Singapore
Thai-Japanese newcomer Rika Ishige also picks up a second victory on the trot.
Tiffany Teo in action against Rebecca Heintzmann of the US. (Photo: Justin Ong)
SINGAPORE: Local mixed martial arts (MMA) standouts Amir Khan and Tiffany Teo both picked up homeground victories at One Championship’s latest Singapore event on Friday (May 26).
Khan, 22, ran roughshod over Indian national champion Rajinder Singh Meena in their lightweight (77.1kg) bout for his fourth straight win. In just the first round, Khan sliced up his opponent with devastating kicks, knees and punches before slamming him to the ground and unloading a relentless ground-and-pound until referee Yuiji Shimada had no choice but to stop the bout.
“I didn’t expect that to be so easy,” said the Evolve MMA gym product in his post-fight interview. With seven victories – all finishes – and two losses, Khan can now lay claim to being Singapore’s best male prospect. Meena drops to eight wins and six defeats.
Earlier, Khan’s compatriot Teo also saw her hand raised after a grinding decision victory over Rebecca Heintzmann of the US in a strawweight (56.7kg) encounter.
Both fighters seemed hesitant to commit throughout but Teo, 27, inflicted more damage standing up and had a strong armbar attempt foiled amidst significant time spent controlling the fight on the ground.
The Singaporean, who trains at Juggernaut Fight Club, remains flawless at six wins and no losses while Heintzmann, 30, possesses two wins and three losses.
The Singapore Indoor Stadium crowd also adopted a new fan favourite that evening in the shape of Thai-Japanese atomweight (52.5kg) Rika Ishige. Nicknamed “Tiny Doll”, the 28-year-old who has a considerable following on social media walked out to the cage togged up as the character Chun-Li from the Street Fighter video game series, much to the delight of the audience.
Ishige then betrayed her fragile, dainty demeanour to ruthlessly submit Indonesian combat sports veteran Nita Dea in the first round. The latter, 26, was making her MMA debut on the back of a credentialed wrestling and Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) career but could find no answer to her opponent’s slick grappling skills.
Ishige threatened early on with an armbar attempt which Nita fought out of but there was no escaping the rear-naked choke which followed. Ishige’s record now moves to two wins and zero losses.
