Mixed martial arts: What a win, Wee

When a man can’t stand, he can’t fight.

Singapore’s mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Royston Wee must have heeded some valuable advice from the Karate Kid III film before his bout against Dave Galera from the Philippines last night.

Wee defeated his bantamweight opponent by an unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night 34 at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre in front of a partisan crowd of 6,000 fans.

And he did it with one simple strategy — keep his opponent down.

Right from the get-go of the three-round preliminary card bout, the 27-year-old Singaporean frustrated Galera, by taking him down and keeping him on his back.

It might have taken much of the excitement out of the much anticipated fight, which featured two fighters making their UFC debuts, but the crowd did not seem to mind.

They cheered loudly whenever Galera failed in his attempt to get on his feet.

Wee, the underdog coming into the fight, admitted that his strategy in the octagon was to ground-and-pound.

GAME PLAN

“Actually I didn’t execute the game plan properly, but yes, I wanted to work with my take downs and elbows,” said Wee, who has been fighting professionally the last six years and is now 3-0 in his MMA career.

“Before the fight, I had been waiting in the dressing room for a while and started to get relaxed.

“I was worried about that, but then hearing the home crowd when I walked to the octagon got me pumped again... I really want to thank them for supporting me.”

The constant take downs clearly frustrated Galera, who had a 5-0 record before the bout.

After spending two minutes on the floor in the middle of the third round, the 35-year-old Filipino kicked Wee in square in the jaw illegally — UFC rules prohibit any kick to the head of a grounded opponent.

The move cost Galera a point and the bout restarted with him on his back.

At that point, Wee knew the contest was his.

“The kick stunned me a bit, but it didn’t affect me too much,” Wee said.

“I didn’t want to win by disqualification. I knew all I had to was hold him down for two more minutes.”

After a debut victory in UFC, Wee is likely to secure more fight contracts — but not before a short vacation.

“I’ve been training so hard since June, so I need a break. But you’ll definitely see me in UFC again,” he said.

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