![Chris Burridge headlines a show this month. Picture: Keegan Carroll Chris Burridge headlines a show this month. Picture: Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/7d1d3509-5231-4119-95b1-0996fac8c894.jpg/r0_367_5000_3189_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Benjamin Reid will never forget the night he stepped inside the ring with Chris Burridge.
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"I took him lightly, and he stopped me in the third round of a four-round fight," kickboxer turned fight promoter Reid said.
"From then on, nothing but respect. We became better friends than ever. Chris is obviously now one of my very best friends and I've got a lot of time and respect for him."
Which is why Reid now coaches the man who was once his adversary. It's why he has chosen Burridge to headline his upcoming Pandemonium Fight Night show at the Australian-Croatian Club on February 19.
Skilled kickboxer Burridge will face Sydneysider Oliver Hale at 72 kilograms in the main event, with the card also slated to feature a trilogy bout between Canberra's Sharnae Castillo and Katie Mitchell.
The Pandemonium show marks the return of the fight scene to Canberra after months punctuated by lockdowns and kicks off a hectic period for combat sports with Endouro Fight Series, Capital Fight Show and Hybrid Combat Series all to follow in the coming months.
But among every fighter poised to grace one of those cards, Burridge looms as one to watch.
So much so that having him in the main event is seen as a "feather in my cap" by Reid, who harbours a burning ambition to keep growing his show with the help of the Australian-Croatian Club.
"He works harder than anybody in the gym. I can't even put it into words, his work ethic and more so his attitude, he has one of the best attitudes towards combat sports that I have ever seen," Reid said.
"His dedication and tenacity is far greater than anybody I have ever met in the sport. He is what you would call a real professional fighter.
![Chris Burridge fights out of the Stockade Training Centre. Picture: Keegan Carroll Chris Burridge fights out of the Stockade Training Centre. Picture: Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/2cc859c7-ef27-440b-bc82-61f0200d7ac2.jpg/r0_256_5000_3078_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It means the world to me [to have Burridge in the main event]. I've been talking to Chris for some time now, since I started promoting, and this was always the plan, to get him to the headline.
"Obviously in the past I have promoted women in the sport, which I'll continue doing on this particular event as well, that's never going to stop.
"Chris would be one of the best fighters in Canberra in his weight class, if not the best. To have him on the card from a professional perspective is a feather in my cap.
"It's been earned by Chris, so I want him to have what he deserves. That will also mean my show is starting to produce some of the best bouts in Muay Thai and kickboxing for Canberra."