ONE Championship: Catalan triumphs; Torres falls
Credit to Author: Tempo Online| Date: Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:30:44 +0000
Rene “D’Challenger’ Catalan made quick work of Japanese opponent Yoshita Naito, pulling off a first-round TKO win over the former ONE Flyweight World Champion at ONE: Reign of Valor at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.
Catalan smashed his way to a convincing first-round technical knockout win over former Naito, nullifying the Japanese fighter’s grappling with relentless takedown attempts. After securing dominant position, “D’Challenger” unloaded a barrage of strikes to overwhelm Naito for the dominant stoppage victory.
Rene Catalan of the Philippines (ONE Championship photo)
In the main event, Sweden’s Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam showed championship heart by defeating Kazakhstan’s Georgiy “Knight” Kichigin via technical knockout to retain the ONE Welterweight World Championship. For the better part of the first two rounds, Kadestam was on the wrong end of a grappling clinic from Kichigin, as he was getting taken down and controlled on the ground.
In the dying minutes of the second round however, Kadestam landed a thunderous elbow in the clinch that had the challenger dazed at the end of the round. Visibly still hurt from the elbow, Kichigin was unable to answer the third round bell and the victory was awarded to Kadestam.
“MMA Sister” Lin Heqin of China was spectacular in her ONE Championship debut, forcing Filipina star Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres to a submission in the first round.
Lin Heqin vs Jomary Torres (ONE Championship photo)
Lin imposed her will in striking early but found herself getting taken down late in the first round. The takedown proved to be detrimental for Torres as Lin locked in a deep triangle choke that left the Filipina with no alternative but to tap out.
Official results for ONE: REIGN OF VALOR
- ONE Welterweight World Championship bout: Zebaztian Kadestam defeats Georgiy Kichigin by TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 5:00 minutes of round 2
- Featherweight bout: Phoe Thaw defeats Yohan Mulia Legowo by TKO (Strikes) at 4:56 minutes of round 1
- Heavyweight bout: Mauro Cerilli defeats Alain Ngalani by TKO (Strikes) at 1:41 minutes of round 1
- Flyweight bout: Rene Catalan defeats Yoshitaka Naito by TKO (Strikes) at 4:32 minutes of round 1
- Flyweight bout: Gurdarshan Mangat defeats Toni Tauru by Knockout (KO) at 1:23 minutes of round 3
- ONE Super Series Kickboxing Featherweight bout: Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy defeats Kenta Yamada by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
- Catch Weight (68.0 KG) bout: Tial Thang defeats Rin Saroth by Unanimous Decision (UD) at after 3 rounds
- ONE Super Series Kickboxing Featherweight bout: Enriko Kehl defeats Liam Nolan by Knockout (KO) at 2:12 minutes of round 2
- ONE Super Series Kickboxing Light Heavyweight bout: Tarik Khbabez defeats Andrei Stoica by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
- Women’s Atomweight bout: Lin Heqin defeats Jomary Torres by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 4:12 minutes of round 1
- Catch Weight (67.0 KG) bout: Chen Rui defeats Roman Alvarez by TKO (Strikes) at 2:48 minutes of round 2
- Women’s Atomweight bout: Bozhena Antoniyar defeats Audreylaura Boniface by TKO (Strikes) at 1:31 minutes of round 2
- ONE Super Series Kickboxing Flyweight bout: Rui Botelho defeats Yuta Watanabe by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
- ONE Super Series Kickboxing Flyweight bout: Kohei Kodera defeats Kenny Tse by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds