ONE Championship brought its circular cage to the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, on Friday, Jan. 25, for ONE Championship: Hero’s Ascent.
In the evening’s headliner, the flyweight title was on the line in a rubber match between current titleholder Geje Eustaquio and former champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes. In their last meeting, which took place at ONE Championship: Pinnacle of Power in June 2018, Eustaquio captured the belt after a hard-fought five-round battle.
The first round of the ONE Lightweight Grand Prix kicked off with the first quarterfinal bout, which featured former ONE featherweight champ Honorio Banario welcoming back undefeated prospect Lowen Tynanes, who made his return to the sport after nearly a three-year absence. Banario, 28, had won six of his past seven fights.
The ONE Super Series featured a number of Muay Thai and kickboxing rules bouts, including the return of the “Muay Thank” Rodtang Jitmuangnon against Tunisia’s Fahdi Khaled. Japan’s Yukinori Ogasawara looked to rebound against K-1 veteran Elias Mahmoudi, and Bangpleenoi Petchyindee Academy makes his promotional debut opposite exciting featherweight Brown Pinas.
In other MMA action, former Deep flyweight champion Tatsumitsu Wada returned against Filipino prospect Danny Kingad.
The preliminary card aired live at 6:30 a.m. ET on ONE Championship’s Facebook and Twitter page. The main card continues on B/R Live (United States), the ONE Championship App, and YouTube (worldwide) at 8 a.m. ET.
Lowen Tynanes def. Honorio Banario by TKO (punches). Round 1, 4:46 – lightweight tournament quarterfinal
Danny Kingad def. Tatsumitsu Wada by unanimous decision
Muay Thai: Rodtang Jitmuangnon def. Fahdi Khaled by unanimous decision
Reinier de Ridder def. Fan Rong by submission (D’Arce choke). Round 1, 1:51
Kickboxing: Hiroki Akimoto def. Josh Tonna by unanimous decision
Muay Thai: Bangpleenoi Petchyindee Academy def. Brown Pinas by unanimous decision
Muay Thai: Elias Mahmoudi def. Yukinori Ogasawara by unanimous decision
Tang Kai def. Sung Jong Lee by knockout (head kick). Round 2, 1:14
Muay Thai: Hiroaki Suzuki def. Mohammed Bin Mahmoud by TKO (strikes). Round 3, 2:53
Himanshu Kaushik def. Egi Rozten by knockout (punches). Round 1, 3:33