ONE Championship 127 video: Check out the best of the action from Singapore

Recap the best of the action from ONE Championship 127 at Singapore Indoor Stadium, including Mauro Cerilli’s victory over Abdulbasir Vagabov.

Asia’s leading mixed martial arts organization was back in action Friday as “ONE Championship 127: Unbreakable II” delivered a feast of finishes at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

All six fights – five MMA bouts and one kickboxing match – delivered finishes, with former Cage Warriors heavyweight champion [autotag]Mauro Cerilli[/autotag] scoring a second-round TKO in the night’s main event.

Italy’s Cerilli finished previously-undefeated [autotag]Abdulbasir Vagabov[/autotag] with a thumping leg kick, followed by a flurry of punches, to cap off a night that delivered plenty of highlights.

The co-main event saw [autotag]Daichi Takenaka[/autotag] submit Brazilian flyweight [autotag]Ivanildo Delfino[/autotag], while South Korea’s [autotag]Won Il Kwon[/autotag] added another win to his record with a crushing body-shot knockout of China’s [autotag]Rui Chen[/autotag].

The opening bout of the night saw the eagerly anticipated ONE debut of Senegalese wrestler [autotag]Oumar Kane[/autotag], and the man known as “Reug Reug” marked the occasion with a first-round finish as he TKO’d Hong Kong striking specialist [autotag]Alain Ngalani[/autotag] in their heavyweight showcase.

But the best finish of the night undoubtedly came in the lone kickboxing clash on the card, as Russian light heavyweight contender [autotag]Beybulat Isaev[/autotag] folded up [autotag]Mihajlo Kecojevic[/autotag] with a sledgehammer right hook in their ONE Super Series bout.

Check out the best of the action via the highlight video above.

[listicle id=584703]

ONE Championship 127: Mauro Cerilli bounces back with TKO victory in Singapore

Italian heavyweight contender Mauro Cerilli bounced back into the win column with a second-round finish at ONE Championship 127.

Former Cage Warriors heavyweight champion [autotag]Mauro Cerilli[/autotag] bounced back into the win column in the main event of ONE Championship 127 in Singapore to move one step closer to a heavyweight title rematch with Brandon Vera.

Cerilli lost out to Vera via first-round knockout in his first title challenge back at ONE Championship 85 in November 2018. He bounced back with a victory over Alain Ngalani, but fell to another defeat as he was outpointed by Arjan Bhullar at “ONE Championship: Century – Part 2” in October 2019.

But, after taking more than a year away from the cage, “The Hammer” returned in fine form to snap [autotag]Abdulbasir Vagabov[/autotag]’s 10-fight winning streak and push himself back into the heavyweight title conversation.

Vagabov pushed the pace from the opening bell as he chased the backpedaling Cerilli around the cage, with the Italian throwing the occasional one-two combination to give the Russian contender a moment’s pause.

Vagabov continued his forward pressure, but Cerilli ensured that the Russian’s winging punches connected with nothing but air as he kept out of punching range, then connected with occasional counter-strikes of his own. After struggling to make an impact with his strikes, Vagabov then turned to his wrestling, but his takedown attempts late in the round were well defended by the big Italian.

After a frustrating first round, Vagabov started Round 2 noticeably slower and Cerilli took full advantage in the opening seconds as he stepped into range and slammed a powerful kick to the Vagabov’s left hamstring. The impact of the shot forced the Russian down to his hands and knees and Cerilli moved in and unloaded a trio of clean left hands to his grounded opponent before referee Olivier Coste dived in to stop the bout at the 26-second mark.

ONE Championship 107 results: Joshua Pacio not impressed after split-decision win

Joshua Pacio defended his title on home soil in Manila, but he wasn’t fully satisfied with his display against former champ Alex Silva.

ONE strawweight champion [autotag]Joshua Pacio[/autotag] edged out former champ [autotag]Alex Silva[/autotag] by split decision, then declared he was “not really impressed” with his performance.

