Too tough to handle: Iranian Mohammad Sotounzadeh (above) floors Indonesia’s Zuli Silawanto during a welterweight bout of the ONE FC Era of Champions tournament late on Saturday at the Mata Elang International Stadium (MEIS), North Jakarta. Sotounzadeh knocked out Zuli in the first round. Saturday’s event featured another eight fights in various divisions. JP/Wendra Ajistyatama
Brazilian Adriano Moraes was apparently too tough an opponent for Japan’s Kosuke Suzuki in the main event of the One Fighting Championship (FC) contest at Mata Elang International Stadium (MEIS) , North Jakarta, on Saturday evening.
Moraes employed a decisive arm triangle choke that forced Suzuki to tap out in the third round of flyweight bout.
The Brazilian jiujitsu brown belt holder was persistent in pursuing a takedown from the beginning and came close to bringing the fight to an end as early as the opening round. The Japanese was spared the onslaught as the time ran out.
The second round was a battle of skills and agility as Moraes escaped from a crucifix position to launch a fightback. However, Suzuki managed to break free from Moraes’ guillotine choke attempt.
The third round saw Suzuki with no way to escape from Moraes’ brutal offensive.
Saturday’s contest featured 18 fighters in nine classes.
Female Asian mixed martial arts pioneers Desi Rahayu and Ella Tang kicked off the show — tagged the Era of Champions — in emphatic fashion.
The takedown skills of Desi Rahayu, Indonesia’s first professional female mixed martial artist, proved to be the difference as she put in a convincing debut by outscoring Tang unanimously in three rounds.
Indonesian fighter Fransino Tirta also triumphed over his opponent to extend his winning record to seventeen after conquering Egyptian Sami Amin with a rear naked choke within the opening two minutes of round one.
“The key [to victory] is good preparation physically, mentally and strategically, three months prior to this bout,” said Fransino after the match.
“My specialty is on the ground. So my strategy is about how to bring him down as soon as possible and I got that chance in the very first round,” said the 33-year-old Brazilian jiujitsu black belt holder.
The Philippines’ Geje Eustaquio and Japan’s Kentaro Watanabe put on a tight fight, swapping blows throughout the three rounds that ended in a convincing win for Eustaqio.
Aung La N Sang of Myanmar made an impressive One FC debut by defeating Egypt’s Mahmoud Salama quickly in the first round. Sang promptly initiated grappling attacks by taking Salama down.
Sang held his opponent off and swept his way back to the top. His heavy strikes from the mount position were so devastating that they led to the referee stopping the fight only a minute and six seconds into the battle.
Indonesia’s Yohan Mulia Legowo battled in his featherweight contest, but his rival Ev Ting of Malaysia proved too strong.
Both Ting and Legowo began the bout aggressively, with head kicks and powerful punches exchanged. With less than a minute remaining in the opening stanza, Ting cornered Legowo with a flurry of strikes that left the latter wobbling. He dazed the Indonesian veteran with a decisive two-knee stamp.
Muay Thai world champion Dejdamrong sor Amnuaysirichoke demonstrated the effectiveness of world class Muay Thai, with Dejdamrong overwhelming Omanz with powerful leg kicks and accurate punches.
Omanz was resilient and bounced back from the barrage to take his Thai adversary down, but a failed takedown attempt led to Dejdamrong raining down devastating elbows and knees, forcing referee Oliver Coste to step in and call an end to the contest with seconds left in the first round.
Gianni Subba re-established himself as a top flyweight prospect by defeating Ruel Catalan of the Philippines.
The 21-year-old Subba took Catalan down early in the first round and advanced to the mount position, but Catalan performed an impressive reversal to get on top.
Subba wrapped his legs around Catalan in an attempt at a triangle choke but could not finish his opponent off before the bell sounded to end the first round.
When the Malaysian Subba secured a triangle choke position, he rained down vicious elbows that forced Catalan to tap out.
Iran’s Mohammad Sotounzadeh proved too much for local favorite Zuli Silawanto, and he finished his opponent in the first round.
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