Agilan Thani out-grapples Sherif Mohamed for unanimous nod

Agilan “Alligator” Thani was eager to return to the cage, and get the taste of his title loss to ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren out of his mouth.

On his birthday on Friday, 18 August, the now 22-year-old was able to succeed in doing just that. He went the distance for the first time in his professional career, and defeated Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed at ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS, live at the Stadium Negara in front of his hometown faithful in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sherif showed promise after swinging for the fences early on. That lasted only about ten seconds before Thani managed to clinch with the Egyptian Top Team representative, and slammed him to the canvas. “The Shark” quickly reversed course and found himself in top position. However, the hometown hero scrambled and transitioned to north-south control.

The round became a battle of power, as Sherif had his left arm firmly entwined over Thani’s head while working to reverse positions. But the Malaysian was too heavy on top, and not even up-kicks could separate him. Simply put, he appeared to be glued to opponent.

Round two started with an accidental low kick to the groin by Thani. When the action continued, the Egyptian threw an overhand right, which Thani masterfully ducked under, and then proceeded to take down his Egyptian foe. A few ground and pound strikes later, the Malaysian unconventionally dragged Sherif across the canvas and against the cage.

Heading into the final stanza, “The Shark” was noticeably gassed. At this point in the bout, however, he had no other choice but to go for broke. Thani was too tactical, therefore none of Sherif’s heavy strikes landed, allowing the Malaysian to secure yet another takedown. He was not able to lock in any of his submissions, but he did drop knee strikes on the Egyptian Top Team product to close out the match.

Thani took the win on all of the judges’ scorecards, and as a result, he moves his record to 8-1. Sherif drops to 8-4, but looks to have a new home at welterweight.