Pacio went back and forth with former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Silva in a hard-fought, five-round main event at “ONE Championship 107: Fire & Fury” at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. But despite holding his own on the ground with the world-class former grappling ace, he said he feels he can still do better.

“It’s really hard,” he told the crowd after his victory. “I just fought two months ago and I needed to go back immediately to training camp for this fight. It’s the one thing we’ve been working on – our ground game.”

Pacio held the clear striking advantage and connected with a plethora of eye-catching strikes throughout the fight, but Silva’s relentless forward pressure ensured the defending champion was never fully comfortable during the matchup.

While Pacio dominated on the feet, Silva had the clear edge on the ground. But, despite pulling guard and securing takedowns throughout the fight, Silva found himself unable to lock up the submission he needed to pry the championship belt away from the Filipino.

Silva attempted a host of submissions during the bout, most notably a tight-looking arm-triangle choke, but Pacio always seemed to have the answers to whatever grappling offense “Little Rock” threw his way.

But with Silva on the attack on the mat and Pacio pushing forward on the feet, the judges were split on the outcome when the scorecards were gathered at the end of the bout.

The result left Pacio elated, but also slightly disappointed, as he explained after his victory.

“For me, I’m not really impressed with my performance,” he said. “I need to work more on my combinations and, of course, on my grappling skills.”

Buist bursts into title contention

In the night’s co-main event, Dutch striking specialist [autotag]Pieter Buist[/autotag] scored his eighth successive victory when he defeated former ONE lightweight champion [autotag]Eduard Folayang[/autotag] for the biggest win of his MMA career.

Buist stepped in on short notice to replace Ahmed Mujtaba and produced a superb display of striking, while also highlighting his submission threat on the ground, as he earned the nod from two of the three cageside judges.

Buist made the first big breakthrough of the fight in the first round when connected with a big head kick, then a follow-up punch, midway through the opening round. The towering Dutch striker then stepped in and looked to lock up a tight guillotine choke, but Folayang kept his composure and eventually took his man to the mat, where he threatened with a guillotine of his own. Buist briefly escaped, but Folayang kept the pressure on and forced “The Archangel” onto the back foot for the remainder of the round.

Buist threatened again in Round 2 when he locked up a tight triangle armbar on the former lightweight champion. But, once again, Folayang managed to extricate himself from the predicament and finish up on top, where he landed offense of his own.

It set up a crucial final round and, after a quick show of respect as they hugged in the center of the cage, the battle recommenced. After a few range-finding kicks from both men, Buist connected with a right high kick to the head that briefly had Folayang on wobbly legs. The Dutchman then moved in and looked for another guillotine but, yet again, Folayang escaped. The pair then went toe to toe for the remainder of the fight, with Buist appearing to have the edge in with his range and accuracy.

That superiority in the stand-up, combined with his pursuit of submissions on the ground, was enough to earn the split-decision verdict and put him within striking distance of a shot at reigning ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee.

[vertical-gallery id=485648]

Kingad wins on the cards

Filipino flyweight contender [autotag]Danny Kingad[/autotag] had the fans on their feet with a typically energetic performance, as he overcame a third-round head butt from opponent [autotag]Xie Wei[/autotag] and secured a unanimous decision victory.

Kingad started fast and appeared to have the edge in both speed and technique in the first two rounds as he edged the scrambles on the mat while holding the clear striking advantage on the feet.

But in the third round the Chinese athlete turned up the pressure and threatened with submission attempts. But his improved performance in the final frame was offset by a pair of fouls – a head butt and an illegal knee to the back of Kingad’s head – that twice saw him lose a dominant position.

It cost Wei crucial momentum just when he appeared to be working his way into the fight, and it eventually cost him any chance of the victory, as Kingad’s hand was raised at the end of three well-contested rounds.

[vertical-gallery id=485532]

Adiwang delivers breakout performance

The event also marked the arrival of Team Lakay’s newest star, “The Thunder Kid” [autotag]Lito Adiwang[/autotag], who finished Thailand’s [autotag]Pongsiri Mitsatit[/autotag] with a Kimura to cap a hugely impressive display.

