Tag: Joey Pierotti

Combat Rewind, May 17: The guy who knocked out Israel Adesanya is back

Check out the best highlights from this day in history with MMA Junkie’s “Combat Rewind.”

There’s “Flashback Friday” and “Throwback Thursday” (and Tuesday, too, if you want). But at MMA Junkie, we figured why not expand that to every day?

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year. It’s a look back at history, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives, featuring stellar finishes and classic moments in MMA and beyond on their anniversaries.

So kick back and relive the following bits of greatness in the video above:

Fight footage courtesy of UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s official digital subscription service, which is currently offering a seven-day free trial. UFC Fight Pass gives fans access to exclusive live UFC events and fights, exclusive live MMA and combat sports events from around the world, exclusive original and behind the scenes content and unprecedented 24-7 access to the world’s biggest fight library.

ONE Championship 106: Stamp Fairtex extends perfect start to MMA career with first-round finish

Thailand’s two-sport martial arts champion Stamp Fairtex continued a winning start to her MMA career.

Thailand’s two-sport martial arts champion [autotag]Stamp Fairtex[/autotag] continued a winning start to her MMA career with a first-round finish of Indian wushu champion [autotag]Puja Tomar[/autotag] at “ONE Championship 106: A New Tomorrow.”

Twenty-two-year-old Fairtex already holds ONE Championship’s atomweight muay Thai and kickboxing titles, but she now aims to make history as the organization’s first three-sport champion by capturing the MMA strap.

Her unbeaten start to life in MMA continued Friday at Bangkok’s Impact Arena, defeating Tomar via ground-and-pound TKO in front of an appreciative crowd in Thailand.

After a cagey start, Fairtex (4-0) backed Tomar (4-4) into the corner and connected with a pair of powerful roundhouse kicks to the body before the Indian changed levels and took the Thai to the mat.

Fairtex reversed position and returned to her feet but was quickly brought back to the canvas once again by another takedown. This time, however, she went on the offensive as she took Tomar’s back and attempted to lock up a rear-naked choke. Tomar rolled to her front, and Fairtex pulled her arms free, then proceeded to unload a succession of ground strikes to her helpless Indian opponent until referee Olivier Coste stepped in to end the contest at the 4:27 mark of Round 1.

After registering her fourth MMA victory, Fairtex told the crowd that she plans on working her way up until she’s ready to challenge for the atomweight title currently held by Angela Lee.

“I want to keep fighting MMA and improving my skills,” she said. “And soon, I’ll be coming for the belt!”

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Magomedaliev and Zoltsetseg claim impressive finishes

The preliminary card saw a pair of first-round finishes as Russian welterweight [autotag]Raimond Magomedaliev[/autotag] and Mongolian featherweight [autotag]Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg[/autotag] registered impressive stoppages of their respective opponents.

Magomedaliev (6-1) made his presence felt early on against debuting American [autotag]Joey Pierotti[/autotag] (12-2), utilizing a succession of punishing elbows and knees from the clinch to assert his dominance in the early exchanges. The Dagestani fighter’s barrage of strikes forced the bout to be paused as medics inspected the damage sustained by Pierotti in that early salvo.

The bout eventually resumed, with Magomedaliev connecting with a huge head kick with the first strike after the restart. Pierotti initiated the clinch, and was punished with a series of knees as the Russian dominated once again. When Pierotti looked to take the fight to the ground, Magomedaliev locked up a D’Arce choke and forced the quick tap at the 3:50 mark in the opening round.

Earlier on the card, Mongolian powerhouse Zoltsetseg (6-2) completed his work in quick-fire fashion with a 55-second finish of in-form Chinese wrestler [autotag]Ma Jia Wen[/autotag] (6-3).

Zoltsetseg went to work immediately from the opening bell and closed the distance on the heavy-handed Chinese wrestler before letting fly with powerful strikes. Zoltsetseg briefly staggered Ma with a solid shot in the opening seconds then, after working another opening, he connected with a fastball right hook that connected flush to the Chinese fighter’s temple and sent him to the canvas.

In addition, the non-broadcast early prelims featured a unanimous decision win for Roel Rosauro (5-3), who edged out Indonesia’s Yohan Mulia Legowo (8-9), and a submission finish from in-form Japanese judoka Ayaka Miura (10-2), who finished Maira Mazar (6-3) via second-round Americana.

