VERA STOPS SEKINE IIN ONE CHAMPIONSHIIP
FIL-Am Brandon “The Truth” Vera retained his ONE heavyweight title with a dominant victory over Japanese challenger Hideki Sekine in the main event of ONE: Age of Domination at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Friday.
Vera made easy work of previously unbeaten Japanese challenger, winning by technical knockout just minutes into the first round. From the opening bell, Vera began to land a series of solid blows on Sekine, who took Vera’s best shots quite well. Moments later however, a thudding body kick connected for Vera, sending Sekine crashing to the canvas clutching his midsection. Vera then put on the finishing touches with punishing strikes from the top.
In the co-main event of the evening, ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes of Brazil also retained his title, overcoming a nose injury he suffered in the third round, to defeat young rising star Reece “Lightning” McLaren of Australia via split decision.
Evolve MMA bantamweight fighter Mark “Mugen” Striegl persevered through three grueling rounds against Bulgaria’s Sotir Kichukov to win by unanimous decision in a catchweight contest.
Finnish bantamweight sensation Toni “Dynamite” Tauru finally earned his first victory inside the ONE Championship cage, easily dispatching Team Lakay striking specialist Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio of Baguio City, Philippines. Tauru wasted no time in the stand up with his Filipino foe, shooting immediately for a single leg, driving Eustaquio to the mat. From there, Tauru used his size and strength advantage to power through a rear naked choke to notch the win in the first round.
Former ONE featherweight champ Honorio “The Rock” Banario of Team Lakay continued his re-emergence as a new and improved fighter by making quick work of Indian mixed martial artist Rajinder “Knockout” Singh Meena. Banario electrified the crowd with his performance, winning by armbar submission with less than a minute left to go in the first round.
Middleweight Leandro Ataides of Brazil landed a right on the jaw of Mohamed “Flex” Ali of Egypt to win by second round KO.
Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly of the famed Team Lakay MMA of Baguio City overcame a spirited performance from Indonesian fighter Sunoto “The Terminator”, to nab the victory in round three by referee stoppage
Unbeaten Team Lakay flyweight prospect Danny Kingad of Baguio City impressed with a high-level striking and grappling performance, dominating veteran striking ace Eugene Toquero of Manila to win by submission in the first round.
Chinese-Taipei’s Jenny Huang overcame a near-dominant performance from Baguio City’s April Osenio to win via come-from-behind submission.
Khun Khmer prodigy Sim Bunsrun of Cambodia beat Liu Peng Shuai by unanimous decision.
Chinese bantamweight prospect Xie Bin earned a unanimous decision victory Jakarta, Indonesia’s Mario Satya Wirawan.