Tag: adriano moraes

Today’s ONE: Hero’s Ascent saw a new flyweight champion crowned. Adriano Moraes recaptured the title he lost to Geje Eustaquio last June with a unanimous decision victory. Inside a sold-out Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, the pair faced off for the third time in their careers.

Throughout the five rounds, both men had their moments. Moraes dominated the fight on the ground while Eustaquio controlled the stand-up exchanges. A cagey opening round was followed by an exciting second during which the bout transformed into a predominantly grappling contest.

Thirty seconds into the second, Moraes took Eustaquio to the ground. Eustaquio was able to get to his feet but not without Moraes taking his back. The Brazilian began working on an armbar submission attempt, but in doing so allowed Eustaquio to reverse positions. The rest of the round involved a series of entertaining scrambles as both fighters jockeyed for position.

Going into the third, Eustaquio looked more relaxed and confident, and it showed in his movement. The Filipino started the round with a stinging sweeping leg kick and followed it up shortly after with a Superman punch off the cage. Each minute the fight stayed standing lessened Moraes chances of claiming the title.

The 30-year-old upped the tempo in the fourth, finally getting the takedown he was looking for.

Eustaquio soon found himself in an extremely precarious position. Moraes caught the champions left leg and proceeded to bend it straight back behind the Filipino’s head. It was painful to watch and must have been more painful to have experienced, but somehow Eustaquio survived the round.

The result was still up in the air leading into the fifth. However, at the halfway mark Moraes achieved a takedown and set about securing his victory.

ONE Lightweight Grand Prix Kicks Off

The ONE Lightweight Grand Prix’s opening quarterfinal was a short, one-sided affair with the returning Lowen Tynanes submitting Honorio Banario in the first round.

Coming into this bout, a question mark hung over Tynanes. The undefeated Hawaiian had not fought since 2016. At the time, he was shaping up as a title contender, but injuries forced him to have an extended spell on the sidelines. However, any concerns about Tynanes losing a step due to his injuries disappeared once the fight started.

The former state wrestling champion exhibited no signs of ring rust following his lay off. Two minutes into the bout, Tynanes took Banario down in the center of the cage. Banario fought resiliently to get back to his feet, but Tynanes was too strong and technically too sound to allow the Filipino any room to maneuver.

After softening up Banario with series of increasingly powerful strikes, Tynanes took Banario’s back and began raining down a steady diet of unanswered blows. The referee was forced to step in and halt proceedings with 10 seconds left in the round.

Tynanes now finds himself one result away from what could be the biggest bout of his career. The Lightweight Grand Prix bracket was released yesterday, and Tynanes is slated to meet the winner of Eddie Alvarez and Timofey Nastyukhin.

He may have been out of action for longer than expected, but Tynanes has timed his return perfectly.

A Muay Thai Masterclass

Thailand’s Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon dominated Tunisia’s Fahdi Khaled in their three-round flyweight Muay Thai bout.

The gape in class between the pair was evident from the outset. Rodtang, a two-time Omnoi Stadium Muay Thai World Champion, appeared impervious to any strikes thrown by Khaled. The 21-year-old continually walked down his Tunisian rival, backing him against the cage before unleashing thunderous leg kicks.

Khaled, a WMC Intercontinental Muay Thai Champion, seemed powerless to inflict any damage on Rodtang despite his high output of strikes. The 23-year-old produced leaping knees, spinning back fists, and elbows throughout the three rounds, but was unable to put even a dent into “The Ironman.”

As the bout wore on Rodtang became visibly frustrated at Khaled’s refusal to stand and trade with him in the center of the cage. However, it was likely this refusal that allowed Khaled to go the distance with his much more experienced opponent.

It could be argued that the Thai had it in his powers to force the action and chase the stoppage with more intent, but that would be looking for flaws when in all honesty there were none.

The question now turns to who ONE can find or bring in capable of posing a genuine threat to Rodtang.

ONE: Hero’s Ascent Full Results

Adriano Moraes def. Geje Eustaquio via unanimous decision

Lowen Tynanes def. Tatsumitsu Wada via first-round TKO

Danny Kingad def. Tatsumitsu Wada via unanimous decision

Rodtang Jitmuangnon def. Fahdi Khaled via unanimous decision

Reinier De Ridder def. Fan Rong via first-round submission

Hiroki Akimoto def. Josh Tonna via unanimous decision

Bangpleenoi Petchyindee Academy def. Brown Pinas via unanimous decision

Prelims:

Elias Mahmoudi def. Yukinori Ogasawara via unanimous decision

Tang Kai def. Sung Jong Lee via second-round KO

Hiroaki Suzuki def. Mohammad Bin Mahmoud via third-round TKO

Himanshu Kaushik def. Egi Rozten via first-round KO

The post ONE: Hero’s Ascent Recap: Adriano Moraes Wins Flyweight Title appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

ONE Championship returns to the Philippines this week with ONE: Hero’s Ascent taking place on Friday, January 25, 2019, inside Manila’s Mall Of Asia Arena.

