Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from Maira Mazar vs. Kaytlin Neil at 2023 PFL Playoffs 2 in New York.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Maira Mazar[/autotag]’s victory over Kaytlin Neil at 2023 PFL Playoffs 2 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out these photos from the Invicta FC 50 weigh-ins in Denver.
Check out these photos from the Invicta FC 50 official weigh-ins and faceoffs in Denver. (Photos courtesy of Dave Mandel/Invicta FC)
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.
Stamp Fairtex 🇹🇠runs through Puja Tomar 🇮🇳 in DOMINANT fashion, winning by first-round TKO on her quest for a third ONE World Title! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ANewTomorrow pic.twitter.com/IVCQR3AsGr
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 10, 2020
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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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.
😱 WHAT A FINISH 😱
Russian warrior Raimond Magomedaliev 🇷🇺 submits Joey Pierotti 🇺🇸 with a TIGHT guillotine choke in Round 1!#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ANewTomorrow pic.twitter.com/ZIRIqNTRAq— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 10, 2020
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
