Phogat, Banario, Zamboanga Win On ONE: KING OF THE JUNGLE Lead Card

The action came thick and fast at the start of ONE: KING OF THE JUNGLE as six lead card bouts brought a ton of entertainment for fans watching the match-ups around the world.

If you missed any of the contests from the early portion of the event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 28 February, check out the recap and highlights right here.

Zamboanga Beats Yamaguchi To Earn Shot At Angela Lee

Denice “The Menace Fairtex” Zamboanga put on a brilliant all-around performance to end Mei “V.V.” Yamaguchi’s winning streak and become the top contender in the atomweight division.

The Filipina star shut down Yamaguchi‘s takedowns in the first round with a superb sprawl, then took an early lead in the contest with aggressive boxing that saw her land stiff straight punches to the face.

Japan’s “V.V.” tried to fire back after the restart, but her hard overhand rights were met with smiles from “The Menace,” who continued to score with her hands. When Yamaguchi finally got the encounter to the mat, her submission attempts were smartly shut down.

Zamboanga re-established her dominance on the feet in round three as her rival struggled to find an answer for her strength in the clinch and barrage of heavy blows. That meant the judges had an easy job in giving “The Menace” a unanimous decision, and ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong declared she earned a shot at “Unstoppable” Angela Lee’s ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title.

“Pretty Boy” Stays Perfect With Great Showing Against Abelardo

“Pretty Boy” Troy Worthen kept his undefeated record intact in his toughest test to date against experienced ONE Warrior Series graduate Mark “Tyson” Fairtex Abelardo.

The Evolve man showed off his improved striking game against “Tyson” in the first round as he feinted to set up an opportunity to land his left high kick midway through the stanza and drop Abelardo to the canvas.

The Kiwi-Filipino recovered well, but “Pretty Boy” put him onto the mat with a spectacular high-crotch takedown and dominated the rest of the round from Abelardo’s back. Worthen had control of the bout from that point as he continued to land his left high kick, rushed the Fairtex representative onto the Circle fence, and planted him on the floor with his relentless wrestling offense.

Abelardo showed his heart and durability to push back, but he couldn’t stop the American freight train, and Worthen earned a clear unanimous decision win.

“The Rock” Rebounds To Get The Nod Over Wiratchai

Honorio “The Rock” Banario enjoyed a successful return to the division he once ruled as he took a split-decision win against Shannon “OneShin” Wiratchai.

Wiratchai struck early in the match as he planted his shin across the former ONE Featherweight World Champion’s temple. Banario answered with a takedown and scrabbled into side control, where he punished Wiratchai’s body with knees.

In the second stanza, the Thai went high again, which prompted Banario to shoot for another takedown. Once again, he was in control for most of the round on the mat.

“OneShin” had more success at the start of the final frame as he stayed on his feet and used fluid movement to pick the Filipino off from the outside. However, “The Rock” eventually imposed his grappling again and had more success on the ground. After the final bell, two of the three judges gave him the nod.

Phogat Continues To Grow In Dominant Victory

Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat was in control of her atomweight match against “Miss Red” Wu Chiao Chen from start to finish.

The Evolve representative scored a takedown in the opening moments of the first round and went on to dominate with ground and pound. Wu quickly recovered ground, but she continued to absorb heavy punches.

Phogat began the second stanza with a hard straight right hand, but went straight back to her wrestling. For the next five minutes, she took dominant positions and continued to connect with big shots.

It was a similar story in the final round as Wu had few answers for the Indian’s superior grappling. Phogat stuck to her game plan until the final bell and took away a comfortable unanimous decision to improve to 2-0 as a professional mixed martial artist.

Ramazanov Remains Undefeated With First-Round TKO

Murad Ramazanov opened his ONE slate in impressive fashion with a dominant first-round stoppage over South Korean veteran, “Wolverine” Bae Myung Ho.

Bae looked comfortable on the feet in the early running and put pressure on his welterweight rival, but Ramazanov changed the complexion of the bout completely with when he closed the distance and threw his rival onto the canvas.

On the ground, the Russian chipped away with strikes and maintained complete control of the action. With 30 seconds left in the first frame, he upped the tempo, passed Bae’s guard and moved to back mount. With a dominant position secured, he unleashed a volley of punches to get the TKO win at the 4:53 mark.

Chan Kicks Off ONE Career With Second-Round Sub

ONE debutant Jeff Chan built on a dominant first round to defeat Radeem Rahman by rear-naked choke in the second stanza of their bantamweight mixed martial arts clash to kick off the show in style.

Chan came out aggressively in round one and tagged the Singaporean with looping punches and low kicks. Rahman had few answers for his foe’s strikes and shot for a takedown, but the 28-year-old was able to defend, move into guard, and rain down elbows.

In round two, Rahman once again tried to take the contest to the mat, but the Canadian’s defense was too crafty, and he reversed positions to wind up in half guard. Rahman tried to scramble free, but Chan jumped on his back and sunk in the bout-ending submission with 2:00 on the clock.

Read more: KING OF THE JUNGLE: Live Updates