Brian Choi does Singapore proud in mixed martial arts

Contributed by Perry Mok

Resorts World Sentosa, Thursday, June 17, 2010 — It was a proud day for local mixed martial arts fans as Singapore’s Brian “Polar Bear” Choi clinched a stirring victory over Japanese American Isamu Himura during Martial Combat 4.

The two fighters battled it out over three bouts to the excitement and pleasure of the crowd. Brain Choi displayed great skill and composure as he landed a series of explosive takedowns during the first two rounds. As a wrestling coach in the highly-acclaimed Evolve MMA, Brain needed all his skill and guile to take the upper hand in a rather even match.

As the bouts wore on, both fighters displayed great tenacity to stick with their game plan to the very end. The fantastic display kept the audience on the edge of their seats with Choi finally being awarded the winning decision by the judges and to the loud cheers of a standing crowd.

The night started out with highly regarded Filipino Wushu expert Eduard Folayang squaring off against Slovakian Muay Thai exponent Egon Racz. Starting the fight off the aggressor, Racz attempted to get a few kicks early in but Eduard proved equal to the task as he repeatedly guarded against them. The fight exploded into action as the Filipino boxer landed a huge takedown on his opponent with both men trying to gain the upper hand with submission moves. Racz displayed good submission defence skills before being overwhelmed by the greater strength of Folayang who sank in a guillotine choke to seal the fight.

Hailing from Heilongjiang, China, Wu Cheng Jie was looking to extend his unbeaten record of 4-0 against Shidokan expert, Mushin Corbbrey from South Carolina, USA. With some heavy kicks into the mid section of Cheng Jie, Corbbrey was caught out and brought to the ground by the provisional Sanda Champion. However, the tide turned as the Corbbrey displayed his solid ground game and transited to the mount soon after. Having secured the dominant position, it did not take long for the American professional boxer to deliver a series of vicious blows to the head of Cheng Jie which prompted the referee to end the fight duly.

Brazilian Arthur Cesar squared off again Yun Seob Kwak and this promised to be a close, competitive fight between two highly experienced professional MMA fighters. Cesar showed his experience as he secured an early takedown on the Korean despite the latter’s strong resistance. The dominance of the Brazilian was clear for all to see as the fight ended with a rear naked choke from the Jiu-Jitsu black belt holder.

The Superfight Championship saw a clash of fighting styles between a Muay Thai fighter, Cyrus Washington and a grappler, Malik Mawlayi. Malik wasted no time in asserting his dominance on the fight as he threw a kickback which was followed by ferociously taking the American to the floor. Once on his back, Cyrus was not able to utilise his extended fighting range and got pinned down by the Afghan-borned Malik. With a more sophisticated ground game, Malik was able to quickly move into side control as he hooked the American and secured victory with a rear naked choke.

Said the triumphant Malik: “ He was so tall, when I saw him stepping into the cage, I thought I’d go to my Plan B, which was to take him down.” The newly crowned Martial Combat champion also apologised to his opponent and said that he was given little choice given the circumstances. Feeling thankful to his cheering fans, Malik promised his fans that he’ll “certainly be back in Singapore and for them to keep believing in me.”