Ole Laursen is all set to star in the main event of ONE Fighting Championship against fellow Filipino Eduard Folayang. The winner of this high-profile bout will no doubt be receiving speculation about being matched up against the best lightweights in the world.
Folayang currently boasts an impressive 9-1 professional record, but it is Laursen, who is 5-2 and has won all of his last five fights, who has really got the MMA community talking.
One of the reasons is that his only two losses were in his first two professional bouts and came at the hands of two of Japanese MMA’s leading lightweights, Genki Sudo and Caol Uno. Laursen’s warrior spirit was evident in those two battles, and they took place back in 2006.
Another reason that Laursen is drawing attention is because of his truly elite stand-up skills. MMA’s lightweight division is especially populated with adept wrestlers and grapplers, discouraging elite strikers to start making the transition to round out their game. Laursen accepts the challenge and provides us one of the few opportunities to see world-class strikers compete in MMA.
He has fought some of the best K-1 and Muay Thai fighters on the planet including Andy Souwer, Buakaw Por Pramuk and Jomhod Kiatadisak.
Souwer and Por Pramuk are both K-1 Max winners which puts them in an elite group of stand-up fighters which contains virtually no MMA fighters other than Alistair Overeem.
As a longtime K-1 and Muay Thai contender, Laursen could bring this type of talent into the Octagon, and he has also proven time and time again that his skills are clearly good enough to survive the often times disorienting transition from the boxing ring to the cage.
He could certainly be an attractive proposition for the UFC as there are perhaps no other lightweight contender candidates with Laursen’s striking prestige. The only question mark is over Laursen’s takedown defense, because if that is a weakness it will be ruthlessly exposed if he chooses to come and fight here in the US.
Anthony Pettis, who is a current stand-up standout amongst the UFC’s lightweights, found himself outwrestled and outmuscled by Clay Guida on his UFC debut, and a similar fate could await Laursen if Joe Silva were to sign him up. It will be interesting to see how he fares against Folayang who has strong Wushu-based wrestling skills, and may very well base his strategy around takedowns.
For a fighter who is supposed to want to stay on the feet, Laursen is actually extremely competent on the ground and boasts two submission wins. Last year he submitted the highly-experienced Eduardo Pachu, who has a purple belt in BJJ, in a performance which must have caught the eyes of astute UFC prospect watchers.
Anyone who has won legitimate world titles in Muay Thai, kickboxing, or K-1 and is good enough to submit a BJJ purple belt in an MMA fight is going to be a strong candidate for a UFC contract. A win over Folayang, who has only lost once in 10 professional fights, would probably see Laursen leap to the top of the heap of potential UFC lightweights.
Although speculation about a relationship with the UFC could become warranted, it might not be very high on Laursen’s “to-do” list. His fights with Folayang will be the main event in a show which is taking place in the biggest indoor arena in South Asia and will be broadcast by ESPN Star Sports to 24 countries, shown on domestic TV in Singapore and streamed live on the internet all over the world.
His contract details are unknown, but it is suspected he has a multi-fight deal with ONE FC. The organization would probably not stand in a fighter’s way if they received a lucrative offer from the UFC, but what would it take for Laursen to jump ship?
At ONE Fighting Championship Laursen is at the top of the fight card from where he can look down at the names of high-calibre fighters such as Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Phil Baroni and Gregor Gracie.
If he can extend his five-fight winning streak with an impressive win over Folayang, then Laursen may soon see his stock in high demand. The question then is, where will Laursen be looking?
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