Mongolia’s Batochir
Batsaikhan made a spectacular ONE
Championship debut, as he stopped Fabio
Harada with just two seconds remaining in the first round of
their
ONE Friday Fights 62 bantamweight showcase on Friday at
Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Harada (5-2, 0-1 ONE) came out the gate looking to pressure
Batsaikhan (3-1, 1-0 ONE) against the ropes. However, it was not
long before the Mongolian reversed his opponent into a corner and
landed a series of knees to the body followed by crisp straight
lefts, immediately putting Harada on notice. After eating a couple
of slick counter straight lefts and a head kick, Harada attempted
to take the fight to the canvas but was denied. Gaining confidence
in his striking advantage, Batsaikhan landed a slicing elbow on his
opponent that clearly hurt Harada. From there, Batsaikhan began to
pick Harada apart with stinging counterstrikes to the head and
knees to the body while denying the exhausted 24-year-old from
completing any of his desperation takedown attempts.
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Nevertheless, Harada displayed his grit and tenacity while trying
his best to survive the ruthless onslaught, even after crashing to
the canvas due to exhaustion. However, Batsaikhan was wise to make
his opponent get back to his feet, ultimately stopping him by
dropping his foe once again with knees to the body before finishing
him off with punches 4:58 into Round 2.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Matheus
Pereira (7-2, 3-0 ONE) walked away with his third consecutive
finish under the ONE Championship banner, as he stopped the
previously undefeated Evgeniy
Morozov (6-1, 0-1 ONE) after the conclusion of the second round
of their lightweight clash.
While Pereira came out measured with his striking attacks in the
initial minutes of the first frame, the Brazilian was quickly able
to find his distance and land peppering strikes against his
opponent. He even successfully recovered from a takedown without
sustaining any damage. However, Morozov kept blitzing the Brazilian
with punches in hopes of covering the distance, but he was often
met with resistance in the clinch before being shucked away. With
90 seconds left in the first, Morozov ate several elbows and knees
from the Brazilian but somehow persevered until the end of the
round by throwing back and attempting to defend himself
intelligently.
The second frame saw Pereira start by landing a couple of heavy
shots to the body, eventually landing several knees and elbows
against Morozov in the clinch, sending him crashing across the
ring. Clearly outclassed on the feet, Morozov kept backing up
looking for an opportunity to get the fight to the ground with
Imanari rolls, all while being subjected to a variety of stinging
striking attacks from Pereira. Fortunately for Morozov, halfway
through the second round, the Russian managed to secure a takedown
after eating a knee on his way in. However, Morozov was unable to
capitalize on the takedown due to exhaustion, allowing Pereira to
quickly find his way back to his feet. Once again, Pereira got
right back to attacking his foe with a number of his weapons,
visibly hurting the Russian time and again for the remainder of the
period. With the referee deeming Morozov unable to continue,
Pereira was awarded the TKO between rounds.
In other action, ET Wankhongohm MBK secured his second victory
against Mongkolkaew
Sor Sommai in a 130-pound catchweight muay thai headliner;
Xavier
Gonzalez earned a hard-fought split decision win over Win
Sitjanim in their 128-pound catchweight muay thai tilt; in
strawweight action, Chokpreecha
PK Saenchai scored a jaw-dropping knockout comeback victory
against Pongsiri Sujeebameekiew with a left hook at the 1:44 mark
in Round 1; Kongkula Jitmuangnon knocked out Mardsing
Khaolakmuaythai at the 2:37 mark of the first round in their
138-pound catchweight muay thai meeting; Nongam
Fairtex walked away with a unanimous decision over Tsz Ching
Phoebe Lo in their 110-pound catchweight muay thai contest; Looknam
Kor Khomkleaw earned a unanimous decision over Chabakaew
Sor KanJanchai in their atomweight muay thai bout; Wei Ziqin
pocketed a unanimous decision against promotional newcomer Riamu
Matsumoto in a 127-pound catchweight muay thai meeting; Haruto
Yasumoto made a successful promotional debut, recording a unanimous
decision against Temirlan
Bekmurzaev in a flyweight kickboxing match; and Yuki Morioka
enthralled onlookers with a come-from-behind victory to knockout
Peyman
Zolfaghari at 1:57 in Round 1 after getting dropped with a hook
early in the match.