Compton earns dominant win at ONE: Spirit of a Warrior

PICTURED: ELLIOT COMPTON & MATTHEW SEMPER (CREDIT: DAVID ASH & ONE CHAMPIONSHIP)

Elliot Compton placed himself back in the winner’s circle tonight putting on a dominant showing against American Matthew Semper to secure a unanimous points win in their ONE Super Series bout in Yangon, Myanmar.

In what was a last-minute sanctioning issue under Myanmar government regulations, no elbows were allowed and the bout was subsequently fought under a modified kickboxing rule-set. Neither fighter seemed phased with the changes and both were comfortable to let their hands do most of the talking in the cage.

From the outset it was clear that Compton was going to put his reach advantage to good use and it didn’t take long for his hands to start finding the mark, keeping Semper at a controllable range throughout the bout. With the American pushing forward Compton was able to land a well-timed jab that sent his opponent straight to the canvas for a referee’s count. Although able to recover quickly, Semper was on the receiving end of some great punches and rib kicks to finish out the round.

Elliot Compton opens ONE: SPIRIT OF A WARRIOR with an exciting kickboxing showcase, picking up the unanimous decision win! #SpiritOfAWarrior #Yangon #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/iIIGxSzCZJ

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 29, 2018

Compton continued to show off his full range of skills in the second round, landing countless punches, kicks and the occasional knee to stay firmly in front on the judge’s scorecards. Again it was a stiff jab from Compton that dropped Semper to the mat for another count by the referee, albeit after a delayed response in going down. Without wanting to rush in and risk his lead on the scorecards, Compton was careful to pick his shots, landing clean strikes against a now visibly tired Semper.

The third round went much the same way as the first two, with Compton in total control throughout. As the fight wore down, Compton stuck to his rock-solid fundamentals in order to continually punish Semper who had very little to offer in the way of offence in the closes stages of the fight. It was clear that Compton’s extensive experience in the cage with 4oz gloves was paying dividends, with the Queenslander able to find his range much more easily than Semper.

A comfortable win in the end, Compton will now go into his next ONE Super Series bout with a renewed sense of confidence and belief in his skills.