Wazzup Pilipinas!
The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship (ONE), returned to the Singapore Indoor Stadium for another exciting evening of world-class mixed martial arts (MMA) action. ONE: DEFENDING HONOR showcased Asia’s premier combat sports talents on the global stage of MMA with a series of compelling bouts. In the main event, Eduard Folayang shocked the world by stopping Shinya Aoki to become the new ONE Lightweight World Champion. In the co-main event, Marat Gafurov retained his title with a submission victory over Narantungalag Jadambaa.
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In the main event, Eduard “Landslide” Folayang of Baguio City, Philippines completes his journey through ONE Championship’s lightweight ranks by stopping Asian MMA legend Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki by technical knockout within three rounds to clinch the ONE Lightweight World Championship. Aoki dominated the first round with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but Folayang came alive in the second round as he opened up his striking, showcasing his world-class wushu talent. In the third round, Folayang rocked Aoki against the cage fence and finished him off with ground-and-pound.
In the co-main event of the evening, reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov of Russia successfully defended his title against challenger and top contender Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa of Mongolia. It was the champion’s second title defense, after lifting the belt from Jadambaa a year ago. After a brief exchange of strikes, action quickly went to the mat when Jadambaa missed a kick and fell to the canvas. Gafurov followed the Mongolian down and that’s where he worked on the submission. Jadambaa was able to defend for a few moments, but once Gafurov re-established himself, the choke came effortlessly.
Lightweight prospect Amir Khan of Singapore overcame a spirited effort from former Pan Asia BJJ Champion Vaughn “The Spawn” Donayre of the Philippines to win by submission in the third round. After spending the first half of the bout tagging each other with various striking combinations, the two fighters decided to take things to the mat. On the ground, Khan showcased his technical brilliance, threatening Donayre with multiple choke attempts while dominating the grappling exchanges. Although Donayre had his moments, particularly catching Khan in a very deep kimura attempt, the younger fighter survived to win by rear naked choke in the third round.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
