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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
