Kang Ji Won springs a MASSIVE upset,
stopping Amir Aliakbari in Round 1!
#ONEFistsOfFury2
#WeAreONE
#ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/zje6KvjwkA— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship)
March 5, 2021
In a sharp contrast from the previous event, just one bout on the
second, pre-recorded part of One Championship’s “Fists of Fury” series went
to the judges.
The main event of
One: Fists of Fury 2 saw Ji Won Kang
(5-0) taking on decorated Iranian wrestler Amir
Aliakbari (10-2) in their heavyweight tilt. The two behemoths
took a few seconds to study one other early in the fight, with
Aliakbari keeping the center of the cage while Kang was reaching
out with a few kicks. After chasing the South Korean fighter for a
while, Aliakbari finally reached “Mighty Warrior” with a right
hand, followed by another heavy that forced his opponent to
retreat. The face of the Kang immediately showed damage from the
Iranian fighter’s strikes, as Kang’s left eye started swelling and
bleeding started losing blood from his swelled left eye.
Kang bit the bullet and composed himself as Aliakbari rushed
forward to end the contest. After an unsuccessful body kick, the
Iranian fighter tried to force the finish with big shots. Dodging a
wide combination, “Mighty Warrior” landed a short hook on the jaw
that shut Aliakbari’s lights off in an instant. Spoiling
Aliakbari’s promotional debut, the 25-year-old South Korean
sensation celebrated his fifth first-round victory as the referee
stopped the contest at the 1:54 mark.
Anatoly Malykhin takes out Alexandre Machado
with a first-round TKO!
#ONEFistsOfFury2
#WeAreONE
#ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/xefDDEK9Cs— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship)
March 5, 2021
In the co-main event, heavyweight Anatoliy
Malykhin (8-0) walked through Alexandre
Machado (9-4) in his successful organizational debut. Malykhin
easily moved the action on the canvas in the early going, and once
on the mat, he was in complete control. The unbeaten fighter
effortlessly took side control before securing the crucifix
position, all while punishing his opponent with a few punches.
After teasing an unsuccessful keylock attempt, Malykhin went back
to his punches.
Machado attempted his best to escape from the sticky situation, but
his efforts were to no avail. In full control, Malykhin stayed
heavy and bombarded his opponent with powerful ground-and-pound
until his Brazilian opponent tapped out to cease the damage. The
official stoppage came at 3:28 of the opening stanza.
In a battle in One’s featherweight division, Tang Kai (11-2) scored
his seventh straight victory after smashing Ryogo
Takahashi (14-4) in the first round. Needing less than two
minutes to get in and out, Kai dropped Takahashi with a two-punch
combination early. Takahashi attempted to bounce back on his feet,
but ended up eating more punches that forced the referee to stop
the contest at 1:59 of Round 1.
Elsewhere, the unorthodox Yoshiki
Nakahara (14-5) placed a well-timed right hook that handed
Ruslan
Emilbek Uulu (12-1) his career first loss. Emilbek was in
search of a quick victory for his promotional debut, but his
aggression proved to be his undoing, getting caught with a
counterpunch midway through the opening frame that badly hurt him.
Nakahara earned the stoppage from a couple of follow-up punches on
the canvas, with the One featherweight emerging victorious at
1:30.
Earlier on the card, Han Zi Hao overcame Adam Noi with a surprising
unanimous decision at the end of their muay Thai battle in One’s
bantamweight division. It was the lone match of the pre-recorded
card to go the distance.
Opening up the event was a One bantamweight clash, where Mark
Abelardo (20-8) snapped a two-bout skid by destroying Emilio
Urrutia (11-8) with a highlight-reel elbow. “Tyson” wrecked his
opponent with a beautiful step-in elbow that put Urrutia out cold.
The time of the finish was officially 3:20 into Round 2.