Bravo Bags Six-Figure Contract; Panrit, Win, Petsaenchai Earn Statement KOs At ONE Friday Fights 50
Fresh off the heels of the electric ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru showcase last week, ONE Championship returned to its old stomping ground, Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, with its latest edition of ONE Friday Fights this past February 2.
ONE Friday Fights 50, aired live in Asia primetime, featured 12 bouts built around Muay Thai and mixed martial arts, with several fighters turning in star-making performances.
In case you missed it, here’s a recap of all the action from the historic striking venue in Bangkok, Thailand.
Komawut Continues Mastery Over Yodphupa
It was close up until the very end but Komawut FA Group did just enough as he outpointed Yodphupa Wimanair in the night’s headline attraction.
The first half of the 147.2-pound catchweight Muay Thai bout saw Yodphupa pick apart Komawut from the outside, as he attacked his rival’s lead leg and countered with combinations every time the Fa Group star overcommitted.
But as the fight went on, Komawut finally got his footing, dissecting Yodphupha’s distance effectively while drilling the Road To ONE Thailand winner with hooks, elbows, and knees from the clinch each time he got close.
After three hotly contested rounds, Komawut’s aggression was rewarded as he earned a razor-close split decision win and upped his slate to 50-14-3 while taking his fourth win in five outings on the global stage of ONE Championship.
Panrit’s Flurry Of Strikes Finishes Kongklai In Round Three
After a narrow victory in his sophomore outing at ONE Friday Fights 10, Panrit Lukjaomaesaiwaree left no doubt about his firepower as he tore through Kongklai Annymuaythai in 140-pound catchweight Muay Thai.
Panrit found success with high kicks and elbows in the early going, allowing him to return to the well with a high rate of success for the remainder of the stanza.
Kongklai began to find his feet in the second frame, however. But just as his confidence grew, Panrit stopped him in his tracks with a lethal combination in the latter stages of the second round.
The 27-year-old stuck to the same tactics in the final frame, and eventually, a punishing right hand and a mix of fists and elbows got him the highlight-reel moment at 0:55 of round three to move to 70-29-3.
Petsaenchai’s Left Hook Silences Petdam
Petsaenchai M U Den KhonmaiBaowee picked up his second consecutive ONE Friday Fights knockout in a 134-pound catchweight Muay Thai battle against Petdam Petkiatpet.
Both men looked to land leather from the opening bell, taking turns to fire off heavy boxing salvos, but the rangier Petsaenchai tipped the scales in his favor as the round went on.
After breaking from a brief clinch, the FA Group man stepped toward his rival with a three-punch combination, the final left hook leaving his foe down and out at 2:31 of the contest.
Petsaenchai’s victory pushed his resume to 52-13.
Chokpreecha Outguns Suesat In Strawweight Barnburner
In a crazy strawweight Muay Thai battle between two former stadium champions, Chokpreecha PK Saenchai took home a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over Suesat Manop Gym.
Following a hot first round, both debuting stars swung wildly in the pocket in the second round.
A flurry starting with a big left hand scored the first knockdown for Chokpreecha before a left elbow earned him another knockdown seconds later. Suesat displayed grit, though, as he survived the round and even threw a few clean punches in return.
The strawweights kept their frantic pace in the third, with the PK Saenchai Muay Thai Gym man looking for the coup-de-grace as Suesat swung wildly looking for a comeback punch that didn’t come to fruition.
In the end, Chokpreecha’s knockdowns earned him the nod from all three judges and upped his slate to 101-20-3.
Win Lives Up To His Name With Second-Round Knockout
After an anticlimactic opening display at ONE Friday Fights 33, Win Sitjanim returned to his best with a second-round knockout of Mowgli Chor Ajalaboon in 127-pound catchweight Muay Thai action.
Win dictated the pace from the get-go, tattooing the body and head of Mowgli on numerous occasions with clean combinations to take the opening frame after dropping his compatriot with a stern right hand.
Having found his groove, Win followed up with a sharp right hand in the second round to drop Mowgli once more. Following that, the Sitjanim representative shifted into gear with another ruthless round of combinations to stop his adversary at 1:15 of round two.
With the triumph, the 23-year-old moved to 67-16-3 overall.
Lamsing Victorious In Fast-Paced Thriller With Mawin
Lamsing Sor Dechapan emerged victorious in his 128-pound catchweight Muay Thai battle against Mawin Soonkelahuaitom across three hard-fought rounds.
