Photo from ONE Championship
MANILA, Philippines — In dire need of a win, Mark Abelardo finally stopped the bleeding in resounding fashion on Friday in ONE: Fists of Fury II at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The Filipino-Kiwi put his recent struggles behind with an impressive knockout win over Emilio Urrutia in their bantamweight bout.
Abelardo unleashed a vicious tomahawk elbow that connected on Urrutia’s jaw, knocking out the American at the 3:20 mark of the second round.
Mark Fairtex Abelardo 🇳🇿🇵🇭 elbows Emilio Urrutia OUT! @MarkAbelardoMMA #ONEFistsOfFury2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/QEklU1D2lj
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 5, 2021
The victory allowed Abelardo (20-8) to redeem himself after coming into the fight having lost three of his last four fights, including back-to-back losses.
The 29-year-old Abelardo also dealt Urrutia his fourth consecutive defeat.
In the main event, Kang Ji Won pulled off a shocker, scoring a first-round knockout of Greco-Roman wrestling world champion Amir Aliakbari in a heavyweight clash.
The undefeated South Korean landed a short left hook that instantly ended the fight.
Aliakbari signed with ONE Championship last August with the intention of sweeping the heavyweight division.