ONE Championship’s “ONE X” event on Saturday morning in Singapore was one of the biggest cards in the promotion’s 10-year history. It featured 20 fights, nearly 10 hours of combat sports action, and six title fights, in three different sports. Unsurprisingly, with so much world-class talent involved there were several highlight-reel finishes.
Let’s take a look at some of the major knockouts and submission wins from the event inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Demetrious Johnson puts Rodtang to sleep at ONE X
One of the most highly anticipated matchups on ONE Championship’s tenth-anniversary card was the mixed rules fight between former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and Muay Thai superstar, and titlist, Rodtang Jitmuagnon. Fortunately for “Mighty Mouse”, he was able to survive the Muay Thai rules first round and bring the Thai fighter into the world of MMA in the second round.
In a surprise to no one, he was able to get his foe to the ground and show off the grappling skills that have helped earn him 30 MMA victories, 12 by submission. With less than a minute left in the round, Johnson secured a rear-naked choke and put Rodtang to sleep in impressive fashion.
Yoshihiro Akiyama crushes Shinya Aoki in Japanese MMA legends grudge match
One of the most heated bouts heading into the ONE X card was between Japanese MMA legends Yoshihiro Akiyama and Shinya Aoki. It was a bout “Tobikan Judan” vigorously pushed for, and as the old adage goes, “be careful what you wish for.” That’s because in the second round the world champion Judo practitioner known as “Sexiyama” was able to defend the takedown advances of Aoki and absolutely pummel him in a barrage of strikes that seemed to knock his opponent out on several occasions.
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The 46-year-old left the cage with the last laugh and reigned supreme in this battle of the last active Japanese MMA Mohicans.
Nong-O dominantly retains ONE Championship Muay Thai title
Brazilian Felipe Lobo entered his bantamweight Muay Thai title fight with division king Nong-O Gaiyanghadao claiming he had solved the Thai-fighter puzzle of dominance over the sport. Unfortunately for him, he was wrong and Gaiyanghadao gave him a vicious lesson in less than three rounds.
Throughout the bout, the champ looked to be the better fighter, and a nasty uppercut with a minute left in the third put Lobo on newborn giraffe legs and ended the fight.
Sinsamut Klinmee stuns Niekey Holzken with one-punch KO
Niekey Holzken is one of the best and most ferocious lightweight Muay Thai fighters on the ONE Championship roster. And his inclusion on the card was expected to be a showcase moment for the Dutch talent. However, Sinsamut Klinmee stunned many on the preliminary portion of the card and dropped Holzken with a filthy right hand in the second round.
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Despite eventually getting back to his feet, the 38-year-old had not fully recovered, the referee ended the fight and awarded Klinmee the biggest victory of his career.
Kang Ji Won blasts Paul Elliot in heavyweight prelim clash
Another destructive finish came when monster heavyweights Kang Ji Won and Paul Elliott battled in the card’s third fight. Unfortunately for the Englishman, his night lasted less than a minute when Won smashed him with an overhand right. Buckling his legs and forcing the referee to jump in and stop the action with 3:59 left in the opening round. It was a big bounce-back win for Won following a first-round submission loss to Marcus Almeida in December.
Parts I and II of Saturday’s ONE X event can be found on the ONE Championship YouTube channel. The main card pay-per-view is available exclusively on watch.onefc.com.