It's been a long time!

Legacy's new outside ring getting ready for action.

Hello back! Apologies for the lack of posts in the last couple of months, as I was away on holidays. The guys at the gym kept busy though, training and fighting both nationally and internationally. Here is the latest fights update:

Adam from Sweden and Kenny from Denmark fought last month at a local show near Ubon. Adam put on a fantastic fight, coming back from being knocked down three times to eventually KO his opponent in the first round. Kenny's fight was unfortunately a mismatch as he ended up facing off against a much more experienced opponent. The referee intervened and stopped it in the first round.

Matthew and Nick, both from America, also fought a couple of weeks later at another village show. Nick won his bout by what he called an "Anderson Silva elbow knockout" in the third round. As for Matthew, he faced off against a taller and heavier opponent with many fights under his belt. Matthew lost by KO due to a head kick early in the first round.

Legacy's muay thai trainers Ajarn Kong and Ajarn Nuay fought last month too. It was Ajarn Nuay's last muay thai fight, as he now retires (again!) in order to pursue his fledgling mma career . He won on points, as did Ajarn Kong.

On the mma side, Vaughn "Blud" Anderson has returned to Legacy to once again head the mma training programme. After just over a year here at legacy, Marcus Waters has made his way back to Dallas, his hometown. Thank you Marcus for all your hard work here at Legacy.

Ole has just come back from China, where he accompanied three of our mma boys who fought at the World Martial Arts Champions event. It was Ajarn Nuay's mma debut, and he used his muay thai expertise to land some damaging elbows on his opponent, but his lack of experience on the ground led allowed his opponent to gain the upper hand and submit him by armbar in the first round. Chris also lost his fight by submission, due to a rear naked choke. Vaughn on the other hand, had a fine performance which added to his ever growing winning streak.

I will try to post photos and videos of the fights soon.

Alex wins Fight of the Night in Legend FC 4

Last Thursday 27 January, Legacy's Alex Niu made his debut appearance for the growing Legend Fighting Championships promotion in Hong Kong. The event was broadcast around the world, and it was the first ever Chinese MMA event to be broadcast on American pay per view.

Alex's bout against Chinese sanda fighter Wang Sai was the opening fight on the pay-per-view card, and had the distinction of being awarded Fight of the Night after the event. In a tough 3 round fight, Alex used his boxing skills well. Alex got the better of the striking exchanges, landing some ferocious leg kicks and a good solid elbow. He also did well on the ground, with a nice arm bar attempt in the first round and a mount at the end of the second round. After three hard rounds, Alex won a unanimous decision, getting his Legend FC career off to a great start.

Many thanks to Marcus, who was in Alex's corner, for the update and the details. And a big shout out to Vaughn 'Blud' Anderson, who was commentating at the event.

Here is a link to Legend FC's run down on the fight: http://www.legendfc.com/news/index.php?newsId=62

And here is Vaughn's fight card preview: http://mrblud.com/article.asp?id=85

Legacy's MMA stars at Martial Combat

The videos of all fights from Martial Combat 7 and 8 are now available to watch. It took a long time, but they were worth waiting for.

Ole's three round battle against Nicolas Lecomte, Vaughn's demolition of Korean Hellboy and Nick's ferocious ground and pound victory against Victor Wang, as well as Alex Niu's defeat at the hands of Vuyisile Colossa can all be found here.

Southeast Asia MMA and Martial Combat have also published a couple of articles about two of Legacy's MMA fighters:

Malik Mawlayi - A History of Violence

Isamu Himura

A hat-trick of victories for Legacy Gym at Martial Combat 7 and 8

Nick 'Hooligan' Mellor scored an impressive victory over Canadian Victor Wang at last night's Martial Combat 7 event, in Singapore. Nick started the fight strongly, landing some good strikes, before taking his opponent to the ground. Wang was active off his back, but Nick managed to pass his guard before both fighters returned to their feet. Nick finished the round in a dominant position, looking for a rear naked choke. The second round followed a similar pattern, with Nick taking Wang to the ground once again. He escaped a tight submission attempt by Wang, before mounting him and forcing the referee to stop the fight with some savage ground and pound.

The Legacy boys have obviously been working hard on their ground and pound skills, as Vaughn 'Blud' Anderson also secured a victory by ground and pound TKO in the second round of his first Martial Combat event. His fight against Korean 'Hellboy' Hyoung Woo Kim was a more one-sided affair. Vaughn's striking power and wealth of experience on the ground easily won him the first round. In the second round, he looked determined to end the bout. He stepped up the pace of his strikes and finished his opponent on the ground, in brutal fashion.

Ole 'Iron Fist' Laursen completed the hat-trick of victories for Legacy Gym, winning a close-fought decision over American Nicolas Leconte. We have no other details about this fight as it just finished a few minutes ago.

 On a final note, Alex Niu, who trained at Legacy recently, suffered a defeat at the hands of rising star and muay thai world champion Vuisile Colossa. Alex fought hard and secured a couple of takedowns, but was overpowered by his opponent's superior striking in the second round.

Photos courtesy of Brett L via his iPhone. More pictures, links to videos and other details of the fights will be posted as soon as they become available.

Isaan Style features Vaughn 'Blud' Anderson

Well, Brunty did take us up on the offer and came back to the gym last Saturday, this time to interview the current grappling coach Vaughn Anderson. He's published an extensive article on Vaughn, and uploaded some great videos of his previous fights. The article can be found here.

Nice one, Brunty!

Legacy represents at Martial Combat 7 and 8

Legacy Gym is sending four fighters to the upcoming Martial Combat event in Singapore. On 18 August 2010, Nick "Hooligan" Mellor will face off against muay thai specialist Victor Wang, current CMTA Western Canadian Light Heavyweight Champion, in a tough bout at 84kg. On the same card, Alex Niu, who has recently returned to China after spending a month training at Legacy, will fight Contender Asia finalist and current WLF world thai boxing champion Vuysile "The Cheetah" Colossa.

The following night, 19 August 2010, Martial Combat superbout lightweight champion and Legacy Gym owner Ole "Iron Fist" Laursen will take on American BJJ fighter Nicolas Leconte. Current grappling coach at Legacy and Art of War veteran, Vaughn "Blud" Anderson, from Canada, will make his Martial Combat debut against Korean "Hellboy" Hyoung Woo Kim. 

Legacy Gym is proud to be so well represented at such a prestigious event and wishes the boys all the best in their upcoming fights. Keep training hard. WAR!!