Lobo Lands KO Win Over Kaonar, Osmanov And Yu Add To Dominant Streaks At ONE Friday Fights 42
There are few guarantees in life, but ONE Championship’s global fan base can always count on ONE Friday Fights to deliver.
On November 24, the action resumed at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, with ONE Friday Fights 42.
Two dozen athletes competed across MMA, kickboxing, and Muay Thai for the chance to secure a US$100,000 contract with the organization, and each battle lived up to the weekly series’ stellar reputation.
Here’s what went down live in Asia primetime in the Thai capital, starting with the main event.
Lobo Executes Perfect Third-Round Finish Against Kaonar
Julio Lobo finally got the victory he’s been looking for in ONE Championship.
In Friday night’s headliner, the Brazilian striker faced Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Champion Kaonar Sor Jor Thongprajin in 141-pound catchweight action – and the outcome was spectacular.
Lobo stood toe-to-toe with Kaonar and blitzed the Thai with punches while slicing at him with elbows.
For two rounds, the 29-year-old put money in the bank. And it was time to cash out in round three.
Lobo pinned Kaonar against the ropes and hit him with a three-piece combo that Sylvester Stallone himself couldn’t have penned any better.
The Phuket Fight Club standout zinged his foe with a right elbow, immediately followed up with a left hook, then crumbled him to the canvas with an overhand right.
The referee jumped in to wave off the bout at 0:46 of the third frame, and Lobo increased the ticker on his win column to 59-26-2.
Ferrari Outworks Khomutov To Score Decision Win
Ferrari Fairtex and Kirill Khomutov battled hard over three rounds of bantamweight Muay Thai action, and it came down to a game of inches in the end, with the former walking away victorious.
Ferrari managed to control the early going by booting Khomutov’s legs to hinder his movement and allow himself room to mix up the combinations. But wild strikes from his Russian foe meant he couldn’t get too comfortable.
The 26-year-old continued to damage Khomutov’s lower half in the second frame, and he used his range to keep his opposite man at bay.
The Fairtex Training Center product seemed to be the smarter of the pair in the final round, as he avoided getting caught by Khomutov by figuring out his habits.
This proved to be the difference in the judges’ eyes, and they awarded Ferrari the unanimous decision win to push his slate to an impressive 134-32-4.
Khunponnoi Stops Lamnamkhong With Heavy Punches In Round Two
Khunponnoi Sor Sommai bludgeoned his way to victory in his 136-pound Muay Thai meeting with Lamnamkhong BS Muaythai.
The pair had met before, with Khunponnoi taking the win via points on that occasion. But this time, he went one better and scored a stoppage against his old rival.
The Sor Sommai man landed big punches in reply to Lamnamkhong’s hard kicks in round one, and he continued that pressure to fell his foe in the second frame.
Khunponnoi uncorked a jab-cross and followed it up with a crunching right hook to the body that put his Lamnamkhong down and out for good at the 2:00 mark, pushing his overall record to 118-32.
Sornsueknoi Sends Petkhaowang To The Shadow Realm
Sornsueknoi FA Group scored his second consecutive finish in ONE Friday Fights against promotional newcomer Petkhaowang Sor Jor Lekmuangnon.
Their 128-pound catchweight Muay Thai fight began as advertised, with both men trading punches in the pocket.
Sornsueknoi began to find his fight vision in the second round, though, when he realized that every time he threw a short left punch, Petkhaowang would counter with a right elbow.
So the FA Group fighter loaded up two left hands and let Petkhaowang counter the first. As soon as he did, Sornsueknoi blasted him with the second one to send him face-first to the canvas.
Petkhaowang answered the eight-count. But when the action resumed, Sornsueknoi went right back on the attack. He shot in with two straight punches and three elbows – all from the left side – to finish proceedings at 1:16 of the second frame and earn his 43rd career win.
Kongkairop Elbows His Way To KO Win Over Rachan
Kongkairop FiatPathum entered his 112-pound catchweight Muay Thai bout against Rachan Sor Somnuk with lethal intentions, and he made them known in brutal fashion.
The 19-year-old took some time to get settled when the action got underway, leaving Rachan with the opportunity to land some significant strikes in the opening frame.
But when the bell sounded for round two, Kongkairop quickly came alive. He found his range and began driving home damaging elbows on Rachan.
The Thai star seemed to land at will, and he cut his compatriot open en route to scoring a knockdown late in the frame.
Rachan survived to the bell, but Kongkairop was determined to get the finish in the final stanza. That came via a devastating left elbow at the 1:28 mark.
Kongkairop moved to 49-7-5 with the debut KO win, and he announced himself as one to watch.
Ploykhao Victorious In Exciting Three-Rounder With Fahlan
Ploykhao Or AudUdon‘s powerful punching was the difference in his epic 112-pound catchweight Muay Thai bout with Fahlan Por Petkhaikaew.
The 21-year-old Thai came out firing in the opening stanza, blasting his rival with heavy right hands and left hooks.
Fahlan’s chin held up, though, and he came into the match in round two, scoring with some hard elbows from the clinch.
Undeterred, Ploykhao continued to find success with his fierce boxing attack in the final frame. He battered his Por Petkhaikaew foe’s head and body en route to a unanimous decision win that extended his record to 41-18.
Osmanov Stays Perfect With Win Against Zhang
In the sole kickboxing bout of the night, Elbrus Osmanov eked out a unanimous decision victory over former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title contender Zhang Chenglong to go 4-0 in ONE Friday Fights.
The 22-year-old Russian poured on the attacks over nine minutes, landing spinning kicks and blasting his Chinese adversary with punches.
Zhang made a fight of it by matching Osmanov’s output, but he just couldn’t inch himself ahead in the gripping race.
After three intense rounds of action, all three ringside judges awarded the fight to Osmanov, and the Team Mehdi Zatout/Akhmat Kickboxing athlete bumped his all-striking record to a perfect 10-0.
Seksan Returns To Win Column In Slugfest With Joker
Following a narrow defeat at ONE Friday Fights 31, the only thing on Seksan Fairtex’s mind was getting back to winning ways when he stepped into flyweight Muay Thai action against Joker Paesaisi. And he did just that.
The pair refused to pull punches from the start, but Seksan’s looping shots landed more often and with more significance throughout the opening round.
The second round would make the difference, though, as Seksan dropped his countryman with a brutal left uppercut at the halfway point. Joker’s notable endurance saw him answer the call, however, and he saw off the round.
With a knockdown scored, Seksan’s confidence ran high in the final stanza. Joker stayed in it with his strikes, but the Fairtex Training Center athlete wasn’t to be denied his second win in ONE, which he earned by majority decision to move his slate to 52-21-3.
Yu Earns Six-Figure Contract With Fifth Straight Victory
Yu Yau Pui’s relentless pressure was too much for Zehra “Devil Girl” Dogan, and she picked up her fifth win in a row at ONE Friday Fights – and with it a coveted six-figure contract with ONE Championship.
Yu got straight on the gas in the first round of their atomweight Muay Thai clash, but Dogan had some early success in the clinch. However, the Hong Kong native made inroads with knees and elbows in the second half of the frame.
Coming out aggressively again in round two, Yu launched hard punches and knees to the head and body of “Devil Girl,” who struggled to stem the flow.
A final flurry of straights to the body and hooks to the head made Dogan wilt at the 1:28 mark, and the KF 1 standout pushed her record to 27-2-3 with another impressive stoppage.
Zakirov Overcomes Suleimanov In Three-Round Thriller
In the third fight of the evening, somebody’s 0 had to go, and Sanzhar “Tornado” Zakirov made sure it wasn’t his.
The Uzbekistan warrior nudged his unblemished MMA record to 9-0 after going a furious fifteen minutes with Zaiundin “Black Tiger” Suleimanov in a strawweight battle that had everyone gasping for air when the final bell sounded.
The scrappy affair had everything that makes the all-encompassing sport so enjoyable to watch – striking exchanges, mad scrambles, and submission attempts.
But over the course of three rounds, Zakirov dished out most of the damage, so all three judges gave him the nod, earning him the unanimous decision victory.
Pereira Powers Through Bhyan With First-Round Finish
Matheus Pereira had something to prove in his promotional bow against Sumit Bhyan, and he rose to the occasion to score a finish in their lightweight MMA encounter.
Bhyan came gunning for Pereira from the opening bell, utilizing his strong takedowns. But the Brazilian knew exactly what to expect, and he forced the action back to the feet.
“Guiado por Deus” then began to read the striking acumen of his Indian foe. He caught a front kick from Bhyan and countered with a powerful left hook that sent him to the mat.
Pereira swarmed from there and landed precise blows to bring an end to the bout at 1:08 of the first round.
The debuting star earned the fifth win of his MMA career with the blistering TKO.
Gomes Taps Out Almasbekov To Claim Debut Win
Bismarck Gomes used his elite grappling prowess to dispatch Asylbek Almasbekov in the first round of their welterweight mixed martial arts show-opener.
Almasbekov tried to keep the distance with his jab early on, but when Gomes got deep on a double-leg takedown, it was all one-way traffic.
The Evolve MMA athlete controlled from top position before taking his rival’s back. After flattening Almasbekov out, Gomes dropped heavy shots to open up the rear-naked choke, squeezing to force the tap and earn the debut victory at 2:23 of the opening frame.
