Tag: Ahmed Mujtaba

ONE 169 video: Grappling star Kade Ruotolo shows off power, closes fight with choke

At 21 years old, Kade Ruotolo has already conquered the grappling world – and he’s on pace to do the same in MMA.

[autotag]Kade Ruotolo[/autotag] has the grappling skills, yes – but he also has power.

At ONE 169 on Friday, Rutolo (2-0) needed only 64 seconds to club-and-sub opponent [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag] (10-5) for a finish at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ruotolo dropped Mujtaba with a big overhand right that floored Pakistan’s Mujtaba. Ruotolo made an effort to finish the fight with punches, but ultimately elected to snatch Mujtaba’s neck with a deep D’Arce choke and get a tap.

Ruotolo, 21, and his twin brother Tye are grappling prodigies who began training at three. At age 18, Ruotolo was awarded a black belt by Andre Galvao. In 2022 at age 19, he became the youngest person to ever win an ADCC World Championship.

He made his pro MMA debut in June when he submitted Blake Cooper in 3:20. Prior to Friday’s fight, he told MMA Junkie he planned to take time off after the fight to heal injuries.

Standout grappler Kade Ruotolo booked for second MMA fight, meets Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE 169

One of the world’s best grapplers will continue his MMA transition next month under the ONE Championship banner.

One of the world’s best grapplers will continue his MMA transition next month under the ONE Championship banner.

[autotag]Kade Ruotolo[/autotag] (1-0) will take on [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag] (10-4) at lightweight at ONE 169, promotion officials told MMA Junkie. The event (Prime Video) takes place Nov. 8 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ruotolo, a 21-year-old from Hawaii, is a ONE submission grappling champion and won the Craig Jones Invitational grappling tournament in August – and its $1 million prize. The renowned jiu-jitsu black belt and his twin brother, Tye, both signed deals with ONE to grapple and eventually transition to mixed martial arts.

Kade Ruotolo made that move in June at ONE 167 and submitted Blake Cooper with a first-round rear-naked choke. The finish was good enough for a $50,000 performance bonus in Bangkok.

Mujtaba, a 31-year-old from Pakistan, has fought for ONE since 2016 and is 4-4 with the promotion. Three of those four wins are stoppages. But potentially working against him is that three of his four losses are by submission.

In the main event at ONE 169, three-division champion Anatoly Malykhin will defend his heavyweight title against “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane. Two-division champ Christian Lee will defend his lightweight title against unbeaten Russian challenger Alibeg Rasulov.

Sage Northcutt def. Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE Fight Night 10: Best photos

Check out the best photos from the ONE Fight Night 10 bout between Sage Northcutt and Ahmed Mujtaba, which took place in Broomfield, Colo..

Check out the best photos from the ONE Fight Night 10 bout between [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] and [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag], which took place Friday at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., right outside Denver. (Photos courtesy of ONE Championship.)

ONE Fight Night 10 live results

The long-awaited debut of ONE Championship in the United States takes place Friday in Colorado.

ONE Championship made its United States debut Friday in Broomfield, Colo., just outside Denver.

ONE Fight Night 10 was headlined by former UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] as he defended his 135-pound title in a trilogy match against [autotag]Adriano Moraes[/autotag].

Also on the card, former UFC star [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] returned to action after four years away from competition as he battled [autotag]Ahmed Mujtba[/autotag] at 1STBANK Center.

Check out the results below.

ONE Fight Night 10 results: Sage Northcutt wins in 39 seconds after four-year hiatus

It took over four years for Sage Northcutt to get back into the MMA cage for a fight, but he needed only 39 seconds once he got there.

It took over four years for [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] to return to the MMA cage for a fight, but he needed only 39 seconds once he got there.

On Friday at ONE Fight Night 10, Northcutt (12-3) submitted [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag] (10-3) by heel hook in short order. The event marked the U.S. debut for One Championship, which took place at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., right outside Denver.

