The first night of Asia's biggest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Championship came to a resounding end at the Compass Ballroom, Resorts World Sentosa, as fan favourite Ole "Iron Fist" Laursen won the Superfight Championship Showdown against Brazil's Eduardo "Edu" Pachu in three closely-fought rounds.
The event, presented by ESPN STAR Sports and Resorts World Sentosa, saw 10 world-class mixed martial arts fighters do battle over five fights to an almost-capacity crowd, culminating in the Superfight Championship Showdown between Laursen and Pachu.
Pachu kept to his pre-fight strategy of keeping it on the ground and went on the offense to keep Laursen off his feet. However, he was unable to nail down the man dubbed the "Iron Fist" as Laursen fought valiantly to pin the Brazilian native back.
The action continued in the second bout with neither fighter willing to back down as the crowd rallied them on.
As the fighters stepped out for the third bout of the five-round fight, the scores were evenly tied until Laursen eventually triumphed by putting Pachu in a rear-naked choke which led to a tap-out submission.
Laursen's corner broke out in wild celebration with the Thailand-based fighter receiving the Superfight Championship belt from head referee, Steven Perceval.
Said Laursen of his win, "It's always good to fight in front of such a great crowd and to be given the chance to fight in the main event - it was absolutely fantastic. The thing about mixed martial arts is that it's so real that when the fans cheer for you during the fight, you just keep going."
As for the move that won him the fight, Laursen added, "I'm so excited right now, that it's all a blur to me. I recalled that Pachu tried to go for my leg and I got him back in a position where he couldn't defend and from there on, it went my way. I'm thrilled to have won it. The belt,the fans and such a great arena to fight in. When I fight, I'm always willing to give it my all and please the crowd, so keep it coming!"
The four other fights that took place on the night, saw Leandro "Brodinho" Issa, Sabah "Persian Warrior" Fadai, Wiktor "The Slayer" Swensson and Bhupesh "Maratha Warrior" Kamble emerging victorious.
Issa started the night off with a first round victory over Jiang "North China Tiger" Long Yun through a submission by arm-bar.
The action continued when the entertaining Fadai, thrilled the crowd in the second fight of the night against Yang Fei before the referee stopped the fight and awarded the "Persian Warrior" with a technical knockout.
The third fight of the night saw South Korean fighter, Seung Hyum Choi lose to Swensson after the Swede pulled off a spectacular Gullotine move on his opponent to render the South Korean unconscious.
Next up, was Nick, "The Hooligan" Mellor against the pride of India, Bhupesh "Maratha Warrior" Kamble with the result going Kamble's way when he landed a huge punch before continually raining blows on Mellor. This forced the referee to stop the fight and award the second technical knockout of the night.
Having witnessed one of the best fight events in Singapore, fans can expect more of the same when another ten fighters do battle tonight (13 May) at the majestic Compass Ballroom, Resorts World Sentosa.
