Team Lakay’s Jenelyn Olsim made her presence at ONE Championship felt when she delivered a third-round submission to her Brazilian opponent in her debut in Asia’s leading mixed martial arts promotion.
The 23-year-old Olsim of Bokod, Benguet tapped out fifth ranked strawweight Maira Mazar via power guillotine inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium recently.
Olsim, a Muay Thai national athlete-turned professional MMA fighter, found her range early on that gave her confidence to exchange blows until she dropped Mazar to a knee.
The Team Lakay rising star grabbed a front headlock on her downed rival and looked for a guillotine choke before letting rip with a series of knees to the head. Mazar survived and broke free, though there was a respite for the Brazilian out in the open.
Olsim then clubbed Mazar with hard counters and sent her down again with a crunching jab-cross combo. Mazar survived the ensuing barrage by thrashing with upkicks, but all the momentum was in her rival’s favor.
After a brief stoppage for an accidental eye poke, the round ended on the feet, where the Singapore resident managed to find some rhythm with her straight punches.
After domina-ting her opponent in the first two rounds, Olsim waited for the right moment to swiftly thread her right arm under her opponent’s neck and then locked up the power guillotine.
The ONE Warrior Series graduate rolled with Mazar as the Brazilian tried to defend and squeezed to seal the tap at 0:41 of the final frame.
Olsim’s impressive debut in the ONE main roster brought pride and honor to Muay Thai practitioners in the Cordillera.
Olsim was one of the formidable Muay Thai athletes from the Philippines having won gold medals in several international competitions, such as the 2018 East Asian Muay Thai Championship where she and her brother, Jerry, won a gold medal in their respective divisions.
Olsim was also a gold medalist in the 2017 Muay Thai National Open held in Manila aside from the gold medal she won in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. – Harley F. Palangchao
April 25, 2024
