Ole Laursen

Ole Laursen
Born	Ole Baguio Laursen (1977-08-21) August 21, 1977 (age 47) Manila, Philippines
Other names	Iron Fist
Nationality	Danish
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb; 11.3 st)
Division	Welterweight
Style	Muay Thai
Fighting out of	Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand
Team	Legacy Gym
Years active	1998–present
Kickboxing record
Total	56
Wins	36
By knockout	12
Losses	20
Mixed martial arts record
Total	13
Wins	9
By knockout	3
By submission	4
By decision	2
Losses	4
By submission	3
By decision	1
Amateur record
Total	6
Wins	5
By knockout	5
Losses	1

Ole 'Iron Fist' Laursen (born August 21, 1977) is a Filipino-born Danish Welterweight Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist, he competed in K-1 and in ONE Championship.

Laursen was born in Manila, Philippines to a Danish father and a Spanish-Filipino mother and moved to Denmark with his family when he was two years old. Laursen got involved with martial arts through his older brother Christian, and was 15 when he began training in Muay Thai.

Laursen currently lives in Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand and fights out of his own Legacy Gym.

Laursen trained with Peter J McCarthy, the subject, director and producer of the documentary, Fight of Flight which won "Best Foreign Documentary" at the Long Island Film Festival, New York as well as three other "Best Documentary" awards at festivals in Hamburg, Toronto and California. Laursen assisted the production team in Ubon Ratchatani.

As an amateur Laursen had six fights before turning professional. He lost his first amateur bout, took a year off, and then came back with five straight wins – all by knockout, winning the 1998 Danish amateur kickboxing title in the process. He made his professional debut in 2000 and picked up his first major honour that summer, defeating Eval Denton to win the I.K.F. European title.^[1] Laursen relocated from Europe to San Diego in the United States, where he won the vacant I.M.T.C. Championship in 2001.^[2] However, he was unable to defend his title later on that year, losing a controversial decision to the Thai fighter Kongnapa in what many thought was a Laursen victory.^[3]

In 2002 Laursen made his first appearance for the K-1 organization at the K-1 World MAX 2002 USA in Denver, Colorado, where he made the final only to lose to U.S rival Duane Ludwig.^[4] This defeat meant that Laursen was unable to participate in the inaugural K-1 MAX final but he made up somewhat for that defeat by winning the prestigious King's Cup in Bangkok, Thailand at the end of the year.^[5] In 2003 Laursen signed up with the newly formed European promotion SuperLeague where he faced Shane Chapman on his debut only to lose by decision.^[6] Despite this defeat Laursen had some initial success in SuperLeague with his Muay Thai style favouring five-round matches, going 4 and 2 with the organization by the end of 2004 and beating world champions such as Peter Crooke and Kamal El Amrani.

Over the following years Laursen spent much of his fighting time flicking back and forth between SuperLeague and K-1, although the increased competition (and shorter fight times introduced by SuperLeague) meant that he had little success with either promotion – finishing with an overall record of 4-5 SuperLeague, and 2-6 in K-1.

He returned to kickboxing to face pound-for-pound great Giorgio Petrosyan in Trieste, Italy on March 2, 2013. Severely overmatched, he was dropped with a knee to the liver before being knocked out with a left high kick immediately after in round one.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Laursen had a trial with the Philippines National Boxing Team and was accepted but decided to move to Thailand instead of staying in the Philippines to pursue a career in boxing.^[11]

Laursen made his professional MMA debut in 2006 and had two fights with the K-1 Hero's promotion in Japan. He lost his first fight against Genki Sudo by decision and his second fight to Caol Uno by third round submission. Laursen was suffering from a knee injury and was not able to train properly for the fight with Uno.^[12]

Laursen did not begin to fight MMA regularly again until 2010 because he was focused on his K-1 and Muay Thai career, a decision he has subsequently said he regrets.^[13] His next two fights were both in China, with Laursen submitting Liu Guang Yao in 2007 and knocking out Shawn David in 2009.

In 2010 he signed with ESPN Star Sports promotion Martial Combat in Singapore. He defeated Eduardo Pachu in the third round of their five-round 'super fight' at Martial Combat 1.^[14] His second fight was against Nick LeConte at Martial Combat 8 and Laursen won by majority decision in a controversial decision. His final fight for Martial Combat was against Malaysian Muay Thai champion Jian Kai Chee at Martial Combat 12 and Laursen won by TKO in the first round.

In November 2010 MMA website Bloody Elbow ranked Laursen number eight on a list of the top lightweight prospects in the world.^[15]

On July 15, 2011 it was announced that Laursen had signed with One Fighting Championship.^[16] On July 18 it was announced that Laursen would be facing fellow Filipino Eduard Folayang at ONE Fighting Championship: Champion vs. Champion at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3.^[17] On August 17, 2011 it was announced that Laursen had injured his knee in training and would be unable to fight Folayang at ONE Fighting Championship: Champion vs. Champion. He was replaced by South Korean fighter A Sol Kwon.

On February 4, 2012 it was announced that Laursen would be facing Felipe Enomoto at ONE Fighting Championship: Battle of Heroes in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 11, 2012.^[18] He lost the fight via submission in the second round.

