ONE Championship flyweight champion Adriano Moraes won his first title defense with a unanimous decision over game, but outmatched challenger Asuka Mikami, also known as Riku Shibuya, on Friday night in Kuala Lumpur, while Malaysian stars Ann “Athena” Osman and Peter Davis both scored quick first-round stoppages in front of an appreciative home crowd.
That crowd had plenty to cheer for as Malaysian fighters went five-for-five on the night, with Gianni Subba scoring a spectacular knockout just 20 seconds into the first round and Agilan Thani making his ONE debut by also notching an impressive first-round knockout, while Ev Ting won his bout via second-round submission.
The card was the first ONE Championship event of the year and the first since the promotion streamlined its name from ONE Fighting Championship.
Photo courtesy of ONE Championship
Brazil’s Moraes came into the fight with a 12-1-0 record after having defeated the Philippines’ Geje Eustaquio for the flyweight title in Phnom Phenh, Cambodia, in September last year. He had won all three of his previous ONE FC fights by submission and recently earned his black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu.
In Shibuya, the grappler faced a southpaw striker eager to make a name for himself in his ONE debut after having amassed an 11-2-1 record in various promotions in his native Japan.
The opening frame began with a somewhat flat-footed Shibuya, his hands held low, stalking Moraes, who circled away and attacked intermittently. A straight left from Shibuya was met by a flurry from Moraes.
Moraes landed a kick to Shibuya’s head before scoring his first takedown of the night. Establishing a pattern that was to repeat itself throughout the fight, he was easily able to take Shibuya’s back and set both hooks, but never came close to sinking a rear naked choke.
With the fight stalled, referee Olivier Coste stood the fighters up again and Moraes landed a flying knee before again scoring a two-legged takedown and again taking Shibuya’s back. Unable to sink the choke, Moraes landed punches to Shibuya’s head until the Japanese managed to scramble to his feet and again stalked Moraes to close out the round.
Moraes started the second round by landing a one-two that elicited a smile from Shibuya. Moraes took the Japanese to the ground again and again took his back, but despite taking a knee to the head, Shibuya again made his feet.
Shibuya then began to have some success, landing a kick and some solid straight lefts. Moraes answered with some stinging combinations of his own, initiating some furious exchanges. Shibuya stuffed two takedown attempts by Moraes and appeared to have the Brazilian rattled, but finished the round looking the worse for wear, bleeding heavily from the mouth.
The last three rounds were somewhat marred by fouls and time-outs.
The fighters began the third stanza cagily, but Moraes began to land some powerful leg kicks before scoring a takedown, with Shibuya appearing unfazed when the Brazilian took his back and making his feet, only to be taken down again. Coste called time out and warned Moraes over a headbutt and after the action started, Shibuya quickly made his feet again.
Shibuya landed a combination that sparked a brief exchange before Moraes again took Shibuya down and took his back, but Shibuya managed to escape to top position and land punches from inside the Brazilian’s guard.
Shibuya began the fourth by landing a flurry that was met with a sharp right hand by Moraes, before the action was halted again due to a low blow by the Japanese.
Moraes then landed a one-two and a kick to the body before taking Shibuya down and taking his back again, but again, Shibuya easily escaped. Shibuya landed some solid combinations, but Moraes answered with a jumping switch-kick that opened a deep cut over Shibuya’s left eye and immediately followed up with a takedown. The blood streaming from the cut prompted Coste to call time out to allow the ring doctor to examine it, but the action was allowed to continue.
Shibuya finished the round punching the Brazilian from inside his guard and raised his hands to cheers from the crowd.
Round five saw Moraes more reluctant to engage. Time out was called and Shibuya was warned again, over a low knee.
Knowing he had the fight won, Moraes stayed on his bicycle, using lateral movement to evade the desperate challenger, drawing a smattering of boos from the audience. Time out was called again, this time to fix the tape on Shibuya’s glove.
Moraes then landed some combinations and scored a two-legged takedown. Shibuya escaped into half-guard and landed a series of short punches and elbows to Moraes. Moraes made his feet and ended the fight with a flashy, but glancing cartwheel kick.
Both fighters performed some theatrics while waiting for the decision, with Shibuya doing pushups and Moraes a back-flip, but the unanimous decision was never in doubt.
In the post-fight interview, Moraes professed admiration for Shibuya’s imperviousness to his submission attempts and never-say-die attitude.
“Shibuya is a very tough guy,” he said. “I tried to finish the match every time, but Shibuya is very tough.”
“Moraes is the strongest flyweight champ in the world and I’m the only one who’s gone five rounds with him, so I’m happy with that, but obviously I’m disappointed,” the challenger said through a translator.
The first “Malaysian Super Fight” featured top Asian female prospect Osman. Osman is a rising star who has made international headlines as the first Muslim woman to compete at the elite levels of the sport. Osman confessed to a case of nerves the first time she fought for ONE in Malaysia, but this time looked supremely relaxed and confident as she made her way to the ring.
Osman survived an early scare from Egypt’s Walaa Abbas as she weathered a barrage of punches from the former boxer, eating some big right hands and landing some of her own before bulling the Egyptian against the cage. From there, she was able to take Abbas to the ground, quickly take her back and sink a rear naked choke to finish the fight in 2 minutes, 23 seconds.
Next up was Malaysian-Brit Davis, a former City of London financial consultant who lost his job during the 2008 financial crisis, went to Malaysia and found minor celebrity as a model/actor/cage fighter. Davis faced Rajinder Singh Meena, the lightweight champion of India’s Super Fight League.
Davis made quick work of the Indian, stuffing a takedown attempt and working his way to full mount, where he was able to tie Meena’s arm around his own neck, leaving him unable to defend against a barrage of vicious elbows that prompted Coste to stop the fight at 2:41.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB