Xiong retains ONE women’s strawweight belt at expense of Balin

MACAU—Jingnan Xiong successfully defended her ONE women’s world strawweight title after securing a unanimous decision win over Argentina’s Laura Balin in the co-main event of ONE: Pinnacle of Power at Studio City here in Macau.

China’s Xiong (12-1) was dominant in all facets of the match repeatedly taking Balin (10-3) down and attempting several submission attempts.

Xiong was able to virtually dictate the pace of the match when she landed a flying knee to Balin’s face before pounding on the Argentinian while holding a mount position.

In one of the four Super Series bouts, Thailand’s Petchmorrakot Wor. Sangprapai triumphed over French Guiana’s Fabrice Fairtex Delannon in a 67-kilogram catchweight Muay Thai fight.

Pethmorrakot earned a doctor’s stoppage victory 43 seconds into the second round after Delannon’s cut on his forehead proved to be too detrimental for the French to continue in the fight.

Malaysia’s Ev Ting earned a unanimous decision victory over Japan’s Koji Ando in their lightweight bout.

Ting (16-4) has racked up three straight wins while the inverse can be said for Ando (12-7-2) who’s lost his third consecutive bout.

Although the two maintained a tit-for-tat affair for much of the fight, Ting was able to land the decisive blow with a vicious high knee in the third round.

Thailand’s Lerdsila Phuket Top Team overcame Cambodia’s Sok Thy in the flyweight division of the ONE Super Series earning a split decision win in a closely contested striking affair.

In the first of the Super Series fights in the main card, Morocco’s Tarik Khbabez scored a knockout victory over Hong Kong’s Alain Ngalani in his debut fight.

Khbabez had control of Ngalani throughout the match and cutting the ring and pressuring the latter into the corners and ropes.

A gassed-out Ngalani failed to break the 10-count giving Khbabez the knockout win 1:49 into the third round.

Japan’s Yukinori Ogasawara closed out the preliminary card with a second round knockout win over Portugal’s Rui Botelho in their Muay Thai Super Series flyweight bout

After allowing Botelho to build momentum in the first round, Ogasawara clocked Botelho with a gorgeous spinning back elbow knocking the Portuguese out cold.

In the night’s first fight, Cambodia’s Rin Saroth scored a third round TKO win over Indonesia’s Mario Satya Wirawan in the bantamweight division.

Saroth (3-5), who held a mount position, rained down on Wirawan (5-6) late in the third prompting the referee to stop the fight 2:30 into the round.

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