The bout was action-packed for as long as it lasted and earned Northcutt a surprise $50,000 bonus from Chatri Sityodtong immediately afterward.

Initially clipped with a short jab by Mujtaba, Northcutt grabbed hold of a leg and twisted. Northcutt’s torque dragged Mujtaba to the canvas and the tap came nearly immediately afterward.

After the fight, Northcutt, who had battled health issues and injuries since a brutal knockout loss to Cosmo Alexandre during his previous fight in May 2019, expressed his hope to stay active. Northcutt, 27, moved to 4-1 in his most recent five outings.

Mujtaba, 30, has a two-fight winning streak snapped.

The up-to-the-minute ONE Fight Night 10 results include:

  • Sage Northcutt (12-3) def. Ahmed Mujtaba (10-3) via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 0:39 – MMA
  • Aung La N Sang (30-13) def. Rong Fan (19-4) via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:48 – MMA
  • Tye Ruotolo def. Reinier de Ridder via unanimous decision – grappling
  • Jackie Buntan def. Diandra Martin via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 2:34 – muay Thai
  • Kairat Akhmetov (30-2) def. Reece McLaren (16-9) via unanimous decision – MMA
  • Rae Yook Ok (17-4) def. Lowen Tynanes (11-1) via unanimous decision – MMA

Sage Northcutt books ONE Championship return after nearly four years

For the first time in what will be nearly four years, Sage Northcutt will step into the cage for a fight.

For the first time in what will be nearly four years, [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] will step into the cage for a fight.

Northcutt (11-3) has been booked for a welterweight bout against [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag] (10-2) at ONE Championship Fight Night 10 in May. Promotion officials announced the matchup Monday on the heels of an initial report from Sports Illustrated.

ONE Fight Night 10 will be the promotion’s debut in the U.S. The card takes place May 5 at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., near Denver, and streams on Amazon Prime Video. In the main event, bantamweight champion Demetrious Johnson puts his title on the line in a trilogy rematch with Adriano Moraes.

Northcutt, from Houston, made a splash early in his career with Legacy FC, when he was scouted as part of the debut episode of “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.” He signed to the UFC at 5-0 and won his first two fights with a TKO and submission.

Then he hit a slump with submission losses to Bryan Barberena and Mickey Gall in two of his next three. But he went on a three-fight run over eight months in 2017-2018. Although he was 6-2 in the UFC and on a streak, the UFC chose to let him go when his contract was up. Northcutt signed with ONE Championship in a high-profile move.

He made his ONE debut in May 2019, up a weight class at 185 pounds. But things ended quickly in Singapore for Northcutt. Cosmo Alexandre knocked him out with one punch in 29 seconds. A planned return in April 2021 against former champion Shinya Aoki didn’t happen for Northcutt due to his COVID-19 after-effects, and he’s remained out of action since then.

Mujtaba has fought for ONE since 2016 and is 4-2 for the promotion, including back-to-back first-round finishes. He knocked out Raahul Raju in 56 seconds nearly two years ago. Then, after a lengthy layoff, he submitted Abraao Amorim this past November.

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ONE Championship 128: Alyona Rassohyna stuns Stamp Fairtex with last-gasp submission

Stamp Fairtex looked to be on her way to a hard-fought decision win against Ukrainian debutant Alyona Rassohyna, but a late guillotine choke forced the Thai starlet to tap with just eight seconds remaining as she suffered her first defeat in MMA. …

[autotag]Stamp Fairtex[/autotag] looked to be on her way to a hard-fought decision win against Ukrainian debutant [autotag]Alyona Rassohyna[/autotag], but a late guillotine choke forced the Thai starlet to tap with just eight seconds remaining as she suffered her first defeat in MMA.

Former ONE atomweight kickboxing and muay Thai champion Fairtex (5-1) faced submission specialist Rassohyna (13-4) in the main event of “ONE Championship 128: Unbreakable III” at Singapore Indoor Stadium, and over the course of their three-round battle showed her evolution as an MMA fighter as she happily scrambled back and forth on the mats with her more seasoned opponent.

