Recaping ONE FC Honor
and Glory
by rick olivares
Nik Harris wins 2nd ONE
FC fight against Brad Robinson
In all of Malaysian Nik Harris’s victories, all of
them have come by way of stoppage. During ONE FC Warrior Spirit in his hometown
of Kuala Lumpur, Harris beat the crap out of Indonesian foe Zuli Silawanto that
he chose not to answer the bell for the third round giving the former his first
ONE FC victory and fifth win in seven matches overall
Watching Harris from up close and from afar in the
days leading to ONE FC Honor and Glory, he seemed like someone who was going
for a pick-up basketball game rather than a MMA fight. He was animated, noisy,
and even overly ebullient.
Against American Brad Robinson, he looked even more
out of place as he was scrawny and lacking that chiseled and tattooed body that
seems to be prevalent among MMA fighters. And unlike his match against
Silawanto, Harris was more cautious against the American.
The first two round saw both fighters trade punches
but no haymakers. Harris did land more and telling kicks. Robinson backed him
up against the cage to attempt to batter his foe or set him up for a takedown but
Harris proved stronger than he looked.
An unfortunate kick to Robinson’s gonads forced a
temporary stoppage as the American needed a breather. Upon the fight’s
resumption, Robinson, known as “Vanilla Gorilla” vented his anger and
frustration by landing a couple of solid shots on Harris. But the Malaysian
countered and proved difficult to put away.
In the third round, Harris landed a kick on Robinson
but got hurt in the process. As he backpedaled, the American quickly realized
that he had an opportunity to put away the Malaysian. Harris kept a clear and
good head about him not succumbing to panic. He managed to hold Robinson at bay
while landing some solid shots and his one and only one-two combination. Then
he gave Robinson a different look with a running kick that surprised the
American.
Harris’ aggressiveness in the last round and terrific
defense against a takedown attempt gave him some points that served him well in
a split decision awarded to him.
The Malaysian’s streak of stoppages ended but the
sixth win, second in the ONE FC, was the more important one (while Robinson
suffered his first loss in three matches).
Expect more from Harris in the cage. Not on the
basketball court.
Rahman rocks Tan like a hurricane
Radeem Rahman gave his
hometown Singapore fans plenty to cheer about when he rocked Malaysian Raymond
Tan like a hurricane in the first match of the main card of ONE FC Honor and
Glory.
Entering the Singapore Indoor Arena to The Scorpions’
heavy metal classic, “Rock You Like A Hurricane,”
Rahman soaked in the cheers of support for a crowd hungry for a homegrown
fighter to bask in ONE FC glory.
Unfortunately, at least for the first round, it
didn’t appear they’d get their wish.
Dazed and bleeding after a first round beating from
Tan who staggered the Singaporean with a nasty upper cut that had Rahman weak
at the knees, the hometown hero, back in the ONE FC cage after three years,
showed no signs of ring rust as he came back mightily in the second round.
Rahman actually mounted some late offense in the first round with a takedown
but Tan quickly reversed it and landed some hammer fists.
Tan, standing six feet tall, used his length and
superior reach to devastating effect. As he closed in for the kill after the
first round uppercut, it looked like the crowd that cheered Rahman’s entrance
would have to watch the rest of ONE FC Honor and Glory in silence and
disappointment.
But Rahman took down Tan twice in the second round.
He attempted to slip in an armbar. When that didn’t work, he gave Tan a dose of
his own medicine by whaling away at the fallen Malaysian.
The referee stopped the fight when Tan could no
longer defend himself giving Rahman second win in two outings. Tan fell to 2-2
with the loss.
Parry-Ngalani bout declared a no
contest
Englishman Chi Lewis Parry was aggressive from the
opening bell as he attacked Hong Kong national Alain Ngalani.
Dwarfing the smaller Ngalani, Parry looked to make
short work of his foe. Except a powerful knee – intended for the stomach –
instead hit the former in the crown jewels.
After several minutes of stoppage, Ngalani said he
could no longer continue forcing the referee to declare the fight a no contest.
Frankly, I think Ngalani punked out after seeing that
there was no way he was going to defeat Parry. Don’t think we’re going to see
this dude in the ONE FC again.
