(This article first appeared on August 29, 2011 at BJJ-Asia.com)
L: Hi Ole, thanks for taking the time to speak with me.
Congratulations on signing to the new and ambitious One FC promotion in
Singapore. I’m very sorry to hear that you sustained an injury in
training that has kept you from fighting as the co-main event in the
inaugural show. Can you tell me about the injury and what’s your
recovery time?
OL: I messed up in training while doing takedowns. During a really hot
session, I slid in sweat and popped my knee. However, it’s not as bad as
I first thought. I need a month’s rest though before can start training
again. So that’s why I couldn’t do the fight.
L: That’s a disappointment to your fans, but I’m sure they will be more than happy to wait and see a healthy Ole back in the ring for the next One FC. You don’t need much of an introduction to fight fans, so I’ll just give a short background for them. You’re fighting out of your own gym, Legacy in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. In the world of kickboxing and Muay Thai, you are a household name; you’ve fought in K-1, Shoot Boxing and the King’s Cup. You’ve fought the biggest names in your division, including Buakaw, Andy Souwer, Masato. Then you transitioned into MMA with your first fight in Hero’s in 2006. Is that about the time you opened Legacy?
OL:
Actually, no, I had already opened my MMA gym in Thailand when I got
the call asking if I wanted to fight Genki Sudo [at K-1’s “Hero’s”
promotion branching into MMA]. I trained my ass off and did OK but lost.
K-1 signed me, but they wanted me to fight in K-1 Max kickboxing not
MMA, so I ended up doing a few Max fights.
L: You did more than “OK”! You got thrown right into the deep end of the pool with Genki Sudo. That was an extremely fun fight to watch! Every time I see a Genki highlight video with him jumping on you, I scream “But Ole did it first – three times!” You took everyone by surprise and you took Genki to a draw after two rounds. After the third, the decision went to Genki – you are one of only two fighters to take him to a decision. After that first amazing fight, what was going on in your head?
OL: I was high on happy vibe. I wanted more!
