Sanzhar
Zakirov emerged victorious and nailed down a One Championship
contract with a second-round technical knockout of Ryosuke
Honda in their
ONE Friday Fights 54 strawweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee
Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Zakirov was quick to take the center and begin pushing his foe back
with measured attacks to the head and body before landing a knee
below the belt, leading to a pause in the action. Zakirov got back
to cornering Honda before successfully taking him down to the
canvas. However, the South Korean was quick to make his way back to
his feet. Nevertheless, a relentless Zakirov managed to lock both
his hands behind Honda’s knees a few seconds later and proceeded to
slam him to the canvas and take his back. However, Honda managed to
safely make it back to his feet once again. Zakirov continued with
his forward pressure, landing elbows and punches on his cornered
counterpart before once again securing a takedown and unleashing
ground-and-pound on him. Later, he landed a head kick on the break
as both competitors ended the first round on their feet.
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Honda found himself back on the canvas 10 seconds into Round 2,
with Zakirov looking to improve position on top of him. However,
the 32-year-old was able to fend off his opponent’s submission
attempts and make it back to his feet. “Tornado” continued to
outwork Honda, even on the feet with his body and head kick
attacks. After successfully taking down Honda once again, Zakirov
hunted for the submission while raining blows from top before the
South Korean escaped back to his feet. There,
he was met with a barrage of punches and knees that left him
wobbling all around the ring, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in
at the 3:35 mark of the second round.
Meanwhile, Yryskeldi
Duisheev submitted Ismail Khan
with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their flyweight
meeting.
The end came at the 4:30 mark of Round 1.
Both fighters came out exchanging a steady diet of leg kicks and
punches before Duisheev sneakily completed a double-leg takedown to
ground his opponent. While “The Krygz Finisher” managed to control
Khan for some time, the Pakistan national held onto an underhook
that allowed him to get back to his feet. After exchanging a few
strikes on the feet, Duisheev was able to get his foe down to the
mat once again thanks to a lazy leg kick attempt. However, Khan
once again tactically made it back to his feet, only to be pinned
against the ropes and eventually slammed right back to the canvas.
While Duisheev unleashed several knees to Khan’s body from side
control and made his way to mount, the latter muscled his way back
to his feet to shoot a takedown of his own that was denied.
A visibly gassed Khan then once again shot in for a takedown, only
to be shucked off and eventually have his back taken. Once Duisheev
managed to secure the body lock, it was not long before he sunk in
the rear-naked choke to secure the submission with 30 seconds to go
in the first frame.
In other action, Aslamjon
Ortikov valiantly fought his way to a unanimous decision over
Watcharaphon
Singha Mawynn in their 129-pound catchweight muay thai
headliner; Pompet
PK Saenchai walked away with a unanimous decision after
engaging in a back-and-forth catchweight muay thai clash with
Suriyanlek
Por Yenying at 132 pounds;
Tubtimthong Sor Jor Lekmuangnon received a nod from all three
judges in a 112-pound catchweight muay thai contest against
Khunsuk Sor Dechapan; Petbanrai
Singha Mawynn earned a hard-fought unanimous decision against
Petrit
Nokkhao Kormor11 in a 112-pound catchweight muay thai tilt;
Maisangkum Sor Yingcharoenkarnchang outstruck Jaoinsee
PK Saenchai in their 118-pound catchweight muay thai battle on
his way to a unanimous decision; Yoddoi
Kaewsamrit knocked out Nongchamp
Luckybuntherng in their 117-pound catchweight muay thai clash
at 2:22 of Round 1; Ferzan
Cicek secured a unanimous decision against promotional debutant
George
Mouzakitis in a bantamweight muay thai tilt; Francisca
Vera clawed her way to a split decision over Celest
Hansen in an atomweight muay thai contest; Petlampun
Muadablampang recorded a knockout victory
at 1:39 of Round 2 against Hiroto
Sameshima in a 128-pound catchweight muay thai clash; Rustam
Yunusov laid it all on the line in a flyweight muay thai
contest against Ramu Araya to earn a unanimous decision; and
Nonthakit
Tor Morsri returned to winning ways with a unanimous decision
over Koki Saito
in a 143-pound catchweight muay thai battle.