After eight stoppages in eight fights at ONE Championship 42, the fans in Singapore had to endure a title fight that went the distance.
And despite those eight prior finishes, the back-and-forth action in the main event between Angela Lee and Mei Yamaguchi may have trumped them all put together. After 25 minutes, Lee (6-0) took a unanimous decision from Yamaguchi (15-9-1) to win the inaugural ONE Championship women’s atomweight title.
Lee, who has been built up as the women’s face of the promotion, was more than a 5-1 favorite against Yamaguchi. But the Japanese fighter gave Lee all she could handle and then some, putting Lee in trouble several times in the fight, only to fall short.
“I told you guys I was born for this, this moment right here. I worked really hard for it,” Lee told commentator Mitch Chilson after the fight. “I was just thinking I’ve got to survive this – Mei’s going to give it all she’s got and I’ve got to give it right back at her. It was an awesome fight, 25 minutes back-and-forth.
ONE Championship 42 took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. It streamed as an online pay-per-view in North America.
Lee was aggressive early. Then she jumped guard and used it to quickly bounce to mount on Yamaguchi. But Yamaguchi got back to her feet. Still, though, Lee kept the choke on and torqued it as hard as she could. When the fight dropped back to the canvas, Lee got a body triangle on as the referee checked to see if Yamaguchi was conscious.
Yamaguchi had enough room left to survive the choke, and Lee kept on it with more of a neck crank. When Yamaguchi adjusted with 35 seconds left, she got out of danger and from half-guard worked punches to Lee’s face. Yamaguchi finished the round on her feet, and Lee went to the second having used plenty of energy working for the choke.
In the second, Yamaguchi showed no real fear about going to the ground with Lee. A minute in, she found herself on top looking for ground-and-pound. But Lee pulled her in tight to minimize the threat and tried to squirm out. Midway through the round, Lee threw her leg over the head and went after an armbar. Yamaguchi lifted Lee up and Lee let go, and the fight moved to the feet with the fighters clinched on the fence. Lee threw the fight to the ground, voluntarily going to her back. Again, Lee wanted an armbar. But again, Yamaguchi slipped it and landed a heavy punch from up top.
Right away in the third round, Yamaguchi drilled Lee with a right hand and put her in trouble right out of the gate. Lee kept her wits and pulled Yamaguchi in on the ground. But Yamaguchi passed guard and then stepped over into mount and worked ground-and-pound. Lee tried to buck her off, but Yamaguchi got her left arm in an armbar. Miraculously, she fought out of it despite her arm bending the wrong way – and took Yamaguchi’s back for a rear-naked choke. Yamaguchi survived, and Lee moved to the front into mount. The crazy back-and-forth swing had the crowd in a ruckus.
Again, Yamaguchi got an armbar that Lee had to fight out of – and it was only the midpoint of the round. Yamaguchi worked for a kneebar, but Lee transitioned to the top and punched to the head. With 1:40 left, Lee went after a D’Arce choke, but Yamaguchi fought it. Lee kneeed to the head – legal in ONE Championship with a grounded opponent – and then finally rolled the choke over. Yamaguchi slipped the choke with 45 seconds left, but Lee stayed after it only to have Yamaguchi survive the round.
In the fourth, a minute in, Lee tried a heel hook, but couldn’t make it stick. She popped to mount 90 seconds in and had an arm-triangle choke. And by then, Yamaguchi seemed a little tired from the first 15 minutes. Lee tried to swing around to the side to tighten the choke from side control. Yamaguchi tried to punch her way out – and survived it. She got on top, but Lee quickly threw up a triangle choke, and had to be wondering if it was going to be the latest choke Yamaguchi was going to survive. And survive she did. She got back to her feet, but only to have Lee drop her down to the canvas again.
The dsitance of the fight seemed to catch up to Yamaguchi in the final round. She appeared fatigued, but still tried to stand in the pocket for Lee, who was kicking and throwing leather trying to land something to finish Yamaguchi off. Kicks to the body didn’t do it, but midway through the round the fight hit the floor with Lee on top in side control. With 40 seconds left, Lee tried one final arm-triangle choke – but naturally Yamaguchi toughed it out to go to the scorecards in one of the best back-and-forth fights of the year.
In the co-main event, it couldn’t have been easier for Roger Gracie to become the ONE Championship light heavyweight titleholder. He became the first member of his legendary family to win a major MMA title after decades and decades of winning jiu-jitsu tournaments.
Michal Pasternak circled the cage for the first nearly minute. Gracie stayed patient. But when the fight went to the ground, it was clearly into Gracie’s wheelhouse and it only was a matter of time.
Gracie locked up an arm-triangle choke, and Pasternak didn’t really have a chance to fight it. The ref checked his hand, and he was out. The stoppage came at the 2:13 mark of the fight.
“It feels awesome,” Gracie said. “I want to dedicate this belt to my family. We’ve been fighting for years. We’re a family of fighters. I didn’t know that was it, but I knew he was in trouble. It’s a five-minute round, so I didn’t want to rush. I was taking my time. But once that choke was on, I knew he was done.
“Now I want the middleweight belt. That’s my division. I want two belts. ONE FC, give it to me.”
Gracie (8-2), a Strikeforce and UFC veteran, won for the second straight time under the ONE Championship banner in his first fight in 18 months. Pasternak (11-1) lost for the first time in his pro career.
Jadambaa chokes out Boku with third-round Von Flue
Narantungalag Jadambaa (11-4) was a step ahead of Kotetsu Boku (24-11-2) wherever their featherweight fight went, and it paid off for him with a third-round submission win.
Boku sprinted to the center of the cage and did good striking work early. But Jadambaa did good work, too, and with 90 seconds left in the round, he came in and landed a solid takedown in the center of the cage. Jadambaa worked elbows and punches from side control while Boku tried to defend. Jadambaa went north-south briefly, but when it didn’t work the fight moved back to the feet.
