Following on from Angelo Manguray’s spectacular victory at Martial Combat 7 two more Filipino fighters made their mark at Martial Combat 8 Fan favourite Ole Laursen was back in action and The Filipino born Danish fighter made it two wins out of two with a decision victory over Nicholas Leconte.

 Sabah Fadai was born in Canada but has made his name as a figher in the Philippins and, like Laursen, he made it two wins out of two at Resorts World Sentosa tonight. He defeated Doo Jae Jung by submission to claim a Martial Combat Championship Superbelt

 Laursen endeared himself to the Resorts World Sentosa Crowd with a spectacular victory over Eduardo Pachu at Martial Combat One. Laursen was awarded a razor thin decision after a three round war of attrition against Leconte at Martial Combat 8. Two of the three judges gave the nod to Laursen with the third scoring the contest a draw.

 Leconte is from the US but is now based in South Korea. He pushed Laursen all the way and would have won the fight had it not been for a controversial point deduction. Leconte took Laursen’s back early in the opening round and, with the support of the US youth Olympics team ringing in his ears, looked to finish the fight with a rear naked choke. With seconds remaining in the round Laursen escaped and Leconte landed an illegal knee to Laursen’s head. Under Martial Combat rules you are not allowed to knee to the head of a grounded opponent and the referee chose to deduct a point from Leconte for this indiscretion

This would prove to be the pivotal moment in the fight as there was very little to separate the two fighters from that moment forth. Laursen enjoyed a brief spell of dominance at the start of the second round and landed some vicious kicks and punches. Leconte was eventually able to take Laursen down and look for a kimura submission.

The third and final round was fought almost entirely on the ground with Laursen repeatedly giving up his back but Leconte unable to capitalize. The air was thick with tension at Resorts World Sentosa as the partisan crowd awaited a decision. In the end it was Laursen who got the nod as Leconte sank to his knees in despair.

A relieved Laursen felt the point deduction was crucial, "He was a very good fighter and, tonight’s fight was so close that it could have gone either way. The point deduction made a big difference because Leconte did a great job, and on any other day, he would have won it. He was much better than I was today; he did knee me but that’s just the rules," he said.

 Laursen’s fellow Filipino Sabah Fadai also got his Martial Combat career off to the best possible start at Martial Combat 1 with a stoppage win over Yang Fei. He was up against Doo Jae Jung, a former gymnast, who showed some acrobatic striking skills on his way to losing a decision to Dave Gardner at Martial Combat 2.

 Fadai narrowly missed with a head kick and connects with a super man punch early in the opening round while Jung looked to offload with combinations of punches. The fight went to the ground where Fadai had a clear advantage and ended up mounting Jung. He rained down elbows on the South Korean who was forced to give up his back in an attempt to escape but eventually wriggled free as the round came to a close.

 The second round followed a similar pattern with both fighters looking well matched standing up but Fadai clearly better on the ground. At one point Jung seemed on the verge of tapping due to a Kimura attempt by Fadai but he showed great heart to fight on until the end of the round.

 Unfortunately this submission attempt took its toll on Jung who was forced to tap early in the third round due to an injury he sustained after his refusal to tap in the previous round.

 Fadai feels that the skills he has acquired training in the Philippines are what won him this fight,

 "He’s just such a great and determined fighter. I threw everything I had at him and I still couldn’t get a lock on him. The difference tonight was desire, focus and dedication, traits that Filipino fighters are well-known for."

 Earlier in the night South African fighter Nathan Fredericks knocked Malaysian Kumar Sumbramaniam out cold with an enormous power slam after only 16 second of the opening round. Fredericks literally picked Sumbramaniam up and slammed him into the canvass causing the referee to step in to protect the unconscious Malaysian from any further punishment.

 Canadian Vaughn Anderson defeated South Korean Hyoung Woo Kim after a cagey contest which picked up pace after Anderson landed a series of devastating leg kicks mid way through the second round. Hyoung dropped to the canvass and, as if smelling blood, Anderson swarmed all over him finishing the fight with a barrage of unanswered blows.

 In the opening fight of the night American Brayden Summers got his professional MMA career off to the best possible start with a decision win over Chinese fighter Bian Xiaoi Long.

 August was all about the Filipino fighters but next month the Americans are coming. It will be East versus West in the superfights at Martial Combat 9 and 10. Two of America’s most flamboyant fighters, David Gardner and Shonie Carter, are flying into Singapore. They will be taking on Japanese fighter Daiju Tkase and Singapore’s very own Yang Seung Ho with continental pride at stake.

Martial Combat have invested in some slightly higher quality ring girls this month :)