ONE FC 4 Main Card Breakdown: Arnaud Lepont vs Brian Choi

ONE FC 4 Main Card Breakdown: Arnaud Lepont vs Brian Choi

Published on June 18, 2012 by The Coffee Boy in ONEFC

ONE FC 4 Main Card Breakdown: Arnaud Lepont vs Brian Choi

Everyone here at MMA News Asia was bummed out when we found out the rumors about Eddie Ng having to withdraw was true. However, this matchup is still a great one, with “Fight of the Night” honors written all over it.

Arnaud “The Game” Lepont (8 – 1) is on a five-fight winning streak, and seems to be getting better with each fight he goes into. Prior to his signing to ONE FC, he has fought for GOW, MYT, and more recently DARE. He is known for his heavy hands, sharp Muay Thai skills, and slick submissions.

While he has six wins by way of submission, it doesn’t really tell you much about “The Game” if you haven’t watched him fight before. He has a way of finding himself in good positions and manages to pull off a sneaky submission when you least expect it. That said, he does possess the ability to knock you out cold, or land bombs until the referee has to jump in.

His last two fights demonstrated the speed and technically sound ground game he possesses. Against Jian Kai Chee, it only took a minute for him to get him to the ground and land several heavy bombs until Kai Chee tapped out. Against Krzysztof Hajtalowicz, he was able to stand with him and bang, and then seemed in trouble off his back, until he pulled off a sneaky guillotine choke to force the tap out.

Standing in his way, however, is Brian “Polar Bear” Choi (3 – 1). Choi is a fast-rising Korean mixed martial artist known more for his ground game. With a background in wrestling in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he has fought for Martial Combat, DARE, and more recently Road FC.

Brian Choi has the ability to take his opponents down almost at will, and its no secret that training with Evolve – widely considered the best MMA gym in Asia –  will give any of his opponents something to think about, considering his team and training partners include Shinya Aoki, Eddie Ng, Zorobabel Moreira, and a slew of other great fighters.

He has beaten the likes of Jin Gang Wang (via submission by ‘kimura’), and Isamu Himura and Sebastien Garguier by dominating his opponents, demonstrating a fair standup game but an even better ground game.

In his last fight, he was dominated by fellow Korean prospect Bae Young Kwon, who gave Choi his first loss on his record. He has been training hard, and is adamant about not tasting defeat again.

One can expect a fast-paced fight when these two meet. It’s a no-brainer that Lepont is going to try to keep this one standing right from the beginning, and I think that will set the tone of the fight. Choi probably will be willing to engage him, and while he does have a decent standup game, I believe he will go for the takedown.

Here’s where I’m curious how the fight will go. Choi has a good ground game, and probably has improved exponentially since his last fight, but history tells us that Lepont almost ALWAYS finds himself in a good position to pull off a victory. That said, however, Lepont has been submitted before, and Choi does have a good chance of pulling off a submission.

I’m predicting that the fight will be a grinding one, where both fighters will absolutely need to appear dominant and the busier fighter. I give them both an equal chance on the ground, but standing up Lepont has a significant advantage – at least that’s how it appears when you compare both their fights thus far in their careers.

The Coffee Boy’s prediction: After much thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that it will probably go past the first round, despite me saying otherwise on our podcast the last time I was on. I predict a second-round TKO victory for Arnaud Lepont.