ONE Championship: Kadestam makes successful title defense

ONE Championship (ONE), put on a tremendous show at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon. ONE: REIGN OF VALOR played host to a world-class display of martial arts action. Once again, the absolute best in local and international martial arts talent took to the ONE Championship cage to showcase their incredible skills.

In the main event, Sweden’s Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam showed championship heart by defeating Kazakhstan’s Georgiy “Knight” Kichigin via technical knockout to retain the ONE Welterweight World Championship. For the better part of the first two rounds, Kadestam was on the wrong end of a grappling clinic from Kichigin, as he was getting taken down and controlled on the ground.

In the dying minutes of the second round however, Kadestam landed a thunderous elbow in the clinch that had the challenger dazed at the end of the round. Visibly still hurt from the elbow, Kichigin was unable to answer the third round bell and the victory was awarded to Kadestam.

Myanmar’s own Phoe “Bushido” Thaw overcame a troublesome start to score an exciting technical knockout win over Indonesia’s Yohan “The Ice Man” Mulia Legowo. Momentum shifted in favor of the hometown favorite, as Phoe Thaw gained dominant position and punished Legowo with thunderous punches to earn the stoppage win late in the opening round.

Former ONE World Title challenger Mauro “The Hammer” Cerilli of Italy made quick work of opponent Alain “The Panther” Ngalani of Hong Kong to win via first-round technical knockout. From the reverse headlock position, Cerilli then delivered a symphony of knees to force the referee to call a halt to the contest.

Filipino flyweight contender Rene “D’Challenger” Catalan smashed his way to a convincing first-round technical knockout win over former ONE Flyweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito of Japan. Catalan nullified Naito’s grappling as he stuffed the former World Champion’s relentless takedown attempts.

After securing dominant position, Catalan unloaded a barrage of strikes to overwhelm Naito for the dominant stoppage victory.

Top-ranked Indian mixed martial arts star Gurdarshan “Saint Lion” Mangat made a statement in his ONE Championship debut, defeating former ONE World Title challenger Toni “Dynamite” Tauru of Finland by knockout. In the final round, Mangat went for the finish, as he dropped Tauru with a swift left hook before finishing things off with a jumping knee and some ground-and-pound.

Muay Thai legend Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy of Thailand turned in a spectacular performance, dominating opponent Kenta Yamada of Japan in a ONE Super Series Kickboxing bout. In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Petchmorakot to win by unanimous decision.

Four-time Chin State Wrestling Champion Tial “The Dragon Leg” Thang of Myanmar was dominant in his mixed martial arts debut as he outpointed Rin Saroth of Cambodia to score a unanimous decision victory. After three exciting rounds, Tial Thang was declared the winner in front of a raucous crowd in Yangon.

Striking superstars Liam Nolan of England and Enriko “The Hurricane” Kehl of Germany made their ONE Super Series debuts in a fiery Kickboxing contest. Kehl put the finishing touches with a fierce combination against the cage. Nolan failed to beat the 10 count and Kehl was awarded the knockout victory.

In an exciting ONE Super Series Kickboxing contest, light heavyweight behemoths Andrei Stoica of Romania and Tarik Khbabez of Morocco went back and forth, trading powerful striking combinations from the sound of the opening bell. In the end, all three judges scored in favor of Khbabez to win by unanimous decision.

“MMA Sister” Lin Heqin of China was spectacular in her ONE Championship debut as she submitted Filipina star Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres in the first round. The rangey Lin imposed her will in striking early but found herself getting taken down late in the first round. The takedown proved to be detrimental for Torres however, as Lin locked in a deep triangle choke that left the Filipina with no alternative but to tap out.

“The Ghost” Chen Rui of China remained undefeated in his professional mixed martial arts career after defeating Guam’s Roman “Boom” Alvarez via technical knockout in just two rounds. Chen dropped Alvarez with a well-placed uppercut to the head midway through the second round and followed up with a storm of punches to claim the stoppage victory.

Female atomweight competitors Bozhena “Toto” Antoniyar of Myanmar and Audreylaura “Ice Comet” Boniface of Malaysia figured in a thrilling two-round encounter. Boniface succumbed to the constant pressure as Antoniyar claimed the technical knockout victory due to strikes.

Flyweight competitors Rui Botelho of Portugal and Yuta Watanabe of Japan figured in a spirited ONE Super Series Kickboxing contest. In the end, all three judges scored in favor of Botelho to win by unanimous decision.

Kicking off the action at ONE: REIGN OF VALOR was a ONE Super Series Kickboxing contest between Kohei “Momotaro” Kodera of Japan and Kenny “The Pitbull” Tse of Australia. At the end of the contest, all three judges scored in favor of Kodera to win by unanimous decision.

Official results for ONE: REIGN OF VALOR

• ONE Welterweight World Championship bout: Zebaztian Kadestam defeats Georgiy Kichigin by TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 5:00 minutes of round 2
• Featherweight bout: Phoe Thaw defeats Yohan Mulia Legowo by TKO (Strikes) at 4:56 minutes of round 1
• Heavyweight bout: Mauro Cerilli defeats Alain Ngalani by TKO (Strikes) at 1:41 minutes of round 1
• Flyweight bout: Rene Catalan defeats Yoshitaka Naito by TKO (Strikes) at 4:32 minutes of round 1
• Flyweight bout: Gurdarshan Mangat defeats Toni Tauru by Knockout (KO) at 1:23 minutes of round 3
• ONE Super Series Kickboxing Featherweight bout: Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy defeats Kenta Yamada by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Catch Weight (68.0 KG) bout: Tial Thang defeats Rin Saroth by Unanimous Decision (UD) at after 3 rounds
• ONE Super Series Kickboxing Featherweight bout: Enriko Kehl defeats Liam Nolan by Knockout (KO) at 2:12 minutes of round 2
• ONE Super Series Kickboxing Light Heavyweight bout: Tarik Khbabez defeats Andrei Stoica by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Women’s Atomweight bout: Lin Heqin defeats Jomary Torres by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 4:12 minutes of round 1
• Catch Weight (67.0 KG) bout: Chen Rui defeats Roman Alvarez by TKO (Strikes) at 2:48 minutes of round 2
• Women’s Atomweight bout: Bozhena Antoniyar defeats Audreylaura Boniface by TKO (Strikes) at 1:31 minutes of round 2
• ONE Super Series Kickboxing Flyweight bout: Rui Botelho defeats Yuta Watanabe by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• ONE Super Series Kickboxing Flyweight bout: Kohei Kodera defeats Kenny Tse by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds