Yang Sung Ho vs Oron Ben Simon

SINGAPORE, 15 July 2010 – Local favourite Yang Sung Ho delighted the sold-out crowd at the Resorts World Sentosa Martial Combat 6, headlining another brilliant night of mixed martial arts fighting that saw the Korean beat his Israeli opponent Oron Ben Simon in a thrilling contest tonight.

For the capacity crowd at Resorts World Sentosa, the highlight of this match was undoubtedly the slick submission skills by the Singapore-based Yang. Ben Simon came into the cage with an unbeaten record and a background in the unorthodox martial art of Krav Maga..

Yang, who had not fought in over two years but showed no signs of ring rust, taking Ben Simon down almost instantly after the start. Yang had his way with his opponent as soon as he had him on the floor with a series of submissions before settling on an arm bar, exerting so much pressure that Ben Simon was forced to tap out.

“I haven’t fought for two years so this was almost like my debut. He gave me his arm so I went for an armbar and I have to credit the Muai Thai and Jiu-Jitsu training for today’s win. I am proud to represent Singapore, and I love this country. Next time I want to fight for a title,” said Yang.

Another capacity crowd tonight was indicative of the Resorts World Sentosa Martial Combat continuing to build its growing reputation of this brand of exciting mixed martial arts across South East Asia and beyond.

American Robert Washington continued to make waves in the world of mixed martial arts, and looked to extend his unbeaten streak. He had a perfect record of 7-0 going into this fight but was expecting a tough test against the well-rounded Australian Josh Payne.

The fight got off to a tentative start with Washington showing good lateral movement to evade Payne, landing a series of leg kicks in the process. The fight came to life in the second round when Washington landed a huge right hook which saw Payne sink to his knees. The Australian chose to stand and swing but was swiftly taken down and ended up on the wrong end of some brutal ground and pound which opened up a number of cuts.

Washington was showing his superiority in almost every exchange but seemed reluctant to engage Payne. The Australian showed great heart to come back from the damaging second round and was the main aggressor in the third round, narrowly missing with a trademark spinning back fist.

But the match that garnered the loudest cheers from the enthusiastic audience was Martial Combat 6’s Superfight Championship Belt Showdown featuring veteran fighter and Martial Combat commentator Ray Elbe against India’s leading mixed martial artist Alan Fenandes,

There were rising tensions between the two camps leading up to the fight, and the animosity was there for all to see when Elbe refused to touch gloves with Fenandes at the start of the fight. Most observers felt that Fenandes’ only chance of victory was to swing for the fences in search of a knock out in the opening round.

The Indian managed to push Elbe to the floor but then in a moment of madness chose to enter the guard of one of the world renowned black belt exponents of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Elbe, one of the finest ground fighters in the world, wasted little time in landing some elbows and punches to the body of Fenandes who was forced to tap, citing a rib injury.

Speaking after the fight he admitted that he was disappointed by how easily his opponent had submitted. Said Elbe: “I think he just gave up and took the easy way out because he knew I was about to mount him. After eight weeks of training and dieting I wanted a good fight but I was robbed of that by my opponent tonight.”

For the second night in a row the ladies were in action with Chinese fighter Yang Xiao Nan up against Filipino Gina Iniong. Although both girls weighed in at exactly 52 kgs Yang looked to have put on a lot of weight since the weigh in and had a considerable size advantage.

Yang consistently got the better of Iniong using Sanda style side kicks to good effect. Despite being on the wrong side of a beating, Iniong continued to look for the knock out, throwing haymaker hooks at regular intervals throughout the three-round contest. It might not have been enough to win her the fight, which was awarded to Yang by all three judges, but her never-say-die attitude certainly won her the respect of the partisan crowd.

In the opening fight of the night, the experienced Australian Ross Dallow was able to quickly take down his Korean opponent Dong Ho Han and sink in a rear naked choke to finish the fight.

Mixed martial arts fans can expect even more hard-hitting action in Martial Combat 7 and 8 next month on 18-19 August, when another ten world-class mixed martial arts fighters battle over five explosive fights. The Superfight Champion Belt battles will feature Joe Ray, who had won his bout in Martial Combat 3 with a stunning ten-second knockout, against top-ranked UFC veteran Chad Reiner, one of the most explosive welterweight fighters in the MMA scene.

Resorts World® Sentosa Martial Combat™ is the only MMA event officially recognized and sanctioned by two of the world’s leading governing bodies in the martial arts scene, the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Federation (AMMAF) and the World Martial Arts Federation of Singapore. Presented by ESPN STAR Sports and held at the majestic Compass Ballroom at Resorts World Sentosa, Resorts World Sentosa Martial Combat will host fights over the next three months till October 2010. Kindly visit www.RWmartialcombat.com for more information.

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