It was an exciting night of action last Friday night, 2 September, as ONE Championship staged its ONE: UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS card live from the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The riveting event was stacked with eleven bouts featuring homegrown talent, sensational finishes including a shocking eight-second knockout, and dynamic entrances inspired by Capcom’s Street Fighter and the latest app craze, Pokemon Go. Also, a new lightweight contender is waiting in the wings.
In addition to that, the Universal Music Group added to the electrifying atmosphere in the jam-packed arena with musical performances by Malaysian sensations Faizal Tahir, “Ratu Rock” starlet Ella, and up-and-comers Nik Qistina and Natasha Sass.
All in all, this night belonged to Malaysia. Here are the top five highlights from ONE: UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS.
Highlight #1 – Ev Ting And Rob Lisita Set Off Fireworks
The main event between Ev Ting and Rob Lisita truly defined the vibe of ONE: UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS. It was a thrilling back-and-forth battle that saw both the emergence of a future lightweight contender in Ting and the rebirth of Lisita.
“E.T.,” the Malaysian-bred, New Zealand-based MMA hero, defended his home nations’ honor from his blistering rival known as “Ruthless,” an Aussie down on his luck who vowed to turn his career around.
There were many bone-crunching shots that were delivered. Lisita used his improved wrestling and striking to overwhelm his opponent early on, but as he began to tire, it appeared Ting only got stronger and crisper. Both of these fighters were exhausted by the final and deciding round, but even as they huffed and puffed, they gave it their all.
While Ting proved to be the sharper and stronger fighter of the night, Lisita proved he is still very much a force to be reckoned with, and both of these warriors proved to be unbreakable.
Highlight #2 – Nuerdebieke Bahetihan Knocks Out Bruno Pucci In Eight Seconds
Lately, it seems like ONE Championship is the organization to watch for quick highlight-reel knockouts. Just a week ago, Burn Soriano knocked out Mario Wirawan with a spinning back fist in 15 seconds flat, and a little over three months ago, the aforementioned Rob Lisita suffered a six-second knockout at the hands of Timofey Nastyukhin.
Another one of those quick highlight reel knockouts happened that night in KL.
It was supposed to be the next step of Bruno Pucci’s big comeback. The BJJ black belt and no-gi world champion was in the midst of a return to MMA following an excruciating year-long back injury, last submitting Anthony Engelen with a rear naked choke this past December.
But Nuerdebieke Bahetihan completely derailed that comeback. Pucci rushed at the Chinese combatant with a strong one-two combo that sent the featherweight staggering back, but Bahetihan instinctively countered with a picture-perfect right hook that immediately dropped Pucci and rendered him unconscious. Eight seconds was all it took to extinguish the Evolve MMA product’s flame, and it looks like the comeback will have to wait for another day.
Highlight #3 – Jenny Huang Goes Chun-Li On Jeet Toshi
Jenny Huang may have represented Chinese Taipei, but she was clearly the crowd favorite in Malaysia. Then again, any female mixed martial artist who walks to the cage dressed as Chun-Li from Capcom’s Street Fighter series is bound to be cheered.
Not only did the atomweight look the part, but she played the part, too.
Huang ate a couple of shots early Jeet Toshi, a seven-time kickboxing champion, but the Taiwanese Judo black belt stuck to her game, took her opponent down and tapped her out with an impressive arm triangle from the full mount position.
It was a promising win from Huang. The only question is which fictional video game character will she dress as next?
Highlight #4 – Shannon Wiratchai TKOs Peter Davis in Pokemon Go style
If there was any fight that kept people guessing, it was certainly this one. From the minute these two warriors walked out to the cage to the actual contest itself, the affair between Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai and Peter Davis went from one extreme to the other.
Wiratchai knew he was entering hostile territory. After all, the Bangkok, Thailand, native was in Davis’ backyard. So Wiratchai wisely got the crowd on their feet the second he stepped out from behind the curtain, as he and his cornermen mimicked characters from Pokemon Go. Of course, Davis got a hometown hero’s welcome just by being himself, but Wiratchai put in some extra effort, and for that we are grateful.
Immediately from the opening bell, it was a seesaw battle. Wiratchai got the edge, though, and got in some massive punches that kept rocking his Malaysian nemesis. At the end of the first round, he dropped Davis and nearly finished him. If there were a few more seconds in the round, it seriously could’ve been over.
Davis seemed like easy pickings in round two. Wiratchai must have thought similarly, because it appeared as if he wasn’t taking his groggy opponent seriously. But suddenly, out of nowhere, the dazed Malaysian emerged with a spinning back fist that dropped the Thai like a pile of bricks. Davis went to finish with some ground and pound, but Wiratchai somehow recovered and got back to his feet.
Though the local favorite would stun his opponent with a few more spinning strikes, Wiratchai landed a near perfect uppercut and pounded his opponent until the referee called the contest. This bout was simply unpredictable. It was full of nonstop twists and turns, and several near finishes.
Highlight #5 – Keanu Subba Taps Waqar Umar With Deadly Ground And Pound
The bout between Keanu Subba, a former MIMMA Champion, and PAKMMA veteran Waqar Umar was one of the more interesting contests of the night. They engaged in a strategic stand-up battle that was fairly even before the fight went to the ground.
Though Umar, a grappling specialist, has won all of his previous matches via submission, his attempts for victory were thwarted by the wrestling-savvy Subba. The Bali MMA product avoided the Pakistani’s submission attempts, stood over him, and delivered some powerful punches from the guard.
What made this particularly interesting was Subba’s calculated approach and the ferocity of which he was firing those strikes. Sitting cageside, you could hear the significance of each strike. So much so, that he uncharacteristically tapped out from the strikes with twenty-nine seconds left remaining in the first round.
Umar is a tough guy, and fighters tapping out from strikes isn’t a common occurrence. So to see the Pakistani tap was quite telling of Subba’s potential and power.
