier this month.
The pair, training under Danny Jones at DragonFit Fight Club, won unanimous decisions under full Thai rules to bring home their respective straps but Jones won't be letting them rest in the coming month.
"The title comes along with the win but I'm more concerned with the quality of opponents.
"My philosophy is keep them busy and it'll keep the quality up," Jones said.
Penimmpede overcame an early onslaught from 200-fight karate veteran Scott Chassey to claim the light-heavyweight (79kgs) title with superior work in the clinch.
"David's fight was a really hard fight because he was a pretty strong guy who'd stopped most of his opponents in the first round," Jones said.
"He came out hard in the first two to three rounds ... which we expected.
"We really worked on tying him up in the first round and kneeing and elbowing back. It worked pretty well because David's strong in the clinch and he throws good elbows.
"David cut him with an elbow in the third round and, in the last two rounds, he threw really good combinations and the longer the fight went, the stronger he got."
Brisbane fought a more technical fight to overcome Sydney-based Terry Kounsavat to secure the 63.5kg title.
"It was a really good fight but it was really technical," Jones said.
"He performs his best against other technical opponents and he really fought the perfect fight and he won four of the five rounds.
"He [Kounsavat] came forward with a lot of elbows but Mitch was just too smart for him.
"He used a lot of push kicks to back him up and dropped him in the third with good leg kick."
Penimmpede won his follow up bout two weeks ago by TKO via leg kicks and the pair will feature on the Taipan Unleashed card at the Portuguese Community Club on August 15.