ONE Fighting Championship showcased its first event of the calendar year with its fourteenth installment, titled ‘War of Nations’, at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday night.
As with previous events, the main card streamed LIVE on an online pay-per-view for a price of USD$9.99 at the following link, and aired LIVE on Star Sports in Asia.
Brock Larson and Nobutatsu Suzuki contested for the inaugural Welterweight title in the main event. Larson got the better of his Japanese counterpart in the first round, landing some effective strikes from range and scoring a takedown. But the American fatigued as the fight progressed, dubiously allowing Suzuki to control the exchanges thereon in. In the end, Suzuki rightfully secured a Unanimous Decision victory and was awarded the 170-lbs strap. He will now make his first title defense against Ben Askren on May 31st in Singapore.
In the co-main event, a Bantamweight tilt of title implications took place between South Korea’s Dae Hwan Kim, and the Philippines’ Kevin Belingon. The latter entered the bout on a good run of results, and was seen by many as the next contender to Bibiano Fernandes’ Bantamweight throne. Kim, however, had other ideas. The South Korean absorbed some blows in the early stages of the first round and after capitalizing on a failed Bulldog choke attempt by Belingon, he secured a fight ending Rear-Naked Choke submission for a sublime finish.
Elsewhere on the main card, Phuket Top Team’s very own Andrew Leone grappled his way en route to a lopsided decision victory over Shinichi Kojima. Leone now finds himself in a firm position to challenge for the vacant Flyweight title.
Adriano Moraes had a night to remember as he stopped former UFC vet Yasuhiro Urushitani via submission in the first round. Kotetsu Boku and Peter Davis won their respective fights via TKO, while former WEC and UFC vet Kamal Shalorus grasped his second victory under the ONE FC banner with a Unanimous Decision triumph over Ariel Sexton.
In the prelims, Burns’ wasn’t fazed by his opponent’s 50+ fight experience as he triumphed expertly over former PXC champ Harris Sarmiento.
Check out the full results below:
MAIN EVENT (Star Sports, Livesport.tv):
- Nobutatsu Suzuki def. Brock Larson via Unanimous Decision (For inaugural ONE FC Welterweight Championship title)
MAIN CARD (Star Sports, Livesport.tv):
- Dae Hwan Kim def. Kevin Belingon via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:39 of Round 1
- Adriano Moraes def. Yasuhiro Urushitani via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 3:48 of Round 2
- Kamal Shalorus def. Ariel Sexton via Unanimous Decision
- Andrew Leone def. Shinichi Kojima via Unanimous Decision
- Kotetsu Boku def. Arnaud Lepont via TKO (Punches) at 4:06 of Round 1
- Peter Davis def. Waqar Umar via TKO (Verbal Tapout) at 3:07 of Round 2
PRELIMS:
- Herbert Burns def. Harris Sarmiento via Unanimous Decision
- Saiful Merican def. Khim Dima via Split Decision
*Fight card update: After initial visa issues, Waqar Umar’s back in for Bashir Ahmad after passing his pre-fight medical and making weight
________________________________________________________________________________
Follow Thinesh on Twitter (@ThineshJohnMMA), and keep up with the latest MMA news from MMASucka via Twitter (@MMASucka) and Facebook
