Pompetch, Yodlekpet Highlight Nonstop Knockout Action At ONE Friday Fights 17
ONE Championship’s latest weekly offering at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium featured fireworks from start to finish – and everywhere in between.
In the end, ONE Friday Fights 17 produced eight knockout finishes in 11 wild contests, and even the decisions were absolute thrillers that wowed the crowd on May 19.
Here, we recap every Muay Thai and MMA bout from a truly electric showcase in Bangkok, Thailand.
Pompetch Starches Duangsompong With Massive Left Hook
Pompetch PK Saenchai capped off the show with a bang, knocking out Duangsompong Jitmuangnon in the first round of their 133-pound catchweight Muay Thai main event.
The 24-year-old hardly broke a sweat in what might have been the finest performance of his career so far. After a brief feeling-out period, Pompetch landed a thunderous left hook that sent his foe crashing to the canvas just 1:15 into the fight.
With an unforgettable ONE debut under his belt, the young phenom now owns an incredible career record of 103-43-5.
Avatar Evens The Score In Barnburner With Komawut
Avatar PK Saenchai entered Lumpinee Stadium looking to avenge his defeat to Komawut FA Group at ONE Friday Fights 11 in March, and the Thai star did just that.
The bantamweight Muay Thai stars once again battled hard for three action-packed rounds, but this time, it was Avatar who landed the cleaner strikes and maintained control of the bout.
As a result, the judges handed the 29-year-old a unanimous decision victory, moving him to 96-42-12 overall. And given the nonstop intensity from bell to bell, the matchup was officially awarded the Monster Energy Fight of the Night.
Denkriangkrai Edges Out Apiwat In Gritty Three-Rounder
Denkriangkrai Singha Mawynn and Apiwat Sor Somnuk’s 128-pound catchweight Muay Thai battle heated up round by round.
After testing the waters in the first stanza, the Thai strikers picked up the pace in round two, and by the final frame, they stood toe-to-toe, throwing bombs.
While Apiwat worked well in the clinch and regularly scored with his right hand, Denkriangkrai’s hard kicks, knees, and elbows were enough to earn him a narrow split-decision win, extending his record to 52-29-1.
Rak Demolishes Mahasamut With Body Shots
Former Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Champion Rak Erawan put on a dominant performance against Mahasamut Nayokgungmuangpet in their 116-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest.
The 22-year-old standout scored his first of three knockdowns in the opening frame with a massive right hand.
Although Mahasamut would return to his feet and fight on in the second round, Rak poured on the offense with rib-snapping body shots, melting his foe to the mat twice more for a KO finish at 1:35 of the stanza.
The Thai sensation is now 2-0 in ONE and owns an overall record of 73-10.
Rachan Rallies Back For Third-Round Stoppage Of Khunsuk
In a matchup that saw Thai strikers Rachan Sor Somnuk and Khunsuk Sor Dechapan showcase their skills, it was the former who managed to sway the battle in his favor and ultimately land the deciding blows.
The 25-year-old started strong in the first round of this 112-pound catchweight Muay Thai affair, although the bout looked to be slipping away from him.
However, he would rediscover his killer instinct in the third, scoring a knockdown and then stopping his compatriot moments later with thudding body shots at the 1:53 mark.
Rachan improved to 61-24-6 overall with the TKO victory and opened up his ONE tenure in terrific style.
Maisangkum Dices Tobias’ Liver For First-Round Stoppage
Maisangkum Sor Yingcharoenkarnchang and Dionatha Santos Tobias started fast in their 120-pound catchweight Muay Thai bout, trading heavy punches and low kicks from the get-go.
However, Maisangkum quickly changed the complexion of the match by digging in powerful body shots. And when his rival started to wince, the 22-year-old Thai star minced his liver with even more ferocity.
Maisangkum then put the Brazilian down and out with a final barrage of left hooks at 1:25 of round one, moving to 47-15 overall and 2-0 at ONE Friday Fights.
Yodlekpet’s Body Shots Take Out Puric
“The Destroyer” Yodlekpet Or Atchariya was in top form during his 138-pound catchweight Muay Thai battle with Canadian-Bosnian knockout artist Denis Puric.
Fighting out of the southpaw stance, the four-time Muay Thai World Champion found a home for sharp counter-strikes throughout the first two rounds before doing his most punishing work in the third.
The Thai legend landed thunderous body shots that put Puric on the canvas three times in a row, scoring a TKO stoppage at 2:07 of the final frame.
With the sensational performance, the 28-year-old striker pushed his career record to 87-33-3 and improved to 3-0 at ONE Friday Fights.
Blommaert Stops Li In Second-Round Comeback
Jelte Blommaert had a plan to right the wrongs of his ONE debut, and despite finding himself in hot water against Li Guozhen, that plan prevailed.
After a back-and-forth first round in their strawweight Muay Thai clash, the story of the scrap took place in the second frame.
Blommaert ate a platter’s worth of body shots from Li to receive an eight-count, but the Belgian brawler survived the onslaught before answering back, pushing his foe into the corner and landing a ferocious knee in the clinch that produced a knockout at the 1:49 mark.
The 23-year-old earned his first win under the ONE banner and moved to 22-9 overall.
Hansen Uses Late Surge To Nab Gutsy Split Decision Over Fall
Some things can’t be taught, including the size of the heart that Celest Hansen packs into her 5-foot-4 frame.
English striker Dani Fall let rip with crunching punches and elbows that would have stopped most rivals, but the Australian striker absorbed everything and came back swinging in their atomweight Muay Thai clash.
Bloodied and bruised, Hansen charged forward in round three to earn the split-decision nod after an epic back-and-forth battle, lifting her professional record to 37-14-1.
Parshikov Brutalizes Lianyang For Quick Finish
In bantamweight MMA action, Ivan Parshikov picked up his third straight ONE Friday Fights victory, taking out the talented Lianyang Xia with a first-round TKO.
After exchanging a few strikes on the feet, the 25-year-old wasted no time in bringing the fight to the canvas, where he suffocated the Chinese athlete with heavy top control and punished him with relentless ground strikes.
Eventually, Parshikov moved to the mount position and poured on the offense with ruthless elbows, forcing the stoppage at 4:15 of the opening frame. The Russian standout is now 12-3 overall and seems poised to continue his rise in division.
Baatarkhuu Obliterates Bactol With Dominant First-Round TKO
Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu put a furious pace on Rockie Bactol from the first bell of their bantamweight MMA opener – and he never let up until scoring the finish.
The Road to ONE Mongolia winner mauled his Filipino rival with dirty boxing in the clinch, interspersing this dominance with takedowns to land hard knees on his grounded foe.
With Bactol on the mat, Baatarkhuu heard the 10-second clapper and unleashed furious ground-and-pound to earn the TKO win at 4:59 of the first frame, pushing his overall MMA record to 9-2.
