ONE FC’s debut in China ended with a firecracker of a fight, as Chinese bantamweight Ji Xian toppled Song Ya Dong from the ranks of the unbeaten to capture a wild unanimous decision win at Beijing’s Gymnasium of National Olympic Sports Centre in the main event of ONE FC 24.
The heavy leather was plentiful between Xian (12-2) and Dong (4-1, 1 NC), as both men stood in the pocket and traded looping exchanges throughout the three-round contest. Xian twice got the better of the 20-year-old prospect, dropping him first with a thudding left hand in the opening frame, then repeating the favor early in the second. Both men were exhausted and swollen by the end, but Dong was worse for wear with a sizable hematoma bulging out of the left side of his face.
All three judges awarded the win to Xian, who at 27 years old extended his current win streak to three straight.
In the night’s co-main event, Australian lightweight Adrian Pang (21-8-2) made sure his ONE FC debut was a successful one, hammering then submitting Vincent Latoel (15-16-2) late. Pang scored often with hard looping counter shots, including a massive right hand that floored Latoel midway through the second stanza. Latoel survived that onslaught, only bring about his own undoing early in the third round when he bulled his way into a double leg attempt and promptly got tapped by a guillotine choke. The official time of the stoppage arrived at 2:15 of the final frame.
The first of the night’s two four-man tournaments saw 19-year-old debutant Li Kai Wen (2-0) win back-to-back contests over He Nan Han (1-3) and Wang Ya Wei (1-1) to claim victory atop the featherweight bracket. Wen first stopped Nan with punches in the first round, then outstruck Wei in an occasionally lethargic fight to kick off his career on a high note in front of his Chinese countrymen.
Meanwhile, in the night’s flyweight tournament, 18-year-old Li Wei Bin (2-0) won consecutive fights over Hao Yi Jie (0-1) and Wang Wei (1-1) to seize the 125-pound tourney crown despite being the youngest fighter on the card.
Making his professional debut, Bin submitted Jie with a nasty first-round armbar in the semifinals, then picked Wei apart on the feet to secure a unanimous decision victory. Aside from a wicked hail mary overhand right that dropped Bin in the finals, the youngster dominated throughout his run, controlling Jie on the mat and battering Wei with an array of high kicks and combination punches.
Elsewhere on the card, Polish prospect Michael Pasternak (11-0) preserved his undefeated record and captured a unanimous decision over Portugal’s Rafael Silva (39-15) in a 187-pound catchweight contest, however the win was not without cost. Pasternak appeared to badly injure his knee at the beginning of the third round, but nonetheless fought through it, dragging Silva down to the mat and unloading with punches and elbows from mount for a majority of the frame. Pasternak replicated the same strategy in both rounds one and two to cruise to a lopsided victory.
Lightweight Ariel Sexton (9-3) made quick work of Anvar Alizhanov (3-1) in the night’s opening main card match, ending the Russian’s night with a first-round keylock from the reverse triangle position. Alizhanov, fighting on seven days notice, scored early with an overhand right that dropped Sexton, but Sexton stayed active and deftly swept into side control. From there the 32-year-old rotated between back control and mount, raining down punches until locking up the fight-ending submission.
For more on ONE FC 24, check out complete event results here.