Ole Laursen is hot news in Asia

Since winning his Martial Combat championship belt in May 2010, Ole Laursen has received a lot of attention from the international media. He was featured in articles by South East Asia MMA, Bloody Elbow and Bleacher Report, and he's also made the cover of the August issue of FHM Singapore.

Here is a sneak peek at next month's FHM magazine.

Way to go, Ole!

Two victories by KO over holiday weekend

Legacy's home-grown young talent, Kim Siam, added another victory to his impressive and extensive fight record on Friday 23 July. In the very first round, Kim delivered a powerful and accurate knee to the body of his opponent, leaving him unable to continue.

On Sunday, Hampus, from Sweden, also ended his fight early through a succession of well-targeted knees. He controlled the fight from the first bell, and caught Suan Phet with a powerful high knee that knocked him down. The referee gave the Thai fighter a standing 8 count, but he never seemed to fully recover from the blow. Hampus aggressively chased Suan Phet around the ring, looking to finish the fight whilst not giving him the chance to answer his attacks. Suan Phet got knocked down again a couple of times, but was saved by the bell at the end of the round. Hampus began the second round like he ended the first, totally dominating his opponent and flooring him another couple of times before the referee finally stepped in to put an end to the fight.

Hampus has another fight scheduled to take place in two weeks in China. He is already back training and can't wait to get back in the ring.

Ubon Zoo

Last Sunday, a few of us got on our motorbikes and took a trip to the zoo. The Ubon Zoo is actually located in Trakan, 60km north of Ubon, and is home to a number of different species of animals, including tens of tigers and other big cats. These being their main and most impressive attraction, many people also refer to the Ubon Zoo as the "tiger zoo".

these look bigger than I remembered...

Controversial refereeing in China and upcoming fights

Zebaztian and Marcus are back from China after having lost their mma fights due to controversial referee stoppages.

Zebaztian was doing well in the second round of his fight, having obtained a dominant ground position. He was clearly controlling his opponent from the top, when the referee unexpectedly stopped the contest on the alleged grounds of Zebaztian being "too tired to continue".

Marcus didn't have much better luck. He got knocked down by one of his opponent's punches, got up straight away, and was ready to continue fighting, but the referee also decided to stop his fight prematurely.

Both fighters are back at the gym and, although a little disappointed by the bad refereeing in China, they are now focused on training for their next challenges. Marcus is scheduled to fight on the 1st of August, in Taiwan, and Zebaztian is hoping to get a muay thai fight locally before heading back to Sweden in 3 weeks.

Hampus from Sweden is also fighting again this weekend. He faces off against Thai fighter Suan Phet from Phibun Mangsahan, who has had 22 professional fights and usually fights at 67kg. Hampus's fight will take place on Sunday evening, and we wish him the best of luck. I will update the blog with results as soon as I can.

Zebaztian and Marcus to fight in China

There is no stopping him! One week after his first muay thai fight, Zebaztian will now make his international mma debut in China. Both he and Marcus, from America, are in Bangkok at the moment, making their way to Shanghai. They are fighting at the Fighters Unite event on Saturday the 17th of July.

Both fighters were offered their fights only yesterday, and had no hesitation in stepping up to represent Legacy at the event. Results, photos and news will be forthcoming as soon as they become available.

Good luck, guys!

In other mma news, Ole Laursen is currently ringside at the latest Martial Combat event in Singapore, where Ray Elbe from Tiger Muay Thai is headlining the event.

Video of Zebaztian's fight

As promised, here is the video. Enjoy!

Zebaztian KOs opponent in first round with devastating punching power!

What a start! Zebaztian, from Sweden, had his first muay thai fight in the village of Na Yia last night, after training at Legacy Gym for only four weeks. He took on the fight with less than a week's notice, and faced off against a Thai opponent from Warin Chamrap.

From the start, Zebaztian showed he meant business, with a savage low kick to his opponent's thigh that made the crowd cringe. He kept the pressure on, using his superior power to dominate his opponent throughout the fight. Zebaztian eventually went forward with a relentless boxing combination and ended the exchange with a beautiful uppercut that knocked his opponent out cold.

Well done, Zebaztian - we are all thrilled with your victory!

I will post the video of Zebaztian's fight here soon, watch this space.

Ajarn Lai taping Zebaztian's hands.

Thai oil and a massage to get those muscles warmed up.

Strike a pose, you've got a crowd!

Fight Updates

In MMA:
Malik Arash Mawlayi's fight against Tiger Muay Thai's Cyrus Washington is now available. Click on the links below to watch Malik win his belt.





And here is a video of Egon's fight against Eduard Folayang on the same card.



In Muay Thai:
Last Friday, Phillip from Sweden had his third fight in Thailand, in the outskirts of Ubon. His original opponent pulled out of the fight in the last minute, and he ended up fighting a more experienced Thai. Phillip fought a good fight for five rounds, but, in the end, lost to a close decision.

In another countryside event the following afternoon, Hampus, also from Sweden, fought a well know local fighter, Pa Yu Yai. Unfortunately, he got caught by a punch/elbow combination and lost in the second round.

I will post videos of both fights and pictures of Phillip's fight here soon.

Barbecue at the beach!

Today, the Legacy crew headed down to the local "beach", Hat Khu Dua, for a feast of barbecued pork and a taste of some local Isaan food. The "beach" is actually a 1km strip of sand along the banks of the Mun river.

There are dozens of floating bamboo restaurants selling everything from somtam to deep fried grasshoppers, live jumping shrimps and whole spit-roasted piglets.

A lot of the boys enjoyed a dip in the river after they had their fill. The water is warm and, from what we've been led to believe, reasonably safe.

While some of the others were quite happy having a little Sunday afternoon snooze.

We all finished the day with a bit of UFC action on the big screen, set up in the Legacy Gym cage.