Jojo is a great fighter and took the a split decision on the night. Fair enough. For what its worth, I felt Christi edged it, being the stronger fighter in rounds 3,4 and 5. Jojo definitely faded as the fight went on. Hey ho, thats just my opinion and its what close fights are made from!
However, for us the fight was ruined by the ref allowing illegal heel hook trips. It wasn't the occasional one, it was constant throughout the fight - four or five of them in every round. From memory, only one of the heel hooks actually struck Christies standing leg away, the rest were trips. I have no idea if the judges gave Jojo credit for the trips but regardless, it made a huge difference in the grapple where Christi's strength and especially knees to the head were spoiled every time. Add to that, the confidence Jojo must have felt with her corner and the audience roaring their approval. If the ref had have warned Jojo not to trip, the fight may not even have gone the distance. We will never know.

For my part, I complained (shouted!) to the ref throughout the fight., and in in between rounds I assured Christi that the trips were illegal and not to be disheartened by them. Afterwards, I asked the ref if he felt the trips legal? The conversation went: word for word
me "Were those heel trips legal?"
ref "You are not allowed to do judo style hip throws"
me "Yes, ok, but what about those heel trips?"
ref "You are not allowed to intentionally land on your opponent"
me "Ok?"
short silence
me " So were those heel trips legal?"
The ref smiles and shrugs and I take it that the question has been answered.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not contesting the result - it was a close fight and Christi enjoyed it. And I'm not having a go at Jojo, I'm certain she would have stopped tripping if the ref had told her. My complaint is to the application of the rules (or possibly my understanding of them?). I like the ref, its not a personal thing, and he has a huge amount of experience but someone was wrong. I will be writing an official letter of complaint to the sanctioning body and will be asking for a breakdown from the chief judge. This will be done in private with the sole aim of helping me to be the best coach I can. After all, if the sanctioning body says they are legal, Ive got to start training them too!

Thanks to Guy and his team (esp Hillary for ferrying us round), your hospitality was relaxed and impeccable. It was a great show. We would love to be invited back :-)

Rungs elbows were awesome. The stuff of nightmares!

Whens the DVD out?