They may call him “Little Tyson,” but Yodsanan Sityodtong proved he has a big heart to match his punching power at ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM.

On Saturday Night, 11 March, the hometown hero survived an early onslaught from two-time Philippines Kyokushin karate national champion Ramon “The Bicolano” Gonzales, earning a second-round TKO at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Sityodtong, a former WBA Super Featherweight World Champion, was the elder statesman in tonight’s fight. With a 2-1 record, his transition to MMA after a highly decorated boxing career of 58-3-1 (47 KOs) had thus far been a modest success, but Gonzales would put that to the test.

The Filipino showed off his prestigious karate background early with an array of kicks, including one that swept Sityodtong off his feet. Although the Evolve MMA product got back up, Gonzales took him down, and for about a minute, it looked like “Little Tyson” could turn that into a guillotine choke. Gonzales, however, was able to pop his head free as Sityodtong’s arms grew tired.

The rest of the first frame favored Gonzales, as he used an effective top game to spin to side control and hunt for submissions. When Sityodtong tried to push him back to guard, Gonzales responded with a full mount. The Singaporean-based Thai then gave up his back to the strikes, and had to fight off two rear-naked choke attempts, including one that lasted right until the bell.

“Little Tyson” was in big trouble after being dominated to end the opening stanza, but one explosive punch early in the second round changed his fortune. Gonzales suddenly seemed spent from all the energy he expended going for submissions, eating furious right hands until he sat on the fence, stunned. 

Referee Yuji Shimada called for the Filipino to stand when Sityodtong stood up, and he did so slowly and reluctantly. Sityodtong just continued to pour it on.

The end came as both men were exchanging strikes on their knees, with the boxing veteran landing devastating shots, then backing off to force another stand-up. Gonzales was unable to answer the referee’s call to do so, which led to an official finish via verbal submission at 3:21 in round number two.

Sityodtong improves to 3-1 with the win, while Gonzales falls to 1-2 with the loss.

Rika “Tinydoll” Ishige made her professional MMA debut a successful one with a first-round TKO win over Malaysia’s Audreylaura “Ice Comet” Boniface at ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM on Saturday Night, 11 March.

The Thai fighter’s win came at her home in Bangkok, Thailand, and brought the crowd at the Impact Arena to their feet.

“My family’s name is Japanese, but I am 100 per cent Thai, and I am so proud to be Thai,” she said, afterwards, to cheers.

Ishige got the crowd involved even before the fight began, however, with almost unbelievable vamping during an entrance that included a skit, bodyguards, dancing, and lots of smiles and waves. 

Boniface did her best to punch those smiles away from the start, storming out with big strikes and taking Ishige down.

Once on the mat, however, “Tinydoll” managed to put the Borneo Tribal Squad product on the defense with repeated armbar attempts from both the bottom and top. 

Boniface defended them all well, but could not scramble up to regain top position after escaping the last arm lock attempt. Ishige took the mount and soon closed the show.

The Thai attempted an arm-triangle choke, but then soon settled on maintaining the mount and raining down punches, hammer fists, and pointed elbow strikes to the head of Boniface. 

The Malaysian fighter hung tough, but made no attempts to escape and the referee was soon forced to stop the fight. The official end came at 4:32 of the first round.

Ishige’s mark now stands at 1-0, while Boniface’s dips to 0-2.

Decorated Muay Thai Champion Sagetdao Petpayathai has officially made a successful transition into the MMA world.

The man known as “Deadly Star” returned to the Impact Arena in his old stomping grounds of Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday Night, 11 March, and won his first mixed martial arts about with relative ease. 

He stopped Malaysia’s Kelvin “Ice Man” Ong in the first round of their featherweight bout at ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM.

Ong, who trains out of Borneo Tribal Squad, fearlessly came forward, but was clipped by Petpayathai’s left hand only 25 seconds into the contest. The Thai then unleashed a kick to his opponent’s body, pummelled him with another left, defended a takedown, and whipped another body kick home.

Looking to avoid more punishment, the “Ice Man” tied his opponent against the cage and tried to catch his breath. Petpayathai, however, remained busy with his back against the fence, as he delivered some sharp elbows and thunderous knees. Ong was sent reeling backwards, and “Deadly Star” followed up with a barrage of left hands.

Referee Yuii Shimada felt the Malaysian had had enough, and waived the fight off at the 2:20 mark of the first round, giving Petpayathai the TKO in his MMA debut.

“I am so proud to be here to show Muay Thai to all thai fans here. My goal is to be the champion, the world champion of ONE Championship,” the Thai said in the center of the cage.

Petpayathai, who trains out of Evolve MMA, is officially 1-0 in his MMA career. As for Ong, he drops to 1-1.

