Taiwan’s first female professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, Jenny Huang, made her debut for ONE Championship in a split-decision victory over Russia’s Elena Pashnina in Yangon on Saturday night, Bibiano “the Flash” Fernandes retained his bantamweight title with a dramatic third-round knockout of Finland’s Toni Tauru in the main event of ONE Championship’s inaugural event in Myanmar.
Taipei native Huang, 24, a judo black belt, parkour enthusiast and protege of Taiwanese MMA pioneer and fellow ONE Championship fighter Sun “Sam” Ming-yen, was fighting as a professional for only the second time after making her debut in a unanimous decision over India’s Daizy Singh for PRO Fighting in Taipei on May 9.
In Pashnina she faced a sanda black belt also fighting her second professional fight in a bout contested at atomweight (105 pounds).
Photo: Reuters
Huang notched her second win on Saturday by virtue of outworking her opponent, who was yellow-carded for inactivity.
“It was a tough and very close fight, but I am happy to take home the win,” Huang told the Taipei Times yesterday. “I will work on a few things after this and can’t wait to fight again in the ONE cage. It was a fantastic experience fighting in Myanmar and I want to thank everyone who supported me.”
Fernandes’ fight ended with much more in the way of fireworks.
Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Tauru enjoyed a significant height and reach advantage over the Brazilian fighter that allowed him some success landing straight rights in the first two rounds.
However, he had no answer for Fernandes’ takedowns and ground game. Fernandes never came close to seriously threatening a submission or landing much in the way of ground-and-pound, but kept the Finn on his back through most of the first two rounds, controlling position from half-guard and side mount.
The third round opened with Tauru landing low kicks, while Fernandes bided his time, feinting, until the Brazilian landed a hard knee in the clinch followed by a counter right that staggered Tauru.
Fernandes sensed blood and stepped up his aggression, closely pursuing his opponent, until he feinted a two-legged takedown attempt to open Tauru up to a vicious uppercut.
Fernandes followed with a right hook to knock Tauru out cold 1 minute, 2 seconds into the round.
Asked during the post-fight interview how it felt to score his first win by knockout since 2011, Fernandes said: “I feel great, you know what I mean? He pushed a bit and I took my time, I have five minutes, then he made a mistake.”
The win improved Fernandes’ record to 18-3-0 and extended a 10-fight winning streak that goes back to 2011 and snapping a 10-fight streak dating back to the same year for Tauru, who fell to 10-2-1.
The undercard also saw a lightweight and featherweight tournament contested among Burmese fighters, with Thway Thit Aung winning the lightweight tournament and Tha Pyay Nyo the featherweight.
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