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ONE Championship had a thunderous begin to its last occasion of 2022.
The world’s largest martial arts group premiered ONE: WINTER WARRIORS II on Friday, 17 December, and the lead card featured a pair of first-round knockouts together with a charming headliner.
Right here’s the whole lot that occurred in the course of the first three bouts of the WINTER WARRIORS sequel.
Sadikovic Blossoms In ONE Debut
A brand new contender has emerged for ONE Light-weight Kickboxing World Champion Regian “The Immortal” Eersel.
In his promotional debut, German rising star Arian “Sport Over” Sadikovic defeated former World Title challenger Mustapha “Dynamite” Haida by way of unanimous determination and said his personal case for a crack on the gold.
Haida opened up together with his punches very early within the first stanza, throwing a left cross and later a cross-uppercut mixture. However “Sport Over” put the Italian on the again foot, closed the gap, and fired off leg kicks, jab-crosses, hook-crosses, and step-in knees.
There have been a pair of temporary timeouts resulting from an unintentional groin kick and an unintentional spinning backfist that hit the again of Haida’s head, however as soon as he recovered, Sadikovic continued to use strain with a diversified repertoire.
“Dynamite” began spherical two extra aggressively, coming ahead with well-timed jabs and crosses. However quickly, the German behemoth closed the gap once more and battered his foe with knees, crosses, highly effective hooks, and kicks to the legs and physique.
Every time Haida discovered house, he launched kicks to the top and arms, and even linked with pictures to the physique and uppercuts to the top. Nonetheless, his 27-year-old opponent bulldozed his manner ahead and saved mixing up his arsenal to nice impact.
Issues modified fully within the last spherical. Each males stood within the pocket and exchanged punches and leg kicks, however Sadikovic folded his fellow European with a knee to the ribs. Haida rapidly kicked the German shark away from him, however “Sport Over” returned with wincing punches and knees to the intestine, which compelled the Italian to bend over and gasp for air.
Referee Olivier Coste gave him a standing eight-count, however Haida answered and continued to struggle. From there, Sadikovic went for the end together with his blended putting, however the Italian hung robust to see the match out.
The German earned the nod from all three judges – and probably, a golden alternative.
Andrade Continues To Impress In opposition to ‘The Underdog’
Fabricio “Marvel Boy” Andrade delivered a near-flawless efficiency.
Andrade, the #4-ranked bantamweight combined martial arts contender, used his razor-sharp Muay Thai arsenal to knock out “The Underdog” Li Kai Wen within the first spherical and extinguish the Chinese language athlete’s four-bout profitable streak.
The Brazilian seemed to strike early, however Li flipped the script by hitting a number of fast takedowns and making an attempt to frustrate his rival in opposition to the Circle Wall. As soon as he separated from “Marvel Boy,” the Chinese language athlete sporadically charged at his foe and linked with highly effective hooks.
Andrade, nevertheless, wasn’t fazed in any respect. The Fortaleza native maintained a peaceful demeanor, countered his over-reaching adversary with knees and left arms, and initiated exchanges with a stiff jab. And because the clock ticked towards the ultimate minute of the stanza, the Brazilian damage Li with a ferocious knee to the higher torso that had him backpedaling.
However “Marvel Boy” wasn’t achieved. Andrade continued to choose aside the Chinese language fighter with punches, knees, and kicks, and when “The Underdog” dropped his proper hand, the Brazilian blasted him with a roundhouse kick to the chin.
A dazed Li wobbled to the Circle Wall, prompting Andrade to unload rapid-fire punches. The Chinese language dynamo tried to backpedal some extra, however the Brazilian chased him down, dropped him to the mat with a straight left, and unleashed a torrent of quick punches. With that, referee Justin Brown stopped the competition on the 4:41 mark of spherical one.
After that first-round TKO victory, Andrade made his intentions crystal clear. “I need the belt, deliver the belt,” the Brazilian yelled, signifying his need for a crack at ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes.
And after three straight wins to start his ONE Championship tenure, the Brazilian rising star actually has motive to really feel assured.
Lasiri Ruins Shinagawa’s Huge Debut
A battle between WBC Muay Thai World Champions opened the present, however Joseph “The Hurricane” Lasiri rapidly dropped the curtain on his unsuspecting foe.
The Italian stallion spoiled the promotional debut of Japan’s prime Muay Thai fighter, Asahi Shinagawa, as he knocked out the Yokohama native within the first spherical of their 57.85-kilogram catchweight showdown.
Although Lasiri – the #3-ranked strawweight Muay Thai contender – instantly established his vary with a leg kick, Shinagawa rapidly made his presence felt by slamming a few onerous left shovel hooks into the Monza resident’s physique and dumping him to the mat.
The scrappy Italian popped again up, threatened with punches, backed his rival into the Circle Wall, and pulled for a clinch, the place each males jockeyed for place and exchanged some knees to the ribs.
Moments after they separated, the Japanese striker caught his incoming foe with one other left hook to the physique, adopted by one to the top. However “The Hurricane” simply absorbed the pictures, marched ahead, and went headhunting.
As Shinagawa bounced ahead, the Italian grabbed the Muay Thai plum – and that spelled the start of the tip. Lasiri threw an assortment of knees from the clinch after which missed the following elbow upon their separation, however he stayed in his opponent’s face.
The Japanese fighter tried fending him off with left hooks, however Lasiri stepped ahead, pulled down his foe’s left hand, fired a devastating proper cross to the top, after which smashed him with a left knee to the ribs that dropped him in opposition to the Circle Wall.
The ref, Coste, had no selection however to cease the competition at 2:05 of spherical one, giving Lasiri his third consecutive victory in ONE Tremendous Sequence.
Learn extra: ONE: WINTER WARRIORS II – Full Outcomes For Each Battle
