After nearly a month away, One Championship returned with a thrilling card
that went down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang,
Singapore.
The One
156 — previously known as One
“Reloaded” — headliner saw Regian
Eersel putting his 170-pound kickboxing belt on the line
against Arian
Sadikovic. Eersel softened up his opponent’s defense with some
nasty leg kicks early in the fight, while concluding all of his
combinations with a kick or a knee. The Surinamese champion seemed
in control for the first stage of the fight, but Sadikovic came
back with a flying knee that dropped his foe in Round 2. Eersel
kept to his “Immortal” nickname and surged back to his feet
following the referee’s count, but the second period was all about
the challenger. Eersel made the proper adjustments in the third
round, keeping Sadikovic’s aggression at bay thanks in part to his
experience.
Advertisement
In the championship rounds, Sadikovic landed with punches but
struggled to deal with the volume and damage from Eersel’s leg
kicks. The defending champion intelligently struck from afar and
stayed away from his adversary’s most significant shots. Some knees
to the body punctuated the performance for Eersel, who ended the
fight on a higher tone. Ultimately, all three cageside judges
favored “The Immortal,” who defended his lightweight title, scored
his 18th consecutive triumph and earned a $50,000 performance
bonus.
Smilla Sundell UNLOADS on Jackie Buntan to
end Round 3!
#ONE156
#WeAreONE
#ONEChampionship | How To Watch https://t.co/t1U58xACAx pic.twitter.com/27ox6REtnh— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship)
April 22, 2022
In the co-main event, Jackie Buntan took on 17-year-old Smilla
Sundell for the inaugural muay Thai 125-pound championship. The
fast-handed Buntan took the initiative early in Round 1 and
mesmerized her opponent thanks to her sharp footwork. In turn,
Sundell implemented her strategy from the second stanza, making the
most out of her reach advantage. Buntan retaliated with spinning
attacks, but the youngster kept her wits about her and fired back
with jabs and right hands. In the waning seconds of Round 3,
Sundell let her combinations fly and nearly stopped her adversary.
The script didn’t change in the championship rounds, as Sundell
stung her foe from afar while Buntan reeled from the assault. In
the fifth period, Buntan’s face showed the signs of a hard-fought
contest, but she bit down her mouthpiece and slung leather to
survive to hear the judges’ decision. As expected, all three
scorecards crowned Sundell the first queen of One’s strawweight
muay Thai division.
In the mixed martial arts main attraction on the bill, Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Jarred
Brooks (19-2, 1 NC; 3-0 One) put Bokang
Masunyane (8-1, 2-1 One) away with a rear-naked choke.
Masunyane, who missed weight before the clash, didn’t tap out in
time and instead went out on his shield. Masunyane lost
consciousness with 21 seconds left in the opening period, putting
Brooks on a five-fight win streak with three submissions along the
way. The victory placed Brooks in the likely no. 1 contender spot
for a crack at Joshua
Pacio’s 125-pound title.
@LiamBadco
fires back with THREE KNOCKDOWNS to finish “Elbow Zombie”#ONE156
#WeAreONE
#ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/jR6XTECZHV— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship)
April 22, 2022
In one round of pure chaos and furious action, Liam Harrison
stopped Muangthai PK.Saenchai with punches due to the
three-knockdown rule after the Englishman was dropped twice. The
official stoppage time came at 2:19, putting a violent end to one
of the most entertaining rounds of combat sports this year. In
addition to double $50,000 performance bonuses, Harrison earned a
shot at Nong-O’s divisional championship.
Earlier on the event, Min Jong
Song (13-8, 2-2 One) left Rui Chen
(10-4, 6-4 One) senseless with a rear-naked choke that ended the
One bantamweight fight at 4:26 of Round 2; Danial
Williams (5-1, 2-0 One) put on a dominant performance against
Namiki
Kawahara (7-5-2, 1 NC; 0-2 One) and earned a unanimous decision
victory at One’s strawweight division.
In the featured fight on the preliminary card, Gustavo
Balart (10-4, 2-3 One) recorded his second straight victory by
defeating Yosuke
Saruta (21-11-3, 3-3 One) on all three scorecards in a One
strawweight match; Andrei
Stoica did enough to eke out a narrow split decision over
Giannis
Stoforidis in a One light heavyweight kickboxing clash; former
Glory Kickboxing titleholder Anissa
Meksen outstruck Marie
Ruumet to capture a unanimous decision in a muay Thai scrap at
115 pounds; One flyweight Windson
Ramos (5-1, 1-0 One) topped Sung Hoon
Woo (8-3, 1-1 One) via unanimous decision; Dayane
de Souza Cardoso (9-1-1, 1-0 One) took home a stoppage win
after Ayaka Miura
(11-5, 1 NC; 4-3 One) injured her shoulder 56 seconds into Round 2
in their 125-pound tilt; Abraao
Amorim Magalhaes (9-3, 1-0 One) smashed Dae Song
Park (11-3, 4-1 One) with a perfectly legal knee while Park was
downed, followed by a series of punches that made the referee step
in to halt their 170-pound fight at 1:20 of Round 2; in One’s
185-pound welterweight category, Tae Ho Jin
(9-6, 1-0 One) submitted Agilan
Thani (11-7, 10-7 One) with a kimura at the 2:23 mark of Round
1; Mikey Musumeci scored the first finish in One’s submission
grappling fights as he forced Masakazu
Imanari to tap to a rear-naked choke to conclude their
143-pound catchweight clash, pocketing a $50,000 performance bonus
along the way; Keanu Subba
(8-5, 7-4 One) started off the night by outgrappling James Yang
(1-1, 1-1 One) en route to a unanimous decision in One’s
featherweight division.