KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – It was the mother of all upsets.
Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen of Australia completed his journey through ONE Championship’s featherweight ranks by upsetting previously-unbeaten Russian champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov via knockout in the second round to clinch the ONE Featherweight World Championship at ONE: Quest for Greatness at the iconic Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Gafurov dominated the first round with his magnificent grappling, but Nguyen found his groove in the second frame as he tore apart his Russian foe with his striking. Recognizing an opening, Nguyen countered Gafurov’s jab with an overhand right that knocked out his opponent. Nguyen’s remarkable conquest of Gafurov earned him the “GoDaddy Knockout of the Night” award.
“I just want to dedicate this fight. Not only to Malaysia for being so welcoming and having such a beautiful country. This is for my dad. He was my inspiration for the whole camp when I mentally broke. (He and) the boys kept me together. I’ve got a deadly overhand right, but it’s not my only weapon. Thank you to Marat for giving me the opportunity,” said Nguyen.
In the co-main event of the evening, former world title challenger Ev “E.T.” Ting of Malaysia placed his name back in the winner’s column by overwhelming Japanese veteran and former ONE Welterweight World Champion Nobutatsu Suzuki to win by devastating technical knockout.
The 22-year-old Agilan “The Alligator” Thani of Malaysia authored one of the most dominant performances of the night, placing himself back on the winning track with a unanimous decision victory over Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed of Egypt.
Filipino knockout artist Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon completed yet another scintillating finish, his second in a row, by defeating Australian submission specialist Reece “Lightning” McLaren by knockout.
In a clash of high-caliber flyweights, Malaysia’s Gianni Subba captured a hard-earned victory in front of a jubilant hometown crowd by routing Japan’s Riku “The Outsider” Shibuya.
“Mighty” May Ooi of Singapore scored a major victory in her ONE Championship debut by submitting Malaysian female martial arts superstar Ann “Athena” Osman in the first round.
Former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke of Thailand brushed off a lackluster start to topple Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan of the Philippines via second-round technical knockout.
Christian “The Warrior” Lee of Singapore exhibited stellar form, proving himself a top featherweight contender in ONE Championship by scoring an impressive submission over Malaysia’s Keanu Subba.
Emilio “The Honey Badger” Urrutia of the United States made a triumphant promotional debut in ONE Championship by edging out Team Lakay stalwart Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly of the Philippines in their three-round featherweight encounter.
Rene Catalan of the Philippines beat Chinese grappling prodigy Bu Huo You Ga. After dropping his opponent with a clean left straight in first round, Catalan secured top control and went to work. With a dominant top game, Catalan notched his third straight victory, defeating Bu Huo as all three judges saw the bout in favor of Catalan to win by unanimous decision.
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