Brazilian retains ONE Bantamweight World Championship title in Yangon

Brazilian retains ONE Bantamweight World Championship title in Yangon

ONE Championship headed to Yangon for the first time on Saturday night for a show at the Thuwanna Stadium which attracted a sold-out crowd. The fans were treated to the sight of reigning ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes knocking out Finnish Toni Tauru to defend his bantamweight title in the main event.

The Brazilian enhanced his stellar reputation with a virtuoso performance in Myanmar, taking less than three rounds to dispatch with Tauru, knocking him out cold with a perfectly timed right hand.

It was a 10th win in a row for Fernandes who has stopped his last two opponents and is one of the biggest stars on the ONE Championship roster. His record is now 18-3 and he has not lost a fight in nearly five years, a period in which he has established himself as a genuine contender for the title of MMA's pound for pound best.

Saturday night's show was a historic moment for Myanmar which had never previously hosted a sporting event of such high calibre. The card featured two tournaments for local fighters looking to prove they were the country's best in the featherweight and lightweight division.

Both tournaments ended with highlight