Cage veteran Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang choked out Egypt’s Mohamed Ali in the first round of their ONE Championship main event middleweight bout to the delight of a home crowd in Yangon, Myanmar, on Friday night.
After a cagey beginning to the round, Ali caught a kick by the US-based Burmese and took him down, but hesitated to engage him on the ground and was ultimately unable to capitalize, as referee Yuji Shimada separated the fighters before he was able to initiate his ground-and-pound.
However, he was then able to walk Aung La N Sang down to the cage, where he landed a series of thumping right hooks and uppercuts in the clinch.
Photo: One Championship
Aung La N Sang attempted a standing guillotine and dragged the Egyptian to the canvas, but Ali was able to maneuver to take top position in the Burmese fighter’s butterfly guard. Aung La N Sang swept Ali to reverse the position, but the Egyptian scrambled out of it and both fighters managed to get to their feet, with the Burmese catching Ali with a head kick as he did.
Ali then attempted a single-leg takedown, but Aung La N Sang sank a guillotine choke for the tapout at 2 minutes, 38 seconds.
Aung La N Sang called out ONE middleweight champion Vitaly Bigdash in his post-fight interview.
“We did it guys, we did it,” he said. “Bigdash, you have my belt. We want that belt.”
The win improves Aung La N Sang’s record to 17-9-0, while Ali’s fell to 10-8-0.
In the other main event, former ONE flyweight champion Adriano Moraes of Brazil survived a scare to choke out the Philippines’ Eugene Toquero and keep his comeback on track.
Toquero started strong, landing a solid straight left soon after the opening bell. Moraes responded with his first takedown of the night, but Toquero was able to take top and land sharp elbows to the Brazilian’s head before making it to his feet.
Toquero then staggered Moraes with a flying knee that turned his legs to jelly and followed with a barrage of punches.
Moraes was able to neutralize Toquero’s onslaught by managing another takedown, but by the time the fighters had regained their feet, a huge contusion had formed over Moraes’ right eye.
Toquero requested a timeout for doctors to examine his opponent’s eye, which referee Olivier Coste granted.
The fight was allowed to continue, and unfortunately for Toquero, the timeout allowed Moraes to recover. Moraes quickly landed a takedown and finished the fight with an arm-triangle choke at 4:53.
The win improved Moraes’ record to 14-2-0, while Toquero fell to 8-3-0.
On the undercard, Singapore’s Christian Lee notched a technical knockout victory over the Netherlands’ Anthony Engelen.
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