Jadambaa landed a huge spinning wheel kick early in the second round, then tried to take advantage. Boku managed to survive, but appeared rattled as Jadambaa pushed him to the cage. Jadambaa landed good punches with a minute left in the round, but never in a big enough combination to truly put Boku in trouble.
Jadambaa moved the fight to the ground in the third, and with a choke locked up, Boku tried his best to fight it. It appeared he might have tapped – but replays showed Boku was trying to punch his way out when he went to sleep. The Von Flue choke was too tight, and Jadambaa had the tapout win.
Christian Lee makes easy work of Bullos, Mizuno stuns Ali
Featherweight Christian Lee got his family off to a good start. Ahead of his sister Angela’s main-event atomweight title fight, Lee (4-0) submitted Cary Bullos (7-4) quickly in the first round. Even though Angela had a fight coming up, she was cageside to watch her brother’s big win.
After a punch from Bullos, Lee grabbed hold of Bullos’ neck – more defensively than anything else. But he managed to get an arm under the chin and kept Bullos locked up with his back against the cage, squeezing on an anaconda choke. Lee worked knees to the body, but none of them seemed to land flush. But Lee bided his time, then dropped to the canvas, still clinched tight to Bullos’ neck. And there, the choke only got deeper. Bullos tried to roll out of it, but to no avail and he had to quickly tap.
Just when it appeared Mohamed Ali (10-9) had things under control in his light heavyweight fight with Tatsuya Mizuno (15-11-1), Mizuno shocked him and the crowd to get a TKO win.
In an early ground scramble, Ali tried to work for an arm. It wasn’t there, so Mizuno jumped to his feet and kicked the legs. But ultimately, he allowed Ali back to his feet and they went back to the center of the cage. With 30 seconds left in the round, the two started to trade – and Ali blasted Mizuno with some heavy hands. Mizuno landed a nice jumping knee late, but it wasn’t enough to finish things.
In the second, Ali caught Mizuno with a big punch, but stayed patient. And that may have cost him. When it looked like Ali was continuing to have his way on the feet, Ali ate a left knee from Mizuno and stumbled. Mizuno took advantage with a big kick to the body, then stayed after it and landed more knees and punches till Ali crumbled. And just like that, Mizuno snatched a victory from what was looking like a fight he was destined to lose if it stayed on the feet.
Khan blasts Chang, Ang has no trouble with Yabo
Moving up from lightweight to featherweight seems to suit Amir Khan (4-2) fairly well. Khan had to fight off a kneebar attempt from John Chang (4-4-1) in the first round, but midway through the frame, he was into dominant position with full mount. Khan dropped bombs on Chang, who did his best to cover up. He had plenty of time to work, and with it evident Chang wasn’t going to be able to get out of the position, the referee stepped in to give the 21-year-old Khan a big TKO win in front of his home fans.
Benedict Ang (3-0) had a great plan to keep Jimmy Yabo (5-3) from being able to have success on the feet in their featherweight bout: Take him to the ground. Ang did that in the first round, and Yabo had to put himself in position for a guillotine in order to get back up, but the strategy worked and he was back where he was more comfortable. But with 40 seconds left in the round, Ang shot in and took Yabo down again for a nice finish to the frame. Ang’s strategy was the same in the second, and he scooped Yabo up for another takedown right in front of his corner, and he controlled the round on the ground throughout. The third round was more of the same, and Ang gradually worked enough ground-and-pound to get a stoppage a little past the halfway mark of the final round.
Arslanaliev annihilates Wen, Thani takes out Robinson
Lightweight Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev (3-0) came into his third pro fight with only 82 seconds of cage time under his belt in a pair of bouts. He got a lot nearly two minutes of experience today, and it was all dominant with a first-round TKO of Ma Jia Wen (2-2).
Arslanaliev landed a left hook straight away, followed by a kick. A right hand put Wen on the canvas. Arslanaliev was in quickly, and the referee looked like he was about to stop it in the 10-second range. But he let Wen survive, only to see him get beat up on the feet a little more moments later. Arslanaliev worked heavy kicks and punches, clearly the dominant striker.
A knee to the head dropped Wen, but he popped up and manaaged to get Arslanaliev to the ground for a moment. But a right kick to the head from Arslanaliev put Wen down for good, and a few punches later Arslanaliev, from Dagestan, had his latest fast victory.
In ONE Championship 42’s opening bout, a 194-pound catchweight contest, Malaysia’s Agilan Thani (5-0) had very little trouble against Brad Robinson (3-2) for a TKO late in the first round. With the fight on the ground much of the frame, Thani worked ground-and-pound and at one point, Robinson yelled out in pain after apparently injuring his elbow. Late in the round, Thani went back to his feet and dropped some bombs on Robinson, who covered up until the referee stepped in with 20 seconds left in the round.
ONE Championship 42 results:
- Angela Lee def. Mei Yamaguchivia unanimous decision – to win inaugural women’s atomweight title
- Roger Gracie def. Michal Pasternak via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:13 – to win inaugural light heavyweight title
- Narantungalag Jadambaa def. Kotetsu Boku via submission (Von Flue choke) – Round 3, 1:27
- Christian Lee def. Cary Bullos via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 2:07
- Tatsuya Mizuno def. Mohamed Ali via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:52
- Amir Khan def. John Chang via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:39
- Benedict Ang def. Jimmy Yabo via submission (strikes) – Round 3, 3:11
- Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev def. Ma Jia Wen via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:57
- Agilan Thani def. Brad Robinson via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:40 – 194-pound catchweight bout
For more on ONE Championship 42, check out the MMA Events section of the site.
