Kongsuk Continues Impressive Form Against Ouraghi, Haggerty Scores Second KO At ONE Friday Fights 72
From huge knockouts to breakout moments, ONE Friday Fights 72 gave fans inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium more than their money’s worth on Friday, July 26.
The 11-fight card featured MMA, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and submission grappling, ensuring the entire spectrum of martial arts followers had something to cheer for.
In case you missed any of the edge-of-your-seat action, here’s a breakdown of everything that went down, live in Asia primetime, at the weekly spectacle.
Kongsuk Outstrikes Ouraghi In Gritty Battle
Kongsuk Fairtex and Joachim Ouraghi fought tooth and nail in their 135.4-pound catchweight Muay Thai main event tilt, but the former made it two wins in a row for himself in ONE Championship after nine minutes of fire.
Ouraghi started aggressively, and he struck with plenty of combinations to send Kongsuk back to the drawing board at the end of the first frame.
After reviewing his tactics, the two-time Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Champion brought a more pressing performance in the second round. He connected with barrages of kicks to Ouraghi’s body, which served to drain his gas tank.
With it all up for grabs in the third frame, Kongsuk piled on the pressure to take control of the contest. Thanks to his relentless body and head combinations, the Bangkok native took home the unanimous decision win when all was said and done, and he moved to 64-17 in his career as a result.
Theptaksin Dominates Blommaert In Three-Round Masterclass
The highly anticipated 126-pound catchweight Muay Thai battle between Theptaksin Sor Sornsing and Jelte Blommaert turned out to be a one-sided beatdown in the end.
Theptaksin struck early with his volume-heavy barrage and kept his Belgian foe guessing for the majority of the match.
The Lionheart Muaythai athlete softened Blommaert with pinpoint teep kicks and snuck looping punches past his defenses in the first round. He then lit him up with knees from the clinch in the second.
Despite being up two frames up, Theptaksin hunted for the finish in the last three minutes. Blommaert’s toughness allowed him to reach the final bell, but it was clear he had been outclassed at every turn.
The judges handed Theptaksin the unanimous decision win, and he moved to 75-28-4 in his career.
Late Surge Turns Tables For Pentor Against Thongsiam
Pentor SP Kansart Paeminburi showed his grit to fight back from a tough start against Thongsiam Lukjaoporongtom.
Thongsiam started strong in the 142-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest, repeatedly drilling his opponent with his straight left throughout the first round.
Though he had to face more heavy punches from the Rajadamnern Stadium Muay Thai World Champion, Pentor battled back in round two and landed some of his own while finding some success in the clinch.
Having unearthed a route to victory, the Paeminburi athlete marched forward and got close to Thongsiam in the final frame.
He blitzed his rival with heavy knees to the body, and that late surge earned Pentor the split-decision call from the judges, extending his ONE record to 2-0.
Petnamkhong Puts Lookkwan To Sleep With A Nasty Two-Piece
Petnamkhong Mongkolpet bided his time and landed the perfect kill shot on Lookkwan Sujeebameekiew in their 122-pound catchweight Muay Thai battle.
There was no feeling out process when the bout got underway. Lookkwan played the aggressor with stinging low kicks, but Petnamkhong wisely stayed in range and was content to throw counters at the end of the Thai’s attacks.
The 20-year-old Laotian soon found his rhythm, though, and he dug into his foe’s body. Lookkwan responded with wild haymakers, but a momentary lapse in judgment led to his demise.
Petnamkhong took advantage of his opponent’s lax guard and uncorked a vicious left hook-right straight combination that sent him tumbling to the canvas and unable to answer the referee’s call.
As a result, the Mongkolpet Gym was handed the KO win at the 2:48 mark of round one, moving him to 3-1 in ONE Championship and 42-6-1 overall.
Muanglao Defeats Songpandin In All-Laos Clash
Muanglao Kiattongyot’s heavy hands helped him win his 128-pound catchweight Muay Thai encounter with Songpandin Chor Kaewwiset.
The Laos man chased his compatriot with looping punches in the opening frame. However, Songpandin found his range and had Muanglao hurt before the round ended.
That damage wasn’t evident in round two, though, as the 28-year-old continued to wade in with hard hooks and uppercuts that snapped Songpandin’s head back.
It was more of the same in round three, with big punches earning the Kiattongyot athlete points over and over. That made it easy for the judges in the end, and they handed Muanglao the unanimous decision win to move his slate to 51-12 overall.
