Always on the look out for something new to report on, ExPix headed down to Colwyn Bay, North Wales in October 2011 to cover Battle in the Bay 7; a night of MMA and kickboxing action. Whilst MMA isn't something our readers usually see on the ExPix site, ExPix aren't exactly new to this area; we've been involved with martial arts for over 10 years and have done shoots with the likes of The Ultimate Fighter winner, Ross 'The Real Deal' Pearson, Next Generation fighter and Cage Warriors Female Title holder, Rosi Sexton and Leeds Cage fighter, Lisa Highgo. MMA is a different area of extreme sports but as a contact sport we think it's definitely extreme and certainly takes the same amount of time and dedication to be able to compete at any level.

Held at  Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre and hosted by The Pound, Edghill Kickboxers and WUMA Wales, the event was an adrenaline fueled night, where 28 fighters from clubs across the region battled it out in 14 bouts of MMA and kickboxing, ranging from Amateur, Semi Pro and Pro, together with the MMA Semi Pro Welsh Title.

The first thing we saw as we arrived at the event was the paramedics vehicles and as we entered the arena, the sight of the octagonal cage with the spot lights, the low lighting and ring girls certainly added to the atmosphere, proving a little too much for one of the ExPix team, especially as one of our very own was competing for the first time!

And the explanation of the MMA rules did little to help:

Amateur - no striking to the head whether stood up or on the ground, no elbows or knees to the head stood up or otherwise

Semi Pro - Striking to the head stood up but not on the ground, no elbows or knees to the head stood up or otherwise

Pro - Forget all of the above!!!!!!

So as the fighters entered the cage to an array of tunes, we took position ready to film and take stills of the action. We won't bore you with a a round up on each fight, we'll let the pics and film do the talking.

Oh and it was a win for the ExPix team!