Ole Laursen Had to Learn to Think MMA Instead of Muay Thai

When former kickboxer turned MMA fighter Ole Laursen signed on with One FC, he was supposed to be one of the new stars that helped to launch the promotion during their 2011 debut show.

Unfortunately, the Filipino born fighter blew out his knee just a few weeks away from his scheduled fight against Eduard Folayang, forcing him to the sidelines to recover.

It had already been more than a year since Laursen had competed in MMA, so the injury was just a disappointing setback that he didn’t need.

“I was training with friends in Singapore and I wasn’t used to the new environment in the gym I slid and blew my knee out,” Laursen told MMAWeekly.com “It was a bad accident just 3 weeks before the fight I was really sad, was looking forward to fight and to show what I’m made of and make the One FC fans happy.”

It seems like so long ago when Laursen first made his move to MMA after a long career in the kickboxing world. Starting out in the K-1 Hero’s shows in Japan, Laursen’s MMA career got off to a rocky start, but there’s no shame in that when looking at the level of competition he faced on day one in the sport.

In back to back fights, Laursen faced former UFC lightweights Genki Sudo and Caol Uno, no easy task for a first time MMA fighter. Still, Laursen looks back at those fights as valuable learning experiences, something he carries forward to today.

“No regrets, I had the time of my life fighting those fights and they made me realize I can do this, just need to keep working and building my ground skills,” Laursen stated. “I don’t feel like going the distance with Genki in my MMA debut was a setback, although I do think I could have done better against Uno because I injured myself before that fight and couldn’t train properly. That loss definitely taught me a lot.”

With Laursen’s last fight taking place in 2010, he has changed a lot as a fighter since fans last saw him. While he still depends on his striking roots for his base in MMA, he says he no longer thinks like a Muay Thai fighter.

“Well I am always training and improving so I like to think I am more well rounded today then I was yesterday. Right now I am at my new camp in Boracay in the Philippines and I’m working everyday with Eduardo Bezerra, Wadson Teixeira, Froilan Sarenas, Jason Townsend and a few others, when you are working with guys that good you can’t help but get better every day,” said Laursen.

“I think more ‘mixed martial arts’ now vs. before where I would think how to ‘muay thai’ my way out of situations .I have been working my ground skills and wrestling and keep adding to my complete MMA game every day.”

For his return to action this weekend in Jakarata at the second One FC show, Laursen faces Felipe Enomoto, and he admits the only thing he knows about his opponent is ‘he has brown hair’.

Despite that lack of detail, there’s no doubt that Laursen is hoping to make a splash during the One FC show and set the stage for a much busier 2012.

“2012 is going to be my year and I want to fight as often as I can. I was born in the Philippines but I have never fought here so that has always been a dream of mine and I am hoping it will come true this year,” said Laursen.

“The One FC Network is really great for me as a fighter because it means that if I stay fit I can fight all the time. 2011 was a very frustrating year but it gave me time to set up my new camp in Boracay. Now but I’m fit and ready to go and in 2012 I’m gonna be taking out all that frustration on my opponents.”

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