#ONEFightNight15 highlight video: Thanh Le heel hooks Ilya
Freymanov pic.twitter.com/gutuiFqoaW— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom)
October 7, 2023
ONE Fight Night 15 took place at the famed Lumpinee Stadium in
Bangkok. A smorgasbord of mixed martial arts, kickboxing, muay thai
and submission grappling, the card was contested within a square
ring rather than a cage. That certainly made the MMA matches unique
by modern standards.
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The main event was a fight for the interim ONE
Championship 155-pound MMA title between Thanh Le and
Ilya
Freymanov. Le is a former ONE champion, having knocked out
Martin
Nguyen for the throne in 2020 before defending against
then-undefeated submission wizard Gary Tonon, knocking him out in
just 56 seconds. However, Le lost his title by unanimous decision
to Kai
Tang last year. At 38 years old, there were doubts about how
much he had left in the tank. His opponent was 27-year-old Russian
upstart Freymanov, sporting a record of 12-2 including 2-0 in ONE,
both first-round finishes. The fight was fast and frenzied, with
both men throwing power punches on the feet, and Freymanov
connecting hard on several occasions. Freymanov decided to get an
easy takedown, but once on the ground, Le expertly scrambled,
looking for an ankle. He succeeded, locking in a heel hook just
1:02 into the contest. A rematch was announced afterwards between
Le and Tang to unify the titles.
In the co-main event, Canadian Jonathan
Di Bella defended his ONE 125-pound kickboxing crown against
Australian challenger Danial
Williams. Williams had challenged for the 135-pound ONE muay
thai throne against incumbent Superlek in March of this year, but
was dismissed via a third-round knockout. He was hoping that a drop
in weight and change in rules would benefit him. Alas, at lower
weights fighters are much faster, and Di Bella repeatedly beat
Williams to the punch as well as kick, landing against him at will.
Di Bella hurt Williams multiple times throughout the five-round
affair, though no official knockdowns were scored. Still, he was
clearly superior in every round, with some being outright
domination. Di Bella easily retained through a unanimous
decision.
ONE 155-pound muay thai world champion
Tawanchai PK Saenchai tested his abilities in the promotion’s
kickboxing division, where he is also ranked No. 5. He showed that
he is plenty fearsome in that discipline too, as the 24-year-old
clearly outpointed fellow Thai Jo
Nattawut in a unanimous verdict, with only the second stanza
being close.
MMA legend Shinya Aoki,
one of the very best submission grapplers for years, tested his
mettle against current-day champion Mikey
Musumeci. How would the 40-year-old Japanese icon do against
the 27-year-old? Would weight factor into the result, as Aoki was
nearly 168 pounds compared to Musumeci’s 154? In what was no
surprise to grappling aficionados, the sport of submission
grappling has evolved and improved greatly in the last decade.
Musumeci had little trouble attacking Aoki’s legs, locking in a leg
lock just over 3 minutes into the showdown.
In a meeting of top 125-pound contenders, No-1 ranked Joshua
Pacio of the Philippines went to war with undefeated No.
5-ranked Mansur
Malachiev of Russia. It was a gritty, hard-fought contest, with
Pacio taking the first and Malachiev the second. It all came down
to a very close third, with Pacio looking slightly better. The
judges agreed, as he took a unanimous verdict.
Timofey
Nastyukhin, who famously knocked out Eddie
Alvarez in 2019, sought to right the ship against Lipeng
Zhang, as he had been knocked out himself three times in a row
going into the contest. Alas, that streak is now four, as Zhang
battered Nastyukhin with punches, forcing a halt to the contest at
3:18 of the first.
A 135-pound MMA contest didn’t last long between Indonesia’s
Eko Roni
Saputra and China’s Yong Hu. Both
men threw caution to the wind, throwing huge haymakers, and it was
Hu who connected hard first, splattering Saputra with a monstrous
left hook, finishing matters in just 63 seconds.
In earlier action, 21-year-old Thai sensation Peetchjeeja fought
Australian Celese Hansen at a 121-pound catchweight under muay thai
rules, battering her from pillar to post for the entire contest,
with the referee mercifully waiving it off a minute into the third.
Peetchjeeja is now a perfect 4-0 in ONE, all by knockout. In an MMA
match where both men weighed exactly 181 pounds, Japan’s Hiroyuki
Tetsuka got a takedown and schooled South Korea’s Tae Ho Jin on
the ground, tapping him with an armbar 4:45 into the first frame.
It’s Tetsuka’s third stoppage victory in a row. Kicking off the
card, Shakir Al-Tekreeti battled Bampara Kouyate in a 175-pound
catchweight muay thai affair. Al-Tekreeti scored a knockdown in the
opening stanza and while Kouyate came on strong late; it wasn’t
enough, as Al-Tekreeti won a unanimous decision.