Still the featherweight king. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA Philippines—Martin Nguyen retained his ONE World featherweight championship after stopping Koyomi Matsushima 4:40 into the second round of the main event of ONE: Dawn of Heroes Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Nguyen (13-3) had a slow start to the fight and allowed Matsushima (11-4) to dictate the tempo in the first round but that was the Japanese fighter’s lone highlight of the bout.
READ: Martin Nguyen still the ONE featherweight champ
Once the second round began, Nguyen looked like a different beast and his right hand was his main weapon of choice.
Nguyen landed three right hooks to the face of Matsushima early in the third and he then proceeded to take the action to the ground where he pounded Matsushima mercilessly prompting referee Olivier Coste to stop the bout.
“Matsushima’s an up and comer. Keep an eye out for him he’s going to get back stronger,” said Nguyen in respect of his opponent.
New ONE Flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
In the co-main event, Rodtang Jitmuangnon took the ONE World flyweight Muay Thai champion after his unanimous decision win over Jonathan Haggerty.
The first two rounds, however, didn’t belong to the crowd favorite fighter with Haggerty dictating the early frames with his length and kicks.
READ: Thai bet Rodtang Jitmuangnon gets love from Filipino fans in convincing win
Jitmuangnon eventually connected on his strikes in the third cutting off Haggerty’s reach with furious 1-2 punch combos.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon couldn't hold back his emotions after his life-changing World Title win 🙏 #WeAreONE #DawnOfHeroes #Manila #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/mLKt5mNCRc
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 2, 2019
With his offense going in overdrive, Jitmuangnon sent Haggerty crashing to the mat for the match’s only knockdown, much to the delight of the Filipino crowd who have been cheering for the dancing Thai as early as his entrance.
Meanwhile, Rodlek PK. Saenchaimuaythaigym stopped Andrew Miller with a vicious right straight in the third round of their bout in the ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight division at the start of the main card.
The two fighters traded evenly in the first two round but it was Saenchaumuaythaigym who found the target at the start of the third round.
Miller tried to get up from the punch but couldn’t shake off the cobwebs prompting the referee to call stop the fight 49 seconds into the third round.