Alex Lee Leung-wang's Muay Thai skills were no match for grappling power as he carried Hong Kong's mixed martial arts (MMA) hopes to the ring in Legends IV at the Asia World-Expo last night.
Lee, 28, was forced to submit with 38 seconds of the first round remaining to a rear naked choke applied by Mark Eddiva of the Philippines, also making his professional debut.
From the opening bell, Eddiva - a bronze medallist in the grappling and striking sport of sanda at last year's Asian Games in Guangzhou - grabbed Lee to force him to the ropes and eventually the mat.
Lee's attempt to keep the action in the stand-up game, where he could attack Eddiva with strikes and kicks, were foiled as the Filipino thwarted knee and elbow strikes to bring the fight to the ground, where he gained side control. With his arm trapped, Lee took repeated blows to the face before Eddiva worked his way to his opponent's back to apply the choke.
'It really was not a good fight, I made some big mistakes when I got him with knees and elbows,' Lee said after the bout, blaming an error he made when moving the wrong way into turtle - a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu defensive position.
'I tried to finish the fight in a hurry, but should have taken more time. When he got side control, he had the upper hand - it's not easy to get out of that when being struck. I turned into turtle and went the wrong way.'
