Ole Laursen beats Eduardo Pachu to win Lightweight Championship Belt in mixed martial arts

By Dr Low Sze Sen/Red Sports

Resorts World, Sentosa, Wednesday, May 12, 2010 – Please, do not try this in the void deck!

The first in a series of Asia’s Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Fighting Championship was held over two nights at Resorts World with five scheduled fights on each night.

MMA is a combination of various fighting styles which include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, Kickboxing, Sanda and Judo.

Exponents battle it out in a show of strength and agility and often brutal overpowering of their opponents in a circular caged ring.

There was a good turn out for Singapore’s first MMA Fighting Championship although the atmosphere in the Compass Ballroom was a little subdued. Indeed, there were several rows of empty seats in the mid-range priced zones. Perhaps Singaporeans have not yet settled into the sport of Combat Mixed Martial Arts.

Unlike professional wrestling, MMA is explosive and unpredictable and more akin to boxing. In a society that is trying to be more gracious, one needs to re-condition the mind’s attitude to getting excited over ‘beating the hell out of your opponent’. Then again, perhaps the crowd did not and could not get into the boisterous mood of the night because the first four bouts were surprisingly short lived.

To emphasize the point, the first four bouts did not pass beyond the first round with the fastest occurring in the Light Heavyweight bout between Nick ‘The Holligan’ Mellor of the UK and India’s Bhupesh ‘Maratha Warrior’ Kamble.

“I was too fast for him,” retorted Kamble who vowed to return to entertain the crowds in the future. It took all of 22 seconds to connect a knockout punch to Mellor, sending ringside medics scurrying into the cage to attend to ‘The Hooligan’.

Similarly, Wictor Swensson’s guillotine choke hold on Seung Hyun Choi was so impressively executed just 30 seconds into the first round that the Korean took over two minutes to recover and regain his composure from the near black-out experience. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries that needed the attention of the well-prepared medical team from the Changi Hospital Department of Sports Medicine led by Singapore’s Olympian and sports physician Dr Ben Tan.

Supporters from our local Evolve Gym had much reason to celebrate as their Brazilian fighter ‘Little Brother’ Leandro Brodinho Issa made a quick meal out of China’s Jiang Long Yun by getting him to submit to an arm-bar hold mid way through the first round. Issa’s victory, the first bout of the evening, gave the partisan Singapore crowd much to cheer about.

The Main Event was the Lightweight Superfight Championship Belt showdown between Ole Laursen, a World Champion kickboxer, and Eduardo Pachu, a Muay Thai specialist.

Scheduled for five five-minute rounds, this was the most evenly matched bout with both fighters exhibited much skill in ground fighting positions and moves to topple and overpower their opponent. It was ‘Iron Fist’ Laursen who took full advantage of the tussle in the third round and secure victory by applying a rear-naked submission choke hold on Pachu.

Bouts on 12 May 2010
Featherweight
Jiang Long Yun (China) v Leandro Issa (Brazil)

Lightweight
Yang Fei (China) v Sabah Fadai (Philippines)

Middleweight
Wiktor Swennson (Sweden) v Seung Hyun Choi (Korea)

Light-Heavyweight
Nick Mellor (UK) v Bhupesh Kamble (India)

Main event Superfight
Lightweight
Ole Laursen (Denmark) v Eduardo Pachu (Singapore)

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