Three mixed martial arts contests helped to line the card at ONE: Full Blast on Friday, May 28.
3 Things We Learned at ONE: Full Blast
“The Hunter” Xie Wei defeated Kantharaj Agasa in the co-main event while Edward Kelly and Anthony Do grabbed their victories earlier on the card. The three bouts produced two stoppages and gave a little more insight into where the athletes will go from here.
Let’s jump back into ONE: Full Blast and reveal what we learned following ONE Championship’s latest event.
Xie Wei Is A Threat At Flyweight
“The Hunter” Xie Wei walked down Kantharaj Agasa in the co-main event and left him unable to answer the bell for the third round. The win was another shot to the flyweight division that the Chinese athlete is making a play to be a title threat in the near future.
Xie had a five-bout winning streak on the ONE Hero Series and ONE Warrior Series before dropping his main roster debut to the #2-ranked flyweight contender, Danny Kingad. Since then, he has won back-to-back matches by TKO.
After putting together two outstanding performances, Xie is making his case that he belongs among the top of the flyweight division.
“The Hunter” is vying to become China’s first male World Champion in mixed martial arts, and if he continues to show out as he did at ONE: Full Blast, he’ll get the opportunity to make history sooner rather than later.
OWS Produces Serious Talent
Three alums from ONE Warrior Series competed on the card, with the talents going 2-1, but the performances showed that the series is producing quality talent who can make waves on the main roster.
Xie Wei’s dominant showcase was the chief performance among them all, but it wasn’t the only one. Anthony Do also picked up a finish in his bout against Liang Hui. But perhaps the most telling of OWS’ talent production was Ahmed “The Prince” Faress. Although he lost a split decision to Edward Kelly, he was the one who came closest to finishing the contest.
Faress locked in a triangle choke in the second round and seemed poised to replicate Do’s victory from the match before. However, to Kelly’s credit, the Filipino showed an undying will until he could finally slip his head out.
The proof of their success on the main roster is proof that the ONE Warrior Series is doing its job in locating and fostering up-and-coming talent from around the world.
Anthony Do Has An Impressive Main Roster Debut
Anthony “The Antidote” Do got his main roster debut at ONE: Full Blast and made the most out of it with a second-round triangle choke against Luang Hui in a catchweight bout.
The finish moved his career finishing rate up to 88% and put him in the win column to kickstart his ONE career.
The American Kickboxing Academy standout’s performance was a great way to get started as he can immediately impact the strawweight division. While the division is continually getting deeper, Do has an opportunity to make quick leaps up the ladder and have a strong presence in the division.
While Do has a long way to go before any possible meeting with ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio is on the table, the triangle choke win started that path on the right foot for the American. If he can close out 2021 with another strong win or two, Do could position himself as a contender in 2022.
