Results for August 29’s REIGN OF CHAMPIONS, live from the World Trade Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
MAIN EVENT
ONE FC Lightweight World Championship bout: Shinya Aoki defeats Kamal Shalorus (First Round Submission via Rear Naked Choke):
Shinya Aoki remains ONE FC’s last Japanese champion. Unlike Oishi, Shinya utilized his grappling expertise his advantage. He pushed his opponent up against the cage and took him down with a leg trip. Kamal tried to hold on, but made the mistake of rolling to his side when Aoki broke free. Shinya took advantage of his opponent’s exposed back and locked in a rear naked choke, forcing the Iranian to tap.
CO-MAIN EVENT
ONE FC Welterweight World Championship bout: NEW CHAMPION – Ben Askren defeats Nobutatsu Suzuki (First Round Referee Stoppage Due to Strikes):
In stark contrast to the last fight, this match ended quickly. Ben went right in for the kill, taking his opponent down early with a double leg and raining down punch after punch. Suzuki was helpless, unable to do anything for the entire match (all one-and-a-half minutes of it) besides cover and cower. The referee had no choice but to end the match.
CO-MAIN EVENT
ONE FC Featherweight World Championship: NEW CHAMPION – Narantungalag Jadambaa defeats Koji Oishi (Unanimous Decision):
The Japanese now only hold two of ONE’s four titles. The five-round match between the Mongolian MMA champion and the Japanese fighter could best be described as a cat-and-mouse game with Jadambaa chasing Oishi around the perimeter of the cage and constantly pushing the pace with punches, kicks, and the occasional huge, wrestling slam.
As the rounds went by, Oishi gradually threw more and more punches, but he never utilized any wrestling to neutralize his opponent. Instead, the Mongolian constantly weathered Oishi’s attacks.
By the time the fifth round neared its end, Jadambaa had Oishi in a bulldog choke, and Oishi simply lay there, seemingly aware of having lost his title. By the time the fifth round ended, there was no question as to who would be ONE FC’s next featherweight champion.
MAIN CARD
Lightweight bout: Roger Huerta defeats Christian Holley (First Round Referee Stoppage due to Strikes):
As opposed to many of the previous fights, this fight saw a man end his losing streak by ending another man’s win streak. Roger Huerta, who lost four of his previous fights and hadn’t won a match since 2010, took his opponent, the then undefeated Christian Holley, down in the first round. Though Holley got back up and took Huerta down, the American was able to reverse and maneuver his way to side mount where he bombarded his English opponent with knee after knee after knee. Holley looked like he was barely able to move when Huerta took his back and pummeled him to the side of the head, leaving the referee no choice but end the fight.
Light heavyweight bout: James McSweeney defeats Cristiano Kaminishi (First Round Knockout via punch and soccer kick):
The match started slowly, but it certainly didn’t end that way. Both light heavyweights started out measuring each other up, McSweeney held the center while Kaminishi paced around the perimeter. The English, Muay Thai champion landed a punch that rocked his opponent, though, and finished him up with a soccer kick, leaving his Japanese Brazilian opponent limp on the canvas.
Featherweight bout: Herbert Burns defeats Hiroshige Tanaka (Unamimous Decision):
The third undefeated fighter on the card extends his undefeated streak. Burns utilized his jiu-jitsu in all three rounds, pressing his Japanese opponent up against the cage, taking him down, and mounting his opponent. Burns kicked Tanaka down early in the second round and later nailed a flurry of punches, but Tanaka showed the strength of his chin and moved on in the round, seemingly unfazed. The Brazilian, no-gi champion chased his opponent around the cage in the third round, and though Tanaka was able to nail a hard punch and a flurry, Burns’ jiu-jitsu was too much, and the round ended with Burns holding his opponent down and landing some hard punches and knees. By the end of the fight, even Tanaka seemed to realize he lost.
UNDERCARD
Catchweight bout (76kg): Mohamad Walid defeats Vaughn Donayre (First round submission via armbar):
And another undefeated fighter extends his victory – this time to four. Mohamed Walid, the Syrian-born Dubai FC welterweight champion, met his much older opponent in the middle of cage and took him down early with a double leg. Donayre was able to get up the first time and trade some punches with Walid, but the Filipino wasn’t so lucky the second time. After taking him down, Walid jumped Donayre’s butterfly guard, got into mount, and locked in an armbar, ending the fight in the first.
Flyweight bout: Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke defeats Ali Yaakub (First round submission via rear naked choke):
The man with ONE FC’s longest name extends his undefeated streak to two. After trading some solid, Muay Thai kicks with Yaakub, the two clinched and threw some hard knees at each other. “Rong” (as ONE FC color commentator, Jason Chambers insisted on calling him), was able to toss his opponent to the mat and land in full mount. Rong then pummeled his opponent with punches and elbows. Finally, as Yaakub tried to turn over, Rong took advantage of his opponent’s exposed back and locked in a rear naked choke, securing himself a first-round submission victory.
Women’s Flyweight bout: Ann Osman defeats Ana Julaton (split decision):
“Athena” earns herself a “W.” Though she got dominated in round two by some solid ground-and-pound at the hands of her Filipina opponent, the Malaysian goddess ended both rounds one and three with near-submissions on Julaton. Round three ended with Julaton in a triangle, and only round one bell saved the “Hurricane” from an armbar submission.
