Kulabdam, Lessei, And Baatarkhuu Deliver Impressive Victories At ONE Fight Night 27
ONE Fight Night 27: Tang vs. Abdullaev on Prime Video aired live in U.S. primetime on Friday, January, 10, and the event delivered world-class, action-packed bouts from start to finish.
In addition to the featured MMA showdowns, the card included seven supporting contests, none of which disappointed.
Below, we look back at all the action from the ONE Fight Night 27 supporting card at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Kulabdam Hands Lineker First Muay Thai Defeat In Wild Firefight
It certainly wasn’t easy, but decorated Thai star “Left Meteorite” Kalabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai was able to hand former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John Lineker the first defeat of his foray into the world of professional Muay Thai.
The pair’s 150.75-pound catchweight clash delivered white-knuckle action from the opening bell. The Brazilian swarmed his foe with savage punching combinations early, scoring a knockdown of Kulabdam with a punishing short left hand.
Kulabdam weathered the storm, though, and dominated the final two rounds with suffocating forward pressure, a ruthless body attack, and solid boxing.
After nine minutes of frantic action, the judges awarded the decision to “Left Meteorite” to improve his overall career record to 73-20.
Lessei Cooks Jerome To Return To Winning Ways
American star Luke “The Chef” Lessei was accurate, methodical, and fully calculated as he got back on track by taking out Cody Jerome in their 160.5 pound catchweight Muay Thai bout.
With Jerome starting aggressively, Lessei stopped the Canadian in his tracks with a well-placed left kick to the liver to score the first knockdown of the match. From that point on “The Chef” was pretty much cooking.
Sensing a finish was near, Lessei worked on Jerome’s body and secured another knockdown seconds later with a front kick.
While Jerome was tough, he had little chance of stopping the 28-year-old’s attacks, and Lessei quickly wrapped things up with a right elbow to get the third and final knockdown of the round after 2:00 of action.
With the dominant TKO win, Lessei improved his career slate to 8-2 with six knockouts.
Leon Evens Score With Langaker In Submission Grappling Scrap
Canadian powerhouse Dante Leon picked up a hard-fought decision win over longtime rival and former ONE World Title challenger Tommy Langaker in the pair’s 180-pound catchweight submission grappling tilt.
Leon spent the majority of the match working from his back as he consistently looked to get under the Norwegian’s and attack with sweeps from the X-guard. For his part, Langaker looked to apply near-constant pressure from the top, but he was ultimately unable to achieve a dominant position despite his best, relentless efforts.
The Canadian turned up the heat in the bout’s closing few moments, jumping on an armbar with seconds remaining.
With the closely contested decision victory, Leon evened the score to 1-1 with Langaker, improved his career record to 145-48, and positioned himself for another big opportunity.
Zakirov Stays Undefeated With Roller-Coaster Win Over Wada
Sanzhar “Tornado” Zakirov gave flyweight MMA veteran Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada a rude welcome to the strawweight division, but he didn’t earn the victory without some controversy.
The 21-year-old from Uzbekistan received a yellow card from referee Herb Dean for hitting Wada below the belt three times over the course of their fight.
Still, Zakirov showed an array of wild kicks, takedown defense, and submission attempts to keep the lead over Wada and power himself to a unanimous decision win.
With the victory, the pride of Khaturaev Team remained undefeated in MMA, nudging his record to 13-0.
Baatarkhuu Adds Canarte To His List Of Impressive Finishes
Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu only needed a small opening to impose his will and get another finish, this time at Aaron Canarte’s expense by submitting the Ecuadorian fighter in the first round of their 160.75-pound catchweight MMA match.
It took little time for the Mongolian grinder to get his gears going, but after being briefly controlled by Canarte early on, he turned things around, got the takedown, and landed in half-guard.
From then on, it was only a matter of time. The 36-year-old took Canarte’s arm from the top position and soon secured the kimura to elicit the tap at the 3:43 mark of the first round.
With the win, #5-ranked bantamweight MMA contender Baatarkhuu took his second straight victory and improved to 12-3 for his MMA career with eight finishes.
Meng Shines To Hand Sawada First Career Defeat
In atomweight MMA action, veteran scrapper Meng Bo largely dominated #3-ranked divisional contender Chihiro Sawada, handing the Japanese phenom the first defeat of her professional career.
Sawada pushed the pace early and often, constantly moving forward as she looked for takedown after takedown. However, it was the Chinese fighter who did the most damage, as she was able to defend her foe’s best shots, all while finding success with her own crispy boxing attack.
Meng kept her foot on the gas pedal in the second and third rounds, even putting the wrestler on her back, where she unleashed heavy ground and pound.
In the end, the 28-year-old was awarded the unanimous decision to improve her career slate to 22-7.
Kovtun Outworks Suablack In Fiery Muay Thai Opener
Thai fighter Suablack Tor Pran49 might have been the more popular fighter in Bangkok heading into his bantamweight Muay Thai bout with Dmitrii Kovtun, but the latter won over those who mattered most – the judges.
Kovtun earned the nod from all three ringside officials in his pivotal fight with Suablack, bagging his 12th victory in the striking arts.
A first-round elbow from Kovtun dropped Suablack for an eight-count, and that thrust him ahead on the scorecards. From there, the Russian upped the pressure, belting and banging away with elbows and punches for nine minutes.
With the victory, the 27-year-old from RUS Gym and Sitsongpeenong Muay Thai Camp brought himself back into the win column after a minor setback this past November.
