ONE: PH’s Corminal loses by submission to Lepont

France’s Arnaud Lepont vs Philippines’ Richard Corminal during their ONE: Immortal Pursuit bout at Singapore Indoor Stadium. INQUIRER/Sherwin Vardeleon

SINGAPORE—Filipino bet Richard Corminal absorbed a first-round submission loss to the returning Arnaud Lepont in ONE: Immortal Pursuit prelims at SIngapore Indoor Stadium here.

Corminal barely connected against Lepont, who managed to take the fight to the ground just 30 seconds into the fight in front of a big crowd.

The Malaysia-based fighter spent the next three minutes trying to escape Lepont’s mount before the French fighter choked him out with an arm triangle at the 3:16 mark.

Lepont, who fought for the first time after a two year absence, immediately ran out of the cage to thank ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

“When you go away for two years, you miss the momentum. I missed you guys,” said an emotional Lepont, who was also moved to tears while thanking his son.

Corminal, meanwhile, could only slam the canvas in frustration as he lost his second straight assignment in Asia’s top mixed martial arts promotion.