There were three exciting preliminary bouts to kick things off at ONE: HERO’S DREAM, inside the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on Friday, 3 November.
With athletes from all around the world competing, there was an abundance of talent and styles on show to intrigue martial arts fans.
The pace picked up as the undercard bouts went on, setting things up perfectly for the stacked main card.
Unrelenting pressure clinches victory for Jomary Torres
Nita Dea started the bout on the front foot, but as she stepped in with her first punch, she was double legged and taken to the ground. It would start a torrid round for the Indonesian, and really set the pace for the rest of the atomweight bout.
The Philippines’ Jomary Torres did not give up any position once she had it, dominating from the top throughout the opening stanza. It almost swelled to a crescendo at the end, but the bell saved Dea from a tight rear-naked choke.
Round two followed a similar pattern, with Torres meeting no resistance in her takedown attempts. However, the YONGKING product did manage to find some success with her reversals, albeit short-lived. Torres landed hard ground and pound with punches and elbows, and again ended the second coming close to a finish from the back.
The third was the most back-and-forth of all the rounds, with the Filipino still hitting her takedowns, but Dea managing several reversals to top position. A well-timed strike saw Dea’s knee crunch into Torres’ face in the middle of the round, but she stuck to her guns and saw out the end of the contest, escaping a triangle choke as the final bell rang.
It was a clear decision victory for Torres, but her opponent showed great heart to keep competing until the final bell.
Hard-hitting Zhang Ze Hao out-strikes a striker
India met China in a fast and furious matchup between Bala “The Tulunad Warrior” Shetty and “The Ghost” Zhang Ze Hao. Although it was the former who was billed as the striker, being an eight-time India national Muay Thai champion, it was Shetty who found himself slumped on the canvas after a crushing left hook separated him from his senses.
Both athletes were throwing with full power from the opening bell, but “The Ghost” was more accurate, and visibly wobbled Shetty on multiple occasions, while also mixing takedowns and ground and pound into his arsenal. Each time, Shetty managed to find a way up, but he was leaving his chin exposed.
The Chinese athlete saw the opening, and let rip with a thunderous left hook as Shetty worked to his feet from a ground onslaught. It dropped him back to the mat with a thud, and the follow-up right forced the referee to step in after just 2:01 of the opening round, handing an exciting victory to the young Chinse Action MMA Academy standout.
“Supermom” strikes again
Both strawweight competitors came in with excellent grappling credentials, but “Supermon”Miao Jie was the one that intended on using them.
Her opponent, Australia’s Amira Hafizovic, wanted to strike, but this eagerness led to her downfall as she pressed forward too much, giving Miao the chance to clinch and take her down with a powerful hip toss.
Straight from the takedown, “Supermom” went for the armbar, but her Australian foe fended it off well and almost escaped, showing her own expertise.
However, Miao’s high-level BJJ ability came to the fore, as Miao transitioned to the opposite arm and locked in another tight armbar to get the tap early in the first.
The victory marked Miao as a huge threat to anybody in the strawweight division, and even ONE Championship’s women’s division as a whole. After all, the 45-second rear-naked choke was the fastest finish in ONE women’s history, having broken Miao’s own record by four seconds.