Mawin started the stronger of the two debutants, swinging for the fences with his heavy punches, but Lamsing absorbed the blows and started to dip into his own repertoire.
Matching his rival with his hands, the Sor Dechapan athlete added hard elbows, knees, and kicks to score with a more diverse attack.
They traded strike-for-strike until the very end, but Lamsing’s variety and accuracy saw him take the unanimous decision as he upped his slate to 66-15.
Bravo Sleeps Bayramov To Score Multi-Fight Contract
Ricardo Bravo punched his way to a deserving US$100,000 multi-fight contract to compete on ONE’s global stage after making quick work of Kenan Bayramov in a 161-pound catchweight Muay Thai action.
The striking dynamite from Argentina made his intentions known early – and two punches were all it took for him to move 3-0 on the organization’s weekly outing inside The Mecca of Muay Thai.
Bravo caught Bayramov with a straight right on the money and put the cherry on the cake with a thumping left hook at the 30-second mark of the opening stanza.
The win pushed Bravo to 27-2-2 in his career, and now he will seek fresher challenges amongst some of the planet’s best strikers on the grandest stage of martial arts.
Gheirati Edges Out Peemai In Bantamweight Barnburner
Parham Gheirati and Peemai Mor Rattanabundit put on a relentless show across three rounds of bantamweight Muay Thai. But after it was all said and done, the Iranian star nicked a split decision win.
Gheirati went full steam ahead, bringing the fight to Peemai in the early going. But the attacks only elicited an aggressive answer from the Thai, as he stunned the Petsaman star at the buzzer following three minutes of phone booth fighting.
Round two picked up where it left off as Gheirati moved up a gear. But it wasn’t all one-way traffic as the Por Kobkuea affiliate caught back up and stung with attacks of his own.
None of that seemed to break Gheirati’s spirit though, as he stayed one step ahead and wobbled the Thai with sharp combinations in the final frame to gain his second consecutive victory under the ONE banner.
Chabakaew Bests Watford By Decision For Debut Win
Chabakaew Sor KanJanchai used her thudding punches to earn a unanimous decision win in her atomweight Muay Thai clash with fellow debutant Rebecca “La Mariposa” Watford.
It looked like the 17-year-old might get the job done early when she rocked Watford in a heavy initial exchange, but the American cleared her head and got back into the match.
“La Mariposa” walked forward with her long jab-cross, but Chabakaew consistently scored with the more powerful blows, namely her right straight to the body and left hook to the head.
After three rounds, the judges sided with the Thai’s power shots, extending her record to 55-5-1.
Petpalangchai’s Striking Clinic Routs Kuriaki
Petpalangchai Por Jaroenpat brought out his entire arsenal to beat Shogo Kuriaki via unanimous decision in an action-packed 132-pound catchweight Muay Thai bout.
The 24-year-old’s fiesty hands took the spotlight, as he slammed Kuriaki with left hooks and straight rights from the opening bell.
It wasn’t just his hands that shone, though.
Petpalangchai mixed things up with piercing elbows and low kicks while manhandling his opponent in the clinch – showing the complete Muay Thai skillset to take the comfortable decision victory and improving to 62-21 for his career.
Bumina-ang Taps Xie For Fourth Successive Win
Carlo Bumina-ang continued his trail of destruction inside the “Madison Square Garden of the East” as he ran through Xie Zhipeng in less than 90 seconds of his bantamweight MMA duel.
The Team Lakay standout exploded from his corner like a bull in a china shop and dropped his adversary with a counter right hook in the opening seconds.
Smelling blood in the water, the Filipino phenom kept up the pressure and floored his Chinese adversary just moments later. From there, Bumina-ang put in the finishing touch via an arm-triangle choke at 1:29 of the match.
The 29-year-old moved to 5-0 overall with his fourth victory at ONE Friday Fights.
Kholmirzaev Submits Gomes Late In Round One
Avazbek “Ninzya” Kholmirzaev got his ONE career off to the perfect start with a first-round triumph over Leandro “The Machine Jr.” Gomes in their flyweight MMA contest.
With a sambo background, it seemed likely that Kholmirzaev would have the edge in the wrestling department, but it was Gomes who controlled the clinch game and held top position.
However, the 23-year-old from Uzbekistan only needed one opportunity to turn the tide. “Ninzya” threw the Portuguese fighter with an uchi mata in a scramble, and quickly clinched up a guillotine choke from mount to get the tap at 4:40.
With the win, Kholmirzaev extended his record to 7-1.
