Korean Jong Man Kim beats American Aaron Steele to win martial combat title

Story and photos by Dr Low Sze Sen

Restorts World Sentosa, Wednesday, June 16, 2010 – Jong Man Kim of South Korea won the featherweight title in the fifth and final round against American Aaron Steele.

Their fight was the main draw in the third instalment of the Resorts World Sentosa Martial Combat.

Jong is a veteran of many fights, and having tasted 34 victories, was favourite to win. However his recent run of defeats at the hands of Japanese fighters gave his opponent Aaron Steele determination to put up a good show. The fighters were evenly matched in size, speed and agility and the large crowd at the Compass Ballroom were treated to a pulsating fight with neither fighter getting the upper hand for the best part of the first four rounds.

On several occasions Steele managed to take Jong down to the canvas but the experienced and powerful Korean managed to overcome his disadvantage by sheer strength and guile. Despite being visibly exhausted, both men fought hard in the fifth and final round.

Jong took advantage of a lapse in Aaron’s defense and brought the American down for a ground fight. This was followed up with a barrage of ground and pound strokes to which the American had no answer. The referee stopped the bout with less than a minute left and the win went to ‘Special Force’ Jong.

In the post-fight interview, the champion gave much credit to his opponent for not having any exploitable weaknesses. He was planning to dispose of Steele early in the match and hadn’t expected it to go all five rounds. His daily eight-hour schedule paid off as he retained the strength to power through to his victory.

Jong is likely to go on to his next fight against Japanese opponents with his confidence bolstered now that he is a martial combat champion. His sheer tenacity and gutsy victory endeared him to the crowd and must surely increase his Asian fan base.

In the other match-ups of the night, flyweight professional debutants Filipino Jasor ‘Razor’ Albasi took on American Andrew Leone. Albasi wasted no time in taking the fight to the ground and made Leone submit with a rear naked choke in the first round.

Heavyweight fighter Canadian Robert Sothmann took on ‘Destroyer” Zhang Jian Jun of China. Zhang, who was in devastating form last month when he won his bout in the first round against Abhijeet Petkar, had the tables turned on him this time around. Zhang had Sothmann in a guillotine choke hold early in the round but the powerful Candian managed to extract his head from the hold and proceeded to apply a Kimura submission hold and later a series of ground and pound punches to finish the fight.

Two middleweight bouts between Zorobabel ‘Zorro’ Moreira verses Joe Ray, and Matt Delanoit verses Ian ‘The Hitman’ Bone were equally exciting and impressive.

Cocky American Joe Ray exuded confidence from the time he appeared on the catwalk right through his victory until the time he left the ring. He took all of 14 seconds to land a punch that floored and knocked the lights out of Moreira, a Brazilian who trains locally out of Evolve Gym. Touted as an up and coming rising star of mixed martial arts with no losses, Ray rightfully proclaims that he has ‘arrived’.

The other American Matt Delanoit was equally certain that he was here only to win, having travelled all the way from the US. He did that with a clinical execution of a rear naked choke from the dominant open mount position. With Delanoit on the back of Ian Bone, it wasn’t long before ‘The Hitman’ tapped out and conceded the bout.

The only regret of the night must have been the clash of dates which coincided with the group stage matches of the football World Cup which must have affected attendance numbers. If one is after adrenaline pumping excitement, then the score must be Martial Combat 3, World Cup 1.

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