• King's Cup
  • 2002 King's Cup Muay Thai Champion -70 kg
• K-1
  • 2002 K-1 World MAX USA runner up -70 kg
• International Muay Thai Council
  • 2001 I.M.T.C. Muay Thai Super Welterweight World Champion -70 kg
• International Kickboxing Federation
  • 2000 I.K.F. Pro Muay Thai European Champion -70 kg
• Danish Kickboxing Association
  • 1998 Danish Amateur Kickboxing Champion

• Martial Combat
  • 2010 Martial Combat Superfight Lightweight Champion -73 kg
• ONE Fighting Championship
  • Fight of the Night (1 Time)

Professional Lethwei record

5 wins (5 (T)KOs), 0 losses, 6 draws
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time
2013-03-02	Loss	Giorgio Petrosyan	Gotti Promotions	Trieste, Italy	KO (left high kick)	1	2:10
2013-01-25	Win	Local thai fighter	Fight Night	Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand	KO (Legkick)	1
2013-01-11	Win	Local thai fighter	Fight Night	Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand	KO (Bodyshoot)	2
2008-06-14	Loss	Jiri Zak	Eight Brawl, Quarter Finals	Copenhagen, Denmark	Ref stopped fight (Leg Injury)	3
2008-05-31	Loss	Virgil Kalakoda	K-1 Scandinavia MAX 2008, Super Fight	Stockholm, Sweden	Ext.R Decision (Unanimous)	4	3:00
2007-06-28	Loss	Andy Souwer	K-1 World MAX 2007 Final Elimination	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (Foot injury)	1	2:07
Fails to qualify for K-1 World MAX 2007 Final.
2007-04-04	Loss	Masato	K-1 World MAX 2007 World Elite Showcase	Yokohama, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00
2006-09-24	Loss	Buakaw Por. Pramuk	K-1 MAX North European Qualification, Super Fight	Stockholm, Sweden	TKO (Ref Stop/Left Hook)	2	2:49
2006-05-20	Win	Jean-Charles Skarbowsky	K-1 Scandinavia Grand Prix 2006	Stockholm, Sweden	Ext.R Decision (Unanimous)	4	3:00
2006-04-05	Loss	Gago Drago	K-1 World MAX 2006 World Tournament Open	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00
Fails to qualify for K-1 World MAX 2006 Final.
2006-01-14	Loss	Farid Villaume	The Night of the Superfights III	Villebon-sur-Yvette, France	KO	2
2005-10-22	Loss	Foad Sadeghi	SuperLeague Heavy Knockout 2005	Vienna, Austria	Decision	3	3:00
2005-09-24	Loss	Ali Gunyar	SuperLeague Turkey 2005, Quarter Finals	Tokyo, Japan	Decision	3	3:00
2005-04-09	Loss	José Reis	SuperLeague Austria 2005	Vienna, Austria	Decision	5	3:00
2005-01-23	Loss	Hiroki Shishido	Shoot Boxing Ground Zero	Fukuoka, Japan	KO (Right High Kick)	3	0:22
2004-10-22	Win	Kamal El Amrani	SuperLeague Germany 2004	Oberhausen, Germany	KO (Knees)	5
2004-09-19	Loss	Andy Souwer	S-Cup 2004, Quarter Finals	Yokohama, Japan	TKO (Ref Stop)	1	2:37
2004-05-22	Win	Fadi Merza	SuperLeague Switzerland 2004	Winterthur, Switzerland	Decision	5	3:00
2004-03-30	Loss	Gregory Swerts	SuperLeague Italy 2004	Padova, Italy	Decision	5	3:00
2004-03-04	Loss	Nuengtrakarn Por.Muang Ubon	S1 World Championships 2004, Quarter Finals	Bangkok, Thailand	Decision	3	3:00
2003-12-06	Win	Fadi Merza	SuperLeague Netherlands 2003	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
2003-09-27	Win	Peter Crooke	SuperLeague Germany 2003	Wuppertal, Germany	TKO	2
2003-05-10	Loss	Shane Chapman	SuperLeague Austria 2003	Vienna, Austria	Decision	5	3:00
2003-03-15	Loss	Jomhod Kiatadisak	K-1 World GP 2003 Scandinavia	Stockholm, Sweden	Decision	3	3:00
2003-02-15	Win	Imro Main	VF3 - Rumble in the West	Aarhus, Denmark	Decision	5	3:00
2002-12-05	Win	Faisal Zakaria	King's Birthday 2002, Final	Bangkok, Thailand	KO	2
Wins King's Cup 2002 tournament -70 kg.
2002-12-05	Win	Florin Vintilă	King's Birthday 2002, Semi Finals	Bangkok, Thailand	KO	1
2002-03-15	Loss	Duane Ludwig	K-1 World MAX 2002 USA, Final	Denver, Colorado, USA	Ext.R Decision (Unanimous)	4	3:00
Fight was for K-1 World MAX 2002 USA tournament -70 kg. Fails to qualify for K-1 World MAX 2002 Final.
2002-03-15	Win	Jason Jillian	K-1 World MAX 2002 USA, Semi Finals	Denver, Colorado, USA	KO (Punch)	1	0:43
2001-10-12	Win	BM Sasiprappa	Warriors Cup 4	Culver City, California, USA	KO
2001-06-03	Loss	Kongnapa Watcharawit	Warriors Cup 3	Burbank, California, USA	Decision (Split)	5	3:00
Loses I.M.T.C. Muay Thai Super Welterweight World title -70 kg.
2001-02-25	Win	Khunpon Dechkampu	Warriors Cup 2	Burbank, California, USA	Decision (Unanimous)	5	3:00
Wins vacant I.M.T.C. Muay Thai Super Welterweight World title -70 kg.
2000-06-29	Win	Eval Denton	I.K.F. Night of Champions	St Helens, England, UK	Decision (Unanimous)	5	3:00
Wins Denton's I.K.F. Pro Muay Thai Middleweight European title -75 kg.
2000-04-15	Loss	Petri Martinez		Copenhagen, Denmark	TKO	3
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

• List of male kickboxers

• Fight or Flight official movie page Archived 2013-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
• Professional MMA record for Ole Laursen from Sherdog