Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi vs Philippines’ Gina Iniong during their ONE: Immortal Pursuit bout at Singapore Stadium. INQUIRER PHOTO/Sherwin Vardeleon
SINGAPORE—- Gina Iniong put on a tough stand but Mei Yamaguchi just showed why she’s the top fighters in the division.
Iniong had her win streak snapped as she bowed to Yamaguchi via unanimous decision in ONE: Immortal Pursuit at Singapore Stadium here.
The 27-year-old Team Lakay bet struggled to land solid blows against Yamaguchi, who controlled the action and showcased her superior grappling skills.
It was the vengeance that Yamaguchi was looking for, three years since their last fight that ended in split decision in favor of Iniong.
Yamaguchi then called out Angela Lee, who she was supposed to face for the ONE Atomweight belt before the Singaporean met a car accident tow eeeks ago.
“I wanna avenge that loss too,” Yamaguchi told Lee, who had emotional entrance before the main card.
The Japanese fighter is looking to challenge Lee for the belt anew, but told her to “take their time” when it came to her recovery.
The hard-fighting Iniong, meanwhile, absorbed her first loss in Asia’s top mixed martial arts promotion, but not before giving Yamaguchi all she could handle in the ring.
Iniong managed to stuff some of Yamaguchi’s takedowns attempts but her Japanese foe always found a way to try again.