It’s debut time again here in The Two Sheds Review, and thanks to a free to air showing on Premier Sports we’re paying a first visit to Singapore’s ONE Fighting Championship, and their most recent show, Honor & Glory.
The broadcast began in the bantamweight division with Raymond Tan taking on Radeem Rahman.
This proved to be a great main card opener. Tan used his size and reach advantage to good effect early on when he floored Rahman with a left/right combination, and although Rahman survived that scare he soon found himself on the canvas again after Tan’s left kick to the head.
But as good as Tan was in the first Rahman was better in the second. He followed his corner’s instructions to the letter when he scored with a takedown, and after moving to the mount he unleashed with a flurry of blows. Tan offered nothing in reply, so it came as no surprise when the referee stepped in to give Rahman the TKO win.
It was up to heavyweight next as Chi Lewis Parry took on Alain Ngalani.
This was the proverbial blink or you’ll miss it affair as far as the action was concerned, but not for the usual reasons. During the opening moments of the fight Parry connected with an inadvertent knee to the Ngalani’s groin. Ngalani went down like a sack of spuds, and stayed down for the entire five minute rest period. It soon became obvious that he couldn’t continue, so the referee ruled the fight a no contest.
Featherweight action followed as Major Overall faced Bruno Pucci.
Overall began his night in the cage swinging for the fences, but he soon calmed down enough to score with the takedown. A scramble for positions followed before they got back to their feet.
But just when Pucci looked like he was getting the upper hand in the striking exchanges Overall connected with a right that sent the Pucci crashing, and after the American followed up with a football kick to the head the referee stepped in to give Overall the TKO win.
Then it was on to lightweight as Willy Ni went up against Caros Fodor.
It looked like we were going to get an early finish in this one when Ni pulled guard and went for a guillotine. Fodor managed to survive though, and as soon as he escaped from that predicament he went to work with the ground and pound, raising a nasty lump on Ni’s forehead.
The damage done, Fodor moved into position so he could apply a kimura, and when he locked the hold in Ni had no choice but to tap to give Fodor the submission win.
More featherweight action followed as Narantungalag Jademba took on Honorio Banario.
The only fight on the broadcast to go the distance was one of the most entertaining fights I’ve seen this year, and one of the closest. For fifteen minutes these two put on some great back and forth exchanges, both on the ground and in the striking department. Neither man could gain any sort of advantage for the first two rounds, but as they moved towards the final moments of the fight Jademba seemed to get the better of the exchanges, scoring with a takedown just as the fight came to an end.
As for the judges they were in complete agreement as Jademba took the unanimous decision.
The co-main event featured more lightweight action as Vincent Latoel took on Eddie Ng.
Ng started his campaign by trying to take Latoel to the ground straight away, and although he was quite relentless in his attempts Latoel managed to defend against them each and every time.
But when the referee separated them because of inactivity it proved to be a crucial moment. A few seconds later Latoel sent Ng to the canvas with a big right, and after another three punch combo the referee stepped in. Latoel thought his victory celebration was a bit premature, so he went back for another couple of blows which the referee prevented by dragging Ng out of harm’s way. The victory stayed with Latoel despite his over-exuberance.
The main event featured welterweight action as Bakhtiyar Abbasov faced Ben Askren.
The first thing that happened in this one was Abbasov’s impressive slam right off the bat, but even though he took his man’s back briefly it wasn’t long before Askren was all over him like the proverbial cheap suit.
Abbasov looked almost helpless as Askren transitioned with ease while delivering countless right hands to the head, and as the first round entered it’s final minute Askren synched in an arm triangle for the submission win.
In conclusion - I’m glad that I spotted this free showing on my Sky dig guide, because if I hadn’t then I would have missed a great night of action.
All of the fights delivered big time, and even though some of the differences in the rules took a bit of getting used to (meaning the kick to the head of a downed opponent) I really enjoyed my first exposure to what ONE FC have to offer.
As for my fight of the night no-prize I’m going to give this prestigious award to the Jademba/Banario three rounder. I’m a big fan of fights not being left in the hands of the judges, but I’m just a big a fan of keenly fought encounters that go the distance.
So with all of that out of the way there’s just one more thing to do, and that’s to give Honor & Glory the big thumbs up.
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