Ma Jia Wen kicked off the main card of ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM in dynamic fashion.

On Saturday Night, 11 March, the Chinese wrestling specialist entered the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, and stopped “The Ice Man” Yohan Mulia Legowo via TKO in the second round of their featherweight match.

Both fighters were slightly hesitant in the opening seconds of the first round, but Wen found his comfort zone rather quickly. He lit up Legowo with a hard uppercut, a masterful head kick, and a sharp inside leg kick. 

The Chinese wrestling specialist dictated the pace, kept backing up his opponent, and threatened with a much improved stand-up game.

Legowo, an Indonesian Kickboxing and Submission Grappling Champion, bided his time, and when the opportunity arose, went for the takedown. Wen, however, immediately clasped on a seemingly-tight guillotine choke. “The Ice Man” survived, pulled his head out, and found himself in his rival’s guard.

It did not last for long. Wen, a Tianjin Top Team product, escaped, and the two traded positions on the ground, with the Indonesian eventually coming out on top and sliding into side control. He threw a couple of knees into his Chinese opponent’s ribs, but it did little good, as the bell rang to end the opening stanza.

Soon after the second round began, Wen marched forward and backed up Legowo with a non-stop melee of hard combinations. He landed heavy shots seemingly at will, causing the Indonesian to cover up.

Legowo had no answer. “The Ice Man” just absorbed the shots, and seemed on the verge of collapse. Referee Olivier Coste had seen enough, getting in-between the two and calling the fight off 59 seconds into round two.

Wen earns his second consecutive win and pushes his record to 4-2. Legowo, meanwhile, drops to to 8-6.

Eight months after experiencing his first loss in ONE Championship, Kritsada “Dream Man” Kongsrichai returned to got right back on the winning track.

On Saturday Night, 11 March, the Thai wrestling champion survived through an early scare to defeat Adrian “Papau Badboy” Matheis at ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM in a strawweight throwdown. The event was held at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Matheis, the ONE Strawweight Indonesia Tournament Champion, immediately brought the action and rocked his Thai nemesis with a barrage of heavy shots from the bell. 

Despite being visibly stunned, Kongsrichai remained calm, picked the Jakarta native up, ran across the cage, and slammed him down with massive force. He instantly transitioned into full mount, looking to end the fight quickly.

“Papau Badboy” temporarily escaped in an effort to get to his feet, but the Thai is a master grappler and easily brought him back to the ground with a picture-perfect takedown.

For Matheis, it was all downhill from there. Kongsrichai dropped elbows, briefly worked for an arm triangle, and then abandoned it for some more of his ground and pound attack. 

“Dream Man” resumed those elbow strikes that had been working so well, and it was a nightmare Matheis was not able to handle. The Indonesian tapped out, giving the win to the Thai at 2:51 of the first round,

The dream continues for Kongsrichai, who moves his record to 5-3. Matheis drops his second straight, and now stares at an equal 2-2 record.

Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit can keep on smiling.

The Chiang Mai, Thailand-based strawweight kicked off the preliminary portion of ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM on Saturday Night, 11 March, and delivered a first-round TKO to Rabin “The Rock” Catalan, much to the delight of his countrymen in Bangkok’s Impact Arena.

Though both men were tentative in the first minute of the bout, Catalan, a Philippine national wushu champion, quickly tore into his opponent with a couple of sharp combinations. Mitsatit, a Northern Muay Thai champion, responded with a powerful body kick that got his rival’s attention.

Catalan tried to take the crowd favorite to the ground, but “The Smiling Assassin” defended well, and clinched the Filipino with his back up against the cage. “The Rock” was persistent and finally dragged his unbeaten opponent to the ground, but Mitsatit landed in top position. 

Opting to stay on his feet, the Team Quest Thailand product held his nemesis’ legs and landed thunderous punches, but soon referee Yuji Shimada brought the action back to the feet after a brief lull in action.

Mitsatit, a product of Chiang Mai’s Team Quest Thailand, attacked the Filipino with blistering strikes. He connected with a slew of punches and a flying knee, but Catalan immediately clinched and was able to bring him back to the ground, this time with a trip takedown.

Again, Mitsatit ended up on top, got back to his feet and waited for his visiting opponent to stand up. Once he did, the Thai attacked with a relentless barrage of crushing knees to Catalan’s midsection, which caused the wushu champion to falter to the ground. This time, he would not get back up.

Mitsatit rushed in with an unforgiving flurry of ground and pound until Shimada called off the fight at the 4:45 mark of the first round, awarding the hometown hero the victory.

With the TKO win, the Smiling Assassin improves to 8-0 and records his sixth TKO finish. Catalan, meanwhile, falls to 4-3.