In the main event of the evening, Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon of the Philippines ended the near-five year reign of now former belt holder Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes of Brazil to successfully unify the bantamweight titles. Belingon employed a terrific game plan, attacking Fernandes’ body with thudding spinning back kicks while connecting on fiery boxing combinations. Fernandes did his best to take the action to the ground, but Belingon showed much improved grappling skills. After five rounds of action, Belingon took home the victory via split decision and was crowned the undisputed ONE Bantamweight World Champion.
Kevin Belingon, newly-crowned undisputed ONE Bantamweight World Champion, stated: “Bibiano [Fernandes] is a very tough opponent, I really had a hard time beating him tonight. I respect him very much, and it is an honor to fight such a tough fighter. I know Bibiano is very tough, but I think I deserve this victory. The game plan was to knock him out. We saw [a weakness] in his previous fight. I kept on giving him everything, but he has good defense.”
Female strawweight contenders Tiffany “No Chill” Teo of Singapore and Michelle Nicolini of Brazil put on an absolute show to the delight of a packed Singapore Indoor Stadium crowd. For 15 minutes, Teo and Nicolini gave everything they had and left it all inside the cage. While Nicolini showcased her world-class grappling, it was Teo who kept her opponent on the end of some powerful striking combinations. After three rounds of gruelling action, Teo took home the hard-earned victory by unanimous decision.
Australia’s Adrian “The Hunter” Pang triumphantly returned to the winner’s circle with a technical knockout victory over Japan’s Kota Shimoishi. Pang, showcasing his incredible toughness and durability, punished Shimoishi both on the feet and on the ground with heavy strikes in the first round. Unfortunately, Shimoishi was unable to answer the call for the second round, and Pang was awarded the stoppage win.
Two-division Lion Fight World Champion “Smokin’” Jo Nattawut overcame a tremendous size disadvantage to pick apart Scotland’s George Mann en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory. The smaller Nattawut did a masterful job of negating the much taller Mann’s reach by connecting on blistering combinations to keep the lanky Scotsman at bay from the first round to the final frame. In the end, Nattawut’s clinical display of technical striking was enough to have his hand raised in triumph.
Three-time IFMA Champion Alaverdi Ramazanov of Russia made quick work of Scotland’s Andrew Miller, winning by knockout in just 57 seconds. Miller came out aggressively, throwing combinations that had the 23-year-old Russian striker moving backwards. As his cage counterpart pressed the action, Alaverdi patiently picked his shots before he drilled his opponent with a flurry of punches that ended with a well-placed right uppercut to shut the lights off on Miller for the victory.
Grappling superstar Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon emerged triumphant in a featherweight contest against South Korea’s Sung Jong Lee. The multiple-time BJJ world champion showcased a much-improved striking arsenal for the majority of the bout before taking matters to the ground midway through the second round. On the mat, Tonon displayed his dangerous submission skills, quickly and effortlessly locking in the guillotine choke to claim the victory.
Former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke returned to his winning form against Himanshu Kaushik, submitting his Indian opponent with a rear-naked choke in the second round. Dejdamrong dominated all throughout the contest, drenching Kaushik with his Muay Thai combinations while controlling the action on the ground. After taking Kaushik’s back in the second frame, Dejdamrong sunk in the bout-ending maneuver to force the tap.
In a ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight contest, highly-decorated kickboxers Muangthai P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym of Thailand and Panicos Yusuf of Cyprus put on an incredible striking showcase. Both men employed fiery offense from bell to bell, with Muangthai utilizing his speed and power to connect on a handful of thudding strikes on Yusuf, who was knocked down in the first round. Banking on his solid hooks, Yusuf managed to keep the bout competitive in the second and third frames. After going back-and-forth for three rounds, Muangthai was declared the victor by unanimous decision.
Shuya “Stealth” Kamikubo of Japan scored his second consecutive win on the ONE Championship stage, overpowering Malaysian dynamo Muhammad “Jungle Cat” Aiman with a masterful grappling performance. Kamikubo did not miss a beat over three rounds, rattling his opponent with his ground-and-pound for the majority of the contest. Kamikubo punctuated his performance by grinding out Aiman in the final round, steering himself to a unanimous decision victory.
China’s “The Stalker” Xie Bin marched to victory inside the ONE Championship cage, submitting Hisyam Samsudin of Malaysia in the first round. After pressuring his opponent on the offensive end, Xie wasted no time in scoring on a takedown in the opening moments of the contest. Once the action hit the canvas, Xie effortlessly secured dominant position, capitalizing on Samsudin’s inferior grappling defense to fasten a tight D’arce choke that put his opponent to sleep.
Setting the tone for an action-packed evening was a featherweight bout between Indonesian-Dutch standout Anthony “The Archangel” Engelen and Cambodia’s Meas Meul. Engelen made a triumphant return to ONE Championship, knocking out Meul in the first round. He needed just 39 seconds to get the victory, turning the lights out on Meul with a thunderous high kick.
Official results for ONE: HEART OF THE LION
ONE Bantamweight World Championship bout: Kevin Belingon defeats Bibiano Fernandes by Split Decision (SD) after 5 rounds
Catch Weight bout (72.0kgs): Christian Lee defeats Kazuki Tokudome by TKO (Strikes) at 3:07 minutes of round 1
ONE Super Series Kickboxing Catch Weight bout (71.0kgs): Giorgio Petrosyan defeats Sorgraw Petchyindee Academy by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Women’s Strawweight bout: Tiffany Teo defeats Michelle Nicolini by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Lightweight bout: Adrian Pang defeats Kota Shimoishi by TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) at 5:00 minutes of round 1
ONE Super Series Muay Thai Featherweight bout: Jo Nattawut defeats George Mann by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds.
ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight bout: Alaverdi Ramazanov defeats Andrew Miller by Knockout (KO) at 0:57 minutes of round 1
Featherweight bout: Garry Tonon defeats Sung Jong Lee by Submission (Guillotine) at 2:04 minutes of round 2
Strawweight bout: Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke defeats Himanshu Kaushik by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:45 minutes of round 2
ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight bout: Muangthai P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym defeats Panicos Yusuf by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Bantamweight bout: Shuya Kamikubo defeats Muhammad Aiman by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Bantamweight bout: Xie Bin defeats Hisyam Samsudin by Submission (D’arce Choke) at 3:19 minutes of round 1
Featherweight bout: Anthony Engelen defeats Meas Meul by Knockout (KO) at 0:39 minutes of round 1
For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.
About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship (ONE) is the largest global sports media property in Asian history, and the largest producer of millennial live sports content in Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, ONE is the Home of Martial Arts, and is the world's largest martial arts organization, hosting bouts across all styles of martial arts such as Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate, Kung Fu, Silat, Sanda, Lethwei, Mixed Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, Submission Grappling, and more. ONE hosts the biggest sports entertainment events across Asia, featuring some of the world's best martial artists and world champions on the largest global media broadcast in Asia. ONE eSports, a subsidiary of ONE Championship, runs Asia's largest eSports league with some of the biggest blockbuster titles in the world. In addition to its digital platforms, ONE Championship broadcasts to over 1.7 billion potential viewers across 138 countries with some of the largest global broadcasters, including Fox Sports, ABS-CBN, Astro, ClaroSports, Bandsports, Startimes, Premier Sports, Thairath TV, Skynet, Mediacorp, OSN, and more.
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