Gianni falls, three Malaysians triumph

Subba fell to Australian Reece McLaren in the headliner but it was still a good outing for the Malaysian fighters as three others won their fights at One Championships’ Visions of Victory on Friday.

Gianni, a late replacement for the injured Adriano Moraes, found it hard to match McLaren’s ground game at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.

McLaren took the win via submission (arm triangle), three minutes and 12 seconds into the second round and will now go on to fight either Moraes (Brazil) or Filipino Geje Eustaquio for the flyweight title.

Gianni, whose record now stands at nine wins and three losses, admitted that he was not at his best for the fight.

“I started out slow. I was not too good in the first round and in the second round, I stepped in too much,” said the 25-year-old.

“Being impatient was my biggest problem. He implemented his game plan better today... hats off to him.”

The co-main event witnessed Agilan Thani (welterweight) taking a straightforward win over ONE newcomer Amitesh Chaubey of India. Agilan, whose record now stands at 9-1, forced submission (americana), 1:04s into the second round.

Two other Malaysian fighters, Aiman Raziz Affindi (bantamweight) and ONE debutant Jihin Radzuan (women’s atomweight) also won their fights.

Aiman went the distance against Cambodia’s Rin Saroth but won by unanimous decision while Jihin defeated Puja Tomar of India via submission (triangle choke), 2:23s into the second round.