Muhsin Corbbrey Gets Back to Winning Ways at Martial Combat 4

Martial Combat 4 provided another fantastic night of action at Resorts World Sentosa. Highly-rated Filipino fighter Eduard Folayang and world renowned American Muhsin Corbbrey both came away with wins, but it was a Singapore-based fighter who stole the show.

Brian Choi is the wrestling coach at Evolve MMA and he won a closely contested decision over Japanese-American Isamu Himura after a frantic back-and-forth war.

There really was never a dull moment in this fight as both men exchanged takedowns from start to finish. The two fighters set a frenetic pace and the action never stalled as they constantly battled for position.

Choi landed a series of eye-catching takedowns in the fight, utilizing his wrestling skills to repeatedly pick Himura up and slam him on the ground. Himura was able to respond with a few takedowns of his own as both men exchanged submission attempts.

The audience gave both fighters an enormous ovation at the start of round three as a rapidly tiring Himura attempted to take the fight to the floor. Choi was able to defend the takedown attempt and catch Himura in an armbar.

Choi appeared to have the submission locked in and Himura must have been tempted to tap, but showed incredible heart to escape and fight to the finish.

Choi was deservedly awarded the decision but this was a fantastic exhibition of skills by both men which captivated the Resorts World audience. Anyone unsure as to why MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world would be well-advised to check out this fight when it is broadcast on ESPN Star Sports.

Choi was delighted to have won in front of his home fans, "He was a late replacement and I didn’t know anything about him so I couldn’t prepare. It was a tough fight but I think the takedowns won me the fight. This is a great show and I am proud to be representing Evolve MMA and Singapore," he said. 

Filipino fighter Eduard Folayang has been tipped for the top, but faced a stern examination of his MMA credentials against Slovakian Muay Thai specialist Egon Racz. The Muay Thai fighter threw a couple of early leg kicks, but Folayang, who has a very high level of Wushu, was able to check them comfortably.

Folayang scored with a right hand before landing a huge takedown. Racz showed some intelligent submission defence but was simply overwhelmed by the Filipino fighter who landed some ground and pound before sinking in a guillotine choke.

Muhsin Corbbrey is a world renowned MMA fighter who has featured on some of the biggest promotions in the world. He was looking to put in an eye-catching performance against the unbeaten Wu Cheng Jie. Corbbrey had clearly cut a lot of weight and looked considerably larger and as the fight began Cheng Jie was understandably reluctant to engage.

The Chinese fighter circled away from Corbbrey who became frustrated and began to gesticulate towards his opponent, urging him to come forward. Sensibly Cheng Jie resisted the temptation to exchange strikes with the professional boxer and was able to land a few counters of his own.

Corbrey was scoring with some heavy leg kicks, but Cheng Jie was able to catch one and send Corbbrey to the canvass. It proved to be a fatal error as the American is deadly on his back.

Corbbrey first attempted an armbar and from there transitioned into the mount. Once he had secured a dominant position there was simply nowhere for Cheng Jie to run and he was on the receiving end of some vicious elbows which left the referee little option but to step in and stop the fight.

The superfight was billed as the "War in Singapore" because one of the fighters, Malik Mawlayi, was born in Afghanistan, but his opponent, Cyrus Washington, is from the USA.

Washington is incredibly athletic, a real physical specimen but primarily a Muay Thai fighter. Mawlayi knows no fear and was not intimidated by Washington’s impressive physique. He threw a wild back kick before taking Washington to the floor where he eventually sank in a guillotine choke.

After the win Mawlayi was awarded the Martial Combat Superfight belt,

"He is strong so I couldn’t submit him that fast but as soon as he made a mistake I caught him, rear naked chokes are my speciality. I felt good fighting in Singapore and it was good to fight for ESPN Star Sports," he said.

The Evolve MMA team had a disappointing night last night as their fighter Zorobabel Moreira was on the wrong end of a vicious early knockout. Brazilian Arthur Cesar was able to make it two wins out of two tonight with a submission win over South Korean stand up specialist Yun Seob Kwak.

The Brazilian secured an early takedown and pinned his opponent to the floor before finishing the fight with a rear naked choke. Afterwards, he dedicated the win to his colleague and countryman Moreira who he promised would bounce back.

There is no set formula for an entertaining MMA fight. Sometimes you can put two of the best fighters in the world together and still not produce an interesting spectacle.

The Martial Combat matchmakers appear to have stumbled upon a winning formula which will be the envy of promotions the world over once these eye catching fights are finally broadcast. All tonight’s contests were real crowd-pleasers with the highlight being Brian Choi’s all-out war with Isamu Himura.

The fans in attendance all went home happy and will be looking forward to next month’s exciting installment of the Martial Combat series.

For more information visit: www.rwmartialcombat.com.