Knockout Artists Shine Bright On ONE: DAWN OF VALOR Prelims

Fans who took their seats early on Friday, 25 October for ONE: DAWN OF VALOR savored seven superb prelim bouts from Jakarta, Indonesia.

The fans at the Istora Senayan were treated to some local favorites who rose to the occasion on the global stage, as well as some international imports who showed world-class skills in the Circle to get their hands raised.

Complete results and highlights of all the match-ups follow below, including some highlight-reel finishes.

“The Lion” Gets Long-Awaited Win

Jakarta native Stefer “The Lion” Rahardian was at a crossroads in his career after four consecutive losses, but he dug deep to get back in the win column and start to turn his career around against a tough competitor.

The man from Bali MMA had a clear game plan – stay away from Adrian “Papua Badboy” Mattheis’ powerful strikes and get to work with his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He did that without much problem in the first period to take an early lead.

Rahardian had to grit his teeth to absorb some hard knees at the start of the second stanza, but his reward was another takedown and almost an entire round of back control, during which he threatened with a rear-naked choke throughout.

Mattheis came out with guns blazing to kick off the final round. For a second, it looked like his heavy punches and knees might deliver a shocking comeback KO, but “The Lion” countered his aggression with another double-leg takedown. Another round of near-total control followed, and the emotional 32-year-old was rewarded by all three judges on the scorecards to move to 10-4 as a professional.

Brilliant Buist Puts On Striking Clinic

Pieter “The Archangel” Buist had to make it through some early adversity against Antonio “The Spartan” Caruso, but as soon as he started to impose his striking in the second round, the Dutchman looked fantastic.

The Team Souwer and Combat Brothers representative landed several crunching knees on his Aussie opponent before a hard right uppercut put him on wobbly legs. Buist tried to finish with a volley of punches, but the “The Spartan” survived.

Buist was still fresh in the final round, and he enjoyed a spell of control on the ground, but his most impressive work came when he landed more punishing knees to the body and head. His work gave him a clear-cut decision from the judges to extend his perfect start to life in ONE and boosted his pro slate to 16-4.

“The Black Komodo” Shows His Bite

Flyweights Abro “The Black Komodo” Fernandes and Rudy “The Golden Boy” Agustian felt each other out on the feet for much of their first five minutes in the Circle, but the contest came to life when Fernandes started to work his grappling in round two.

The man from Solo, Indonesia dragged his opposite number from Tangerang to the floor and aggressively pursued a TKO with punches and elbows from the mount. He then came close to a submission – first with a rear-naked choke, and then an armbar.

It only took 15 seconds for the 29-year-old to bring the bout back to his world in the final frame, and he continued to overwhelm Agustian with ground and pound, as well as several more choke attempts. The finish was just beyond “The Black Komodo’s” reach, but he took an impressive unanimous decision to achieve his first win on the global stage and rise to 8-2 overall.

Total Domination From Tokudome

In the lightweight division, Kazuki Tokudome controlled the action for all three rounds to claim a unanimous decision victory over Johnny “Johnny Boy” Nunez.

The Japanese athlete scored with some strong left hands as “Johnny Boy” rushed in early in the opening stanza, and then spent most of round one in a dominant position on the ground as he worked from the mount and back control.

The Pancrase Lightweight World Champion had to navigate some big punches and some pressure against the fence after the restart, but he used his judo skills to plant Nunez on the mat, and he took control from half guard.

He maintained that dominance in the final frame as he got the takedown and chipped away with short punches and elbows. That sealed the victory on the judges’ scorecards, which gave him his second consecutive win and advanced his record to 20-10-1.

“The Magician” Casts A Submission Spell

In an all-Indonesian flyweight battle, all the early pressure came from Egi Rozten, as Elipitua “The Magician” Siregar seemed hesitant to engage.

However, that all seemed to be a part of his plan to encourage his opponent to dial up his aggression and overcommit to his strikes. Sure enough, the Bali MMA representative ducked under a wild left hook to hit a slick double-leg takedown.

The 22-year-old moved to his rival’s back instantly and locked up a rear-naked choke with a palm-to-palm grip before he even secured his hooks. The tap came after exactly two minutes to improve the national wrestling champion’s mixed martial arts record to 4-1.

Naito’s Late Show

Muay Thai flyweight Taiki “Silent Sniper” Naito enjoyed an excellent ONE Super Series debut as he put boxing combinations together on Alexi “Phet” Serepisos, and landed hard low kicks that sent the Kiwi limping to his corner at the end of round one

“Phet” switched stance to start the second stanza, but the Japanese athlete continued to chop away at his right leg. Serepisos shook the Shoot Boxing Super Bantamweight Champion with punches and landed some good knees to find a foothold in the contest, but his success was fleeting.

In round three, “Silent Sniper” evaded his punches and hurt him with hard straight rights and a knee to the head. The 23-year-old from Aichi then dropped Serepisos with an accurate right hook. Though he beat the referee’s count, he was in bad shape.

As he backed up, Naito unleashed a barrage of punches to seal a TKO victory with just 15 seconds left in the match and extend his record to 30-8.

Paryanto Wins Quick With All-Out Offense

Angelo “The Unicorn King” Bimoadji’s plans to grapple were shut down by a relentless barrage of knees from “Zenwalk” Adi Paryanto that ended their strawweight bout in just 64 seconds.

The national sanda champion unleashed his strikes in the clinch almost immediately, and resumed his assault every time his opponent moved forward to attempt a takedown. Within a minute, “The Unicorn King” looked weary, and the 26-year-old from Purwodadi, Indonesia, dialed up the pressure by pushing him against the fence.

The Jakarta native dropped to the canvas when he was hit with a huge knee to the body, and he was defenseless as he absorbed another blow to the head, which forced referee Yoshinori Umeki to stop the contest with just 64 seconds on the clock. Paryanto’s record is now 5-3.