Adiwang came out all guns blazing, dropped Mitsatit and threatened to overwhelm Mitstit with a blistering salvo of punches, but somehow the Thai was able to weather the storm and get the fight back to the feet.

“The Thunder Kid” would not be denied, however, and showed that he had submission skills to match his heavy hands as he locked up a nasty Kimura to force the gritty Mitsatit to tap midway through the opening round.

[vertical-gallery id=485531]

Iniong turns to grappling to claim victory

Team Lakay’s big night kicked off with a dominant victory from women’s atomweight contender [autotag]Gina Iniong[/autotag], who defeated India’s [autotag]Asha Roka[/autotag] on the preliminary card.

Roka had secured all four of her professional MMA wins inside the opening round, but was outgrappled by ONE muay Thai and kickboxing champion Stamp Fairtex in her last outing.

Iniong clearly paid attention to that matchup, as she abandoned her usual wushu striking in favor of a grapple-first approach that saw her cruise to a unanimous decision win after three dominant rounds.

[vertical-gallery id=485530]

ONE Championship 107 results:

MAIN CARD

  • Champion Joshua Pacio def. Alex Silva via split decision – for strawweight title
  • Pieter Buist def. Eduard Folayang via split decision
  • Danny Kingad def. Xie Wei via unanimous decision
  • [autotag]Shoko Sato[/autotag] def. [autotag]Kwon Won Il[/autotag] via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:05

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • [autotag]Tatsumitsu Wada[/autotag] def.[autotag] Ivanildo Delfino[/autotag] via unanimous decision
  • Lito Adiwang def. Pongsiri Mitsatit via submission (Kimura) – Round 1, 3:02
  • Gina Iniong def. Asha Roka via unanimous decision
  • [autotag]Jenny Huang[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jomary Torres[/autotag] declared no contest (accidental groin strike) – Round 1

‘ONE Championship 107: Fire & Fury’ live results

Stay up to date with MMA Junkie’s live results as Filipino strawweight champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio puts his title on the line against former champion Alex “Little Rock” Silva in Manila.

The second big event of ONE Championship’s 2020 calendar, “Fire & Fury” sees the Asian promotion return to Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena with a card featuring eight MMA bouts, with six of the eight matchups featuring Filipino athletes.

Headlining the card is a battle for the ONE strawweight title, as local hero and reigning champion [autotag]Joshua Pacio[/autotag] (18-3) puts his title on the line against Brazil’s former champion [autotag]Alex Silva[/autotag] (9-4), while Filipino fan-favorite and former two-time lightweight champion [autotag]Eduard Folayang[/autotag] (22-8) will look to move one step closer to a shot at his old title when he faces Dutch contender [autotag]Pieter Buist[/autotag] (16-4) in the night’s co-main event.

Two former victims of Demetrious Johnson are set for action in separate matchups as [autotag]Danny Kingad[/autotag] (13-2) and [autotag]Tatsumitsu Wada[/autotag] (22-11-2) take on [autotag]Xie Wei[/autotag] (5-2) and [autotag]Ivanildo Delfino[/autotag] (8-0), respectively.

The card also features a pivotal bout in the ONE bantamweight division, as South Korean knockout artist [autotag]Kwon Won Il[/autotag] (8-2) returns to action against former Shooto bantamweight champion [autotag]Shoko Sato[/autotag] (34-16-3), who is riding a five-fight, five-finish win streak and has lost just once since 2015.

“ONE Championship 107: Fire & Fury” live results include:

MAIN CARD (B/R Live, 7:30 a.m. ET)

  • Champion Joshua Pacio vs. Alex Silva – for strawweight title
  • Pieter Buist vs. Eduard Folayang
  • Danny Kingad vs. Xie Wei
  • Kwon Won Il vs. Shoko Sato

PRELIMINARY CARD (5 a.m. ET)

  • Ivanildo Delfino vs. Tatsumitsu Wada
  • [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]