Isaev Picks Up First-Round TKO Win As Roberts Suffers Injury
Lumpinee Stadium doesn’t often get two giants competing in Muay Thai, but that’s what went down when Beybulat Isaev took on Alex Roberts in light heavyweight action.
Unfortunately, it was over before the crowd could fully take in what they were witnessing after a freak injury took the former out.
Roberts struck first, as he rushed Isaev into the corner of the ring 30 seconds into the bout. But in doing so, the former WBC Heavyweight Muay Thai World Champion tweaked his knee and immediately dropped to the mat.
He was unable to return to his feet, so the referee waved off the action and awarded Isaev the TKO win at 0:33 of round one.
As a result, the WMC Muay Thai World Champion moved his slate to 24-6.
Haggerty Survives Knockdown Scare To Flatline Kaichon
Freddie Haggerty continued his ascent in ONE Championship’s strawweight Muay Thai ranks by decimating Kaichon Sor Yingcharoenkarnchang.
The 19-year-old phenom – brother of two-sport ONE World Champion Jonathan Haggerty – displayed blazing hand speed and fight IQ beyond his years as he tagged his Thai foe with precise combinations and weaved in and out of range to avoid retaliation.
Haggerty connected with a brilliant body shot and uppercut combo to floor Kaichon. But the 3rd Army Area Boxing standout quickly returned the favor with an overhand right to send the Brit to the canvas.
With a knockdown apiece, both fighters threw with evil intent as round one wore on. But it all came to an end when a right cross from Haggerty turned Kaichon’s lights out at 2:59 of the frame.
The Team Underground and Knowlesy Academy standout moved to 2-0 in ONE and 22-4 overall with the knockout win.
Pataknin Narrowly Defeats Karimi In Three-Round War
Pataknin Sinbimuaythai and Majid Karimi went back and forth in a 122-pound catchweight Muay Thai slugfest that needed the judges to separate them.
It was a battle of kicks in the first round, with the Thai fighter firing off heavy rights to the body while Karimi whipped up lefts to the head.
The Iranian upped the aggression with hands in round two, countering Pataknin’s kicks and pushing him backward with hurtful flurries.
The Sinbi Muay Thai athlete stood his ground in round three and met his foe’s strikes with counters to bring things closer on the scorecards.
But after nine minutes, the judges sided with Pataknin by unanimous decision to extend his record to 81-18 in a hard-fought debut.
Guluzada Breezes Past Yasumoto To Impress In ONE Debut
Akif “King” Guluzada put on a three-round masterclass against Haruto Yasumoto in 128-pound catchweight kickboxing action.
The Azerbaijani debutant looked confident when the bell rang, and he took the fight to his adversary with ruthless combinations in the pocket and well-planned counters.
“King” maintained his aggression in the second stanza, and his lightning-fast hands continued to tag Yasumoto, whose strikes became routine and readable.
A push from the Hashimoto Dojo athlete pressured Gulazada in the final minutes. But the teen sensation was too far ahead, and it was no surprise when he was awarded the unanimous decision win at the end.
With the debut victory, Guluzada moved to 16-2 in his career.
Bhyan Uses Slick Grappling To Outpoint Drewitt
Sumit “Eagle” Bhyan weathered an onslaught from Will “Warfare” Drewitt to emerge victorious in his ONE debut.
Drewitt immediately attacked with a tight body lock when the lightweight MMA encounter got underway, and his persistence paid off with a textbook trip.
However, Bhyan immediately struck back with a beautiful armbar attempt. He didn’t get the tap, but the Warrior’s Cove MMA product attacked off his back until the end of round one.
“Warfare” displayed crisp boxing in the second frame before he secured a takedown. But his Indian counterpart was ready, and he used his long legs to almost finish the fight with a tight triangle/armbar combo.
The final round saw more of the same action. Drewitt landed a double-leg blast, and “Eagle” consistently threatened with submissions from guard.
It was tight at the final bell, but Bhyan scored the split-decision win to kick off his ONE tenure in style.
Hutchison Pulls Off Stunning Armbar To Defeat Banpot
Craig Hutchison showed his hand early in his lightweight submission grappling battle with Banpot Lertthaisong.
The Japanese-British debutant jumped for an armbar just seconds into the bout, but Banpot fended it off and used his judo to secure top position.
When they resumed on the feet, the pair tied up in an upper-body clinch, and Hutchison launched himself into the air for a second flying armbar attempt.
This time, he got the attachment he wanted and quickly thrust his hips forward to secure the tap at 1:57 and top off an impressive first outing in ONE Championship.
