A captivated crowd of more than 300 people packed North Field, National Sports Centre, on Saturday night for the inaugural Devil’s Isle Fight Championship.

With a vibrant atmosphere evident for the whole night, the 16 fighters on the card did not disappoint, serving up a night of exceptional skill and non-stop action.

In the main event, Jibreel “Anszar” Talbot defeated fellow Bermudian Jashun Thomas by submission in the first round of their welterweight mixed martial arts bout.

“It was good to get the victory as we’ve been working hard the whole week,” Talbot told The Royal Gazette.

“We knew he is a taekwondo guy and was going to do a lot of kicking. We were waiting for the kicks and set him up.

“It was his first MMA fight, so we knew grappling was not his best. We were just waiting for a good time to choke him out, he gave it to us early and we took it.

“He was a strong fighter, had it not been for that, I would have had that choke a lot sooner. He fought me off for a long time, but I was able to switch hands and once I got the second one in, it was done.”

“Shout out to my corner, Fight City Muay Thai, family, friends, Muslim community and all the fans who showed their support.”

In the penultimate fight, Ishaan Rangta subdued Tristan Burgess in the first round. While the result did not go his way, Burgess enjoyed his maiden fight in a cage.

“My first time fighting MMA was not what I expected,” the 18-year-old said.

“I lost by submission but I loved the experience and I think I definitely want to do it again. He beat me because his grappling was better. When we go back to the gym, it’s to work on our grappling some more.

“It’s an honour that I was chosen and I was able to get a match for this event. I would definitely love to be part of the Devil's Isle Fighting Championship some more.

“I love how the event was put on and the effort that the promoter went through to get this on.”

There were some teething issues for the event as a mix-up in the scores initially handed victory to birthday boy Lucas Morello. However, the 20-year-old’s celebrations were cut short when fellow American Elvis Garcia was brought into the cage to be announced as the winner of the Muay Thai fight.

Jay Astwood secured a third-round knockout victory over Cole Durham in a kickboxing contest.

“I thought it was a good fight,” Astwood said.

“Not something that I practised but it paid off in the end. I actually took that out of the book, it connected well and I got the job done.

“Cole Durham was a very tough opponent and came in very aggressive, as expected. It took me a while to make the adjustments, but once I did, I was able to break him down.

“I took this fight on three weeks’ notice, so I didn't do as good as I expected myself to do. But I stuck to the basics, stuck to the game plan and it paid off for me.

“It was a beautiful turnout, I had a lot of support here and I’m very thankful for that. First cage fight in Bermuda was a huge success and I’m looking forward to the next one.”

In a kickboxing match characterised by a lot of holding from both fighters, Che Durham won by a unanimous points decision over Matisse Bascome, who was making his debut.

In the only female match, Haelyn Marquez, from Canada, was victorious by unanimous points decision over Bermudian Enzi Johnston in a kickboxing contest.

Johnston appreciated the opportunity to fight against a highly-decorated opponent as she prepares to represent Bermuda at the Pan American Wushu Championships, to be held in Argentina from October 5 to 10.

“It was a tough match and I really liked her performance, but I also really liked mine too,” the 17-year-old said.

“I think my loss helped highlight the things that I need to work on for my upcoming fights, so I’m really appreciative of the opportunity I had.

“She got a lot of head punches. I should have kept my hands up more, had a lot of front kicks and I think I should have defended more.

“I feel like I just needed to do more defending on my part. I didn’t do as much defending as I needed to do, it’s something that I have been working on but clearly I need to work on it more.

“I’m so glad I had this fight here because I had support in the crowd because it’s my home country.”

Despite enjoying a lot of support from his Teachers Rugby Football Club coaches and team-mates, Jahmali Bridgewater lost on points to Preston Ruston.

In the first match of the night, Ryan Hopkins, the brother of one of Bermuda’s top cyclists, Kaden Hopkins, was subdued by Mac Kukowski in the second round of their grappling showdown.

Na’twuan “Nate” Fisher, the event organiser, acknowledged the fans who came out in their numbers.

“I would say that the fighting community in Bermuda is pretty good,” Fisher said.

“We definitely have a market for this on island and I think we have a fanbase to build from. I would say we had 300 to 400 people and we are looking to grow from here.

“All the fights were great and the knockout by Jay was a crazy one. Then the MMA fights, I think we have a lot of stuff to do in Bermuda and for the next one, we’re going to try to grow the fight card a bit more.”

Sports minister Owen Darrell, who witnessed most of the action, commended Fisher and his team for putting together a great show.

“It was a great job by the organisers,” Darrell said.

“I did have a quick chat with Na’twuan and a couple of other people that are part of his team. We’re going to have a discussion to see what is needed to do more stuff like this.

“It’s good to see these guys taking part in different disciplines. There was a little bit of MMA, kickboxing and some Muay Thai.

“As you would know, they do a lot of training on island but in order to have fights of this calibre, they have to go off island.

“It’s really good to see the organisers being able to get this sponsorship together to put on something in Bermuda that we normally only see on television.

“We look forward to more stuff like this and because these organisations are national sports governing bodies, the government will support them.”