Full MMA results from “ONE Championship 106: A New Tomorrow” include:

MAIN CARD

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Raimond Magomedaliev def. Joey Pierotti via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 3:50
  • Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg def. Ma Jia Wen via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:55
  • [autotag]Ayaka Miura[/autotag] def. [autotag]Maira Mazar[/autotag] via submission (Americana) – Round 2, 3:01
  • [autotag]Roel Rosauro[/autotag] def. [autotag]Yohan Mulia Legowo[/autotag] via unanimous decision

‘ONE Championship 106: A New Tomorrow’: Stamp Fairtex looks to move one step closer to three-sport glory

Stamp Fairtex will bid to move one step closer to her third ONE Championship title when she takes on Puja Tomar in Bangkok at “ONE: A New Tomorrow”.

[autotag]Stamp Fairtex[/autotag] might not necessarily be a household name in the United States, but the 22-year-old from Pattaya is a star in her native Thailand, and she’s set her sights on an historic achievement as a ONE Championship athlete.

Fairtex (3-0) exploded onto the scene in Asia as a contestant in Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series, a talent-finding roadshow that assesses undiscovered prospects across the region, then pits them in head-to-head matchups with the winner earning a contract to compete on the main ONE Championship roster.

Fairtex’s high-level muay Thai striking instantly stood out to Franklin, who pitched her into her first MMA-rules bout against Indian prospect Rashi Shinde. Nineteen seconds and one spectacular head-kick later, Fairtex was a ONE Championship fighter.

She kicked off her career on the big stage by competing in ONE’s striking-based series, ONE Super Series, as she challenged for, and won, the ONE atomweight kickboxing title. She then returned to her muay Thai roots and captured the ONE atomweight muay Thai title to become ONE’s first two-sport champion. Now the Thai starlet is looking to make history again by working her way up the promotion’s MMA ranks and challenging for the ONE atomweight MMA title.

That journey continues Friday in Bangkok, Thailand, at “ONE Championship 106: A New Tomorrow” when Fairtex faces off against India’s [autotag]Puja Tomar[/autotag] in the featured MMA bout of the evening at the Impact Arena.

Tomar (4-3) picked up the biggest win of her career last January when she defeated Indonesian contender Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol at “ONE: Eternal Glory”. And, after a year that saw her compete just once more – in muay Thai competition – “The Cyclone” will look to derail the Fairtex hype train.

But Fairtex has looked more accomplished with each appearance to date and, after picking up back-to-back victories over Asha Roka and Bi Nguyen in 2019, she will look to register her third straight MMA win by defeating Tomar on home soil.

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Former “TUF” ace targets hat trick of knockouts

Joining Fairtex and Tomar on the main card in Bangkok is a familiar face to hardcore UFC fans. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 22 and Dana White’s Contender Series competitor [autotag]Thanh Le[/autotag] takes on Japanese Shooto featherweight champion [autotag]Ryogo Takahashi[/autotag] in a lightweight matchup.

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Le’s clinical striking saw him claim stoppage victories in both “TUF” and the Contender Series, but he didn’t get his chance to show his striking prowess inside the UFC octagon. But the UFC’s loss has been ONE’s gain, with the former LFA interim featherweight champion arriving in Asia with a bang in 2019.

Le (10-2) starched fancied featherweight contender Yusup Saadulaev with a knee on his promotional debut at “ONE: For Honor” in May, then trumped that performance with a one-hitter quitter as he finished former ONE lightweight champion Kotetsu Boku at “ONE: Dreams of Gold” in August. Now he takes on Takahashi (13-3) in a bout that could propel the winner into the orbit of current ONE featherweight champion Christian Lee.

The preliminary card in Bangkok will feature the ONE Championship debut of former CFFC fighter [autotag]Joey Pierotti[/autotag], who will take on dangerous Russian [autotag]Raimond Magomedaliev[/autotag] in a welterweight bout.

Magomedaliev (5-1) lost his undefeated record on his ONE debut as he dropped a unanimous decision to rising contender James Nakashima at “ONE: Conquest of Champions” in November, and will be looking to put things right in Bangkok against Pierotti (12-1), who hasn’t lost since a 2018 submission loss to current UFC prospect – and 2019 MMA Junkie Upset of the Year winner – Tristan Connelly. Eleven of Pierotti’s 12 career wins have come inside the distance, with six victories coming by way of knockout and five by submission.

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The full 12-fight card for Bangkok features six MMA matchups, one kickboxing contest and five muay Thai bouts, including the overall main event, as Thailand’s ONE flyweight muay Thai champion, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, takes on the man he defeated to win the belt last year, England’s Jonathan Haggerty.

Full MMA card for “ONE Championship 106: A New Tomorrow” includes:

MAIN CARD

  • Stamp Fairtex vs. Puja Tomar
  • Thanh Le vs. Ryogo Takahashi

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Raimond Magomedaliev vs. Joey Pierotti
  • Ma Jia Wen vs. Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg
  • Maira Mazar vs. Ayaka Miura
  • Yohan Mulia Legowo vs. Roel Rosauro