Major Overall preempts the World Cup with a kicking finish
Major Overall made a stunning ONE FC debut when he
knocked out Brazilian No-Gi champion Bruno Pucci with a powerful right and a
soccer kick to the head in the first round.
Pucci looked to overwhelm his American opponent on
the canvas but the wily Overall slipped away. With Pucci on his back, Overall
pretended to wade in and kick at him.
Referee Yuji Shimada stepped between them as a
precaution as the American backed away with a grin on his face.
Moments later, he landed a solid right that caught
Pucci flush on the face. As the Brazilian fell, this time Overall rushed
forward and kicked him at the head for the knockout.
Major Overall went to 4-1 while Pucci suffered his
first loss in four matches.
Fodor forces Ni to submit
Caros Fodor finally got that badly needed win when he
forced Dutchman Willy Ni to submit via kimura in the first round.
Fodor was all over Ni from the get-go. After taking
down Ni, he popped the Dutchman with an elbow that saw his forehead balloon
real fast. Seconds later, he was able to slip in the submission move to his
ninth win in 13 matches.
It was a huge win for Fodor, the former King of the
Cage, Strikeforce, and UFC fight who has lost three of his last ONE FC fights.
Unfortunately for Fodor, a former US Marine, those three loses – including his
ONE FC debut win against Yang Seung Ho -- all came via decision whether
unanimous or split.
This time around, he left no doubt as to the outcome
with a telling victory.
Jadambaa deals Banario his third consecutive loss via UD win
Honorio Banario fighting to regain his honor and lost
glory will just have to wait for another opportunity. If it comes his way. The
former ONE FC featherweight champion lost steam and the fight to Mongolian
Narantungalag Jadambaa via unanimous decision after taking a pounding in the
third round.
The lone Filipino bet in ONE FC Honor and Glory
looked good in the opening round as he staved off the Mongolian with a variety
of strikes and stinging kicks. But Jadambaa showed he was rock solid in
absorbing the Filipino’s punishment. He served it back in the second round but
the Banario came back strong to finish the round.
With the match pretty much even at that point,
Banario gained some huge points with two takedowns including a body slam. But
the Mongolian – as he did throughout the match – displayed terrific takedown
defense. He threw four solid shots to Banario’s right side. When he backed him
up against the cage, Jadambaa hit him with some solid knees or punches to the
midsection.
When it was all said and done, the 38-year old
Mongolian proved to be tougher as he raised his win total to 9-3-0. Banario
fell to 8-4 with four loses in his last five matches.
Vincent Latoel knocks out Eddie Ng in controversial referee stoppage
Vincent Latoel decked Eddie Ng with a right. Before
Ng could get up, the Dutchman threw two lefts that had the Hong Kong national
staggering backwards. Thinking the fight over as the referee waved him off,
Latoel turned around but spied Ng getting back up. Thinking it was still on,
Latoel lunged to take another shot but Yuji Shimada pushed back Ng.
The fight – the co-main event of ONE FC Honor and Glory -- was over and Latoel
had his 19th win in 35 matches as Ng tumbled to 7-2-0.
As the crowd angrily booed what they thought was
premature stoppage, Ng, in one of the classiest moves I have ever seen,
graciously told the crowd to respect the referee’s decision because fighter
safety was paramount. As Shimada was separating him from Latoel during the
stoppage, Ng looked bewildered and surprised that the fight was over. For the
fans, it didn’t look like it was over and that he merely took some hard shots.
His takedown defense before the end was terrific as Latoel couldn’t send him to
the canvas.
The crowd applauded politely after Ng’s gesture but
the grumbles and boos continued until the main eventers were ushered in.
Askren's smashing
debut
Bakhtiyar Abbasov sent a message by
taking down Ben Askren with a monstrous slam. But the takedown, using Askren’s words, was “like the fly falling into
the spider’s trap”. Once on the mat, Askren’s wrestling pedigree shined. He
reversed the position from the bottom and dominated the rest of the round by
holding a hapless Abbasov down. The Azerbaijani absorbed so many head shots
that he switched into an indefensible position where Askren forced him to
submit via an arm-triangle submission. In his post-fight victory, Askren called
out current ONE FC Welterweight World Champion Nobutatsu Suzuki to defend his
belt in their next scheduled bout.
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