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It was therefore natural that the debut of ONE Championship in Japan featured one of the country's favorite sons in a leading role.
At age 35, MMA legend Shinya Aoki (43-8, 1 NC) added to his impressive list of honors, taking the title of ONE lightweight champion (170 pounds) by defeating Eduard Folayang (21-7) in the main event of ONE "" A new era "" Sunday at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
It was the second meeting between the two and although their November 2016 meeting saw Folayang end Aoki's first lightweight ONE reign through a third-round TKO, this conclusion was more in line with Aoki's recent performances. .
"Tobikan Judan" waited about a minute to shoot for his first shot on goal, tying Folayang against the cage and pulling him towards the mat. He quickly positioned himself for an arm-triangle constriction, holding himself tight until Folayang erased and fainted at the 2:34 mark of the first round. . Just like that, Aoki was once again a champion.
2018 was a year of rebound for Aoki, who recorded three consecutive bids in the first round to get another chance in Folayang. In his post-fight interview, he was his usual character.
"To be 35 years old, do what I like to do, have all the problems, but still do what I like to do, are you not jealous of me?", A said Aoki through the intermediary of a translator. "And still tomorrow, I'll continue like this every day."
"I have gold printed on my buttocks and real gold tomorrow too," he added.
At the co-main evening, Xiong Jing Nan, a 125-pound featherweight champion, put an end to Angela Lee's dream of becoming the first promotion fighter to hold the title in two divisions by stopping the atomic weight champion (115 pounds) with early strikes. in the fifth round.
Following ONE's scoring system, in which a fight is judged in its entirety as opposed to turn-based, it seemed that "Unstoppable" was on track to win a decision on Jing Nan. Apart from some impressive flakes of Jing Nan, Lee controlled much of the fight with his fight.
On more than one occasion, Lee narrowed the gap and intimidated Jing Nan against the cage to set up takedowns and slams. However, as the fight progressed, Jing Nan began to throw his hands more freely and it was clear that Lee respected the power of the straw champion.
Lee almost knocked out Jing Nan in the fourth round, passing control on the mat with plenty of time to work. She used an inverted triangle to set up a deep cuff, but Jing Nan nevertheless managed to avoid typing. This effort left Lee visibly tired as the fifth round approached.
It was in the last frame that Jing Nan showed his killer instinct, cracking Lee with a right foot against the body that had bent him in discomfort. Jing Nan followed with kicks on the body and punches to the head until Lee turned away, signaling that she had finished. The official time of the stop was 1:37 of the fifth lap.
Jing Nan (14-1) has successfully defended the featherweight title three times in a row and has won nine fights in total. After the fight, she acknowledged that she had beaten.
"Angela Lee is a good athlete and you see my cup, so it's a tough fight," said Jing Nan via a translator. "But you can also see my progress, I really like to train in combat."
Lee, 22, lost for the first time in 10 professional career matches.
Burma star Aung La N Sang kept her pace of glory with a third straight win in defense of the 205-pound title and her sixth consecutive victory in beating Ken Hasegawa again. The two men met at a fun ceremony last June, which ended with the recovery by N Sang of Hasegawa in fifth place. He would not need nearly as much time in their revenge.
N Sang scored his first blood with just over a minute in the first round, which earned him a quick shot with a fast right hand. This did not deter Hasegawa from advancing to the second round, but was gradually crushed by kicking N Sang's body and legs. Hasegawa was stricken in another straight line and N Sang did not let go as he followed with ground and pound to secure the win at 4:41 of the second lap.
After the fight, he offered a message of peace to his native Myanmar.
"I pray and wish peace in Myanmar," said N Sang. "Together, if we work together, we can achieve anything."
N Sang, who also holds a title at 185 pounds, then agreed to a future fight for the lightweight heavyweight title with title holder ONE, one of the heavyweights, Brandon Vera.
In the first league game of the evening, the title changed hands, but probably in a way that did not satisfy the fighters. Kevin Belingon defended his bantamweight title (145 pounds) in a rubber match against Bibiano Fernandes after winning the Fernandes belt following a split decision last November in a rematch.
Belingon came out quickly, invading Fernandes, who remained calm and defended well. Later in the opening lap, Fernandes shoved Belingon with a hard punch, then finished the period with a shot on the ground while taking Belingon's back.
Fernandes opened the second round in the same manner as the third. Belingon went down to the carpet. Unfortunately, the action was immediately interrupted when Belingon landed on an illegal elbow at the back of Fernandes' head. Fernandes had plenty of time to recover, but could not regain his bearings and the referee was forced to disqualify Belingon (20-6). If the fight had passed the halfway point, the judges would have been asked to make a decision, but the foul came just 81 seconds after the start of the second run.
Final victory or not, Fernandes (23-4) is once again champion of the ONE and now weighs 2-1 on Belingon (he defeated Belingon by submission at his first meeting in January 2016).
Two former UFC champions made their debut in ONE to launch the MMA portion of the card, with Eddie Alvarez facing Timofey Nastyukhin and Demetrious Johnson ahead of Yuya Wakamatsu. While the two Americans entered with their fanfare, they came out with very different results.
From the beginning, Nastyukhin (13-4) has harassed Alvarez (29-7), not shaken by the many achievements of Alvarez. He exchanged comfortably with Alvarez, making the most of the exchanges and taking his time to find the range. When he did, the fight immediately fell in the descent for Alvarez while he was stung and leaning against the fence by a series of Nastyukhin's forehands. An unbalanced right passed Alvarez's defense and put it on 4:05 in the first round.
American star Alvarez, Johnson (28-3-1), much better started his race by eliminating Wakamatsu (10-4) before winning to victory in the 2:40 victory. Wakamatsu, who stands out from the Japanese Pancrase promotion, resisted with "Mighty Mouse" for the first five minutes, but could not stand so long before Johnson took control of his fight.
Johnson touched a Wakamatsu on the ground – something that would have been illegal in the United States under the unified rules – then attacked with a guillotine to end the fight.
The beginnings of Alvarez and Johnson were part of a pair of ONE tournaments. It's the end of the Alvarez light grand prix route, as Johnson qualifies for the flyweight semi-finals. Nastyukhin will face the undefeated Hawaiian Lowen Tynes in the lightweight semifinals, while Johnson waits for the winner of the Tatsumitsu WADA-Ivanildo Delfino's light heavyweight match.
The main card was opened by a kickboxing bout between world champions Andy Souwer and Yodsanklai Fairtex. During the eleven years of revenge, it was Yodsanklai who scored the biggest shot of the second round, picking up a straight line that placed Souwer against the cage. Dazed, Souwer was not able to respond to the referee's count (though there were some protests afterwards) and the match was interrupted 51 seconds after the start of the second run.
With this victory, Fairtex has avenged its defeat against Souwer since March 2008.
For a full summary of the event, check out the results here and you can find links to reruns of the event here.
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