A flyweight title bout between defending champion and hometown hero Geje Eustaquio and former champion Adriano Moraes headlines the 11-fight card. The ONE Championship Lightweight Grand Prix also kicks off with the first quarterfinal of the eight-man tournament set to occur. The bout will serve as the co-main event of the evening

Stand-up fans will be well-catered for this week with five ONE Super Series bouts scheduled throughout the night.

Trilogy Bout For the Flyweight Title

Last June, interim flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio clashed with regular champion Adriano Moraes in a tightly contested unification bout.

The Filipino edged out his rival via razor-thin split decision victory. That victory that could have easily gone in the Brazilian’s favor. The bout was a rematch of their first contest in 2014, which Moraes won via second-round submission.

Since 2014, Eustaquio has improved in leaps and bounds. The 29-year-old former wushu fighter was already a talented striker, but his ground game required refining. In their June meeting, Eustaquio’s development in this department was showcased for all to see.

Moraes was still the stronger grappler, but Eustaquio improvements nullified the Brazilian’s submission attempts. Their upcoming rubber match is shaping up as genuine 50-50 contest. Both men are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and it is unlikely either fighter has made any dramatic technical improvements since their last encounter.

The winner will again come down to who can better execute their game plan while making as few errors as possible. In the end, whoever emerges victorious will soon find a “Mighty Mouse”-sized shadow falling over them.

In the eyes of many fans, Demetrious Johnson became the division’s de facto champion as soon as he signed his contract with ONE. It will eventually be up to the winner on Friday night to prove them wrong.

Lightweight Grand Prix Begins

Former ONE Featherweight champion Honorio Banario will face off against returning undefeated American Lowen Tynanes on Friday. Their fight will mark the start of the ONE Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament.

Banario has established himself as one of the top fighters in the lightweight division since moving up weight classes. The 29-year-old has won six of his past seven bouts. He last fought in November where he defeated Singapore’s Rahul Raju via unanimous decision.

In Tynanes, Banario will be sharing the cage with the lightweight tournament’s wildcard. The 25-year-old former Hawaiian State Wrestling Champion most recent appearance inside the cage was in 2016. When he won a unanimous decision victory over Japanese veteran Koji Ando.

At the time, the Honolulu-based fighter seemed destined for a title shot. However, injuries curtailed any talk of a championship bout. How he will fare on his return is one of the most interesting questions hanging over this tournament.

Tynanes made a name for himself back in 2012 with a first-round stoppage of current ONE lightweight champion Eduard Folayang. In recent training footage, the Hawaiian appears to be in peak physical condition with no signs of any lingering damage from his injuries

If Tynanes can perform as well as he has had in the past, he will definitely be a contender for the lightweight strap

The Return Of “Iron Man”

Last year’s signing of Muay Thai wunderkind Rodtang “Iron Man” Jitmuangnon to the ONE Super Series, was greeted with excitement amongst stand-up fans.

A two-time Omnoi Stadium Muay Thai World Champion with over 300 professional bouts to his name, a lot was expected from the 21-year-old flyweight in his debut. Thankfully for ONE, the “Iron Man” more than lived up to expectations when he comprehensively outpointed the highly-rated Sergio Wielzen.

At ONE: Hero’s Ascent, Rodtang will take on ONE debutant Fahdi Khale. The Tunisian trains out of Thailand’s Venum Training Camp and is a former WMC Intercontinental Muay Thai Champion. As good as Khale is, it would still be considered a huge upset if the 23-year-old walked out of the cage victorious on Friday. Rodtang is shaping up to be a possible breakout star for ONE Championship. If the Thai boxer can stay healthy and active, it would seem that the sky’s the limit for the Bangkok-based athlete.

It would not be too hard to imagine Rodtang headlining a major event in the near future.

ONE: Hero’s Ascent Full Lineup

Main Card:

Geje Eustaquio vs Adriano Moraes

Honorio Banario vs Lowen Tynanes

Danny Kingad vs Tatsumitsu Wada

Fahdi Khaled vs Rodtang Jitmuangnon

Reinier De Ridder vs Fan Rong

Brown Pinas vs Bangpleenoi Petchyindee Academy

Josh Tonna vs Hiroki Akimoto

Preliminary Card:

Elias Mahmoudi vs Yukinori Ogasawara

Sung Jong Lee vs Tang Kai

Mohammad Bin Mahmoud vs Hiroaki Suzuki

Egi Rozten vs Himanshu Kaushik

The post ONE: Hero’s Ascent Preview, Breakdown & Analysis appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.