Rassohyna’s tactic was clear from the very start, and in Round 1 the Ukrainian was successful in getting the fight to the canvas. But once the action hit the mat, Fairtex surprised Rassohyna with her scrambling ability as she repeatedly denied the debutant in her quest to claim her 11th first-round armbar submission finish.

When the fight was on the feet, it was all Fairtex, as the decorated striker dominated the kickboxing exchanges, but although Rassohyna was able to repeatedly take the action to the canvas, Fairtex’s defensive skills were enough to thwart the Ukrainian, with the Thai fighter even attempting a gogoplata before escaping an armbar attempt and finishing the round with punishing strikes when they returned to the feet.

Round 2 followed a similar pattern, but with Fairtex finding it a little easier to keep the fight standing, as the tide appeared to be turning in her favor through the midway point in the fight. A late body shot even put her opponent on the canvas in the final moments of the round as Fairtex’s striking power appeared to be taking over the fight.

With Rassohyna running out of ideas, and clearly tiring, Fairtex took control of Round 3 as she kept the Ukrainian on the end of her strikes as she scored repeatedly with straight punches and thumping roundhouse kicks to the body. However, with one minute remaining, Rassohyna threw caution to the wind and landed a final takedown as she desperately looked to find a last-gasp submission. Remarkably, that persistence paid off when she caught Fairtex trying to escape and locked up a tight guillotine choke that forced the Thai to tap with just eight seconds of the bout remaining.

Seemingly believing the bout had reached the final bell, Fairtex initially celebrated as referee Olivier Coste stepped in to stop the fight, but that celebration immediately turned to denial and protest as she disputed the experienced official’s call. However, instant replays clearly showed Fairtex had tapped as victory was handed to a tearful Rassohyna, who picked up a huge win on her promotional debut and in the process handed Fairtex her first career defeat in mixed martial arts.

Joshua Pacio defends 125-pound title vs. Alex Silva in ONE Championship 107 main event

The 125-pound title will be on the line when ONE Championship returns to its regular stomping grounds in the Philippines in January.

The 125-pound title will be on the line when ONE Championship returns to its regular stomping grounds in the Philippines in January.

“ONE Championship 107: Fire & Fury” is set for Jan. 31 at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the promotion announced Thursday. The card will stream on the B/R Live app.

In the headliner, strawweight (125 pounds for ONE) champion [autotag]Joshua Pacio[/autotag] (18-3) will defend his title in front of his home fans against former champion [autotag]Alex Silva[/autotag] (9-4). And former lightweight champion [autotag]Eduard Folayang[/autotag] (22-8) gets a home fight when he takes on [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag] (8-2).

The 23-year-old Pacio won the title in September 2018 with a unanimous decision over Yoshitaka Naito. But in his first defense four months later, he lost a split call to Yosuke Saruta and surrendered the belt.

He got a rematch three months later, though, and took Saruta out with a fourth-round knockout. Then, just a month ago, he defended the title with a second-round submission of Rene Catalan in Manila.

Silva beat Naito to win the title in December 2017, but lost it to him in a split decision in May 2018. He then dropped a decision to Saruta for the first consecutive losses of his career, and after Naito had lost the title to Pacio, Silva fought him in a rematch and lost a unanimous decision in May.

But he’s been on the upswing the past few months and has back-to-back second-round armbar wins over STefer Rahardian and Xuewen Peng to cement himself back into the title picture. Eight of the Brazilian’s nine career wins have come by submission.

The ONE Championship 107 lineup includes:

  • Joshua Pacio vs. Alex Silva – for strawweight title
  • Eduard Folayang vs. Ahmed Mujtaba
  • [autotag]Danny Kingad[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Wei Xie[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Won Il Kwon[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Shoko Sato[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Lito Adiwang[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Pongsiri Mitsatit[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Gina Iniong[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Asha Roka[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Jenny Huang[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jomary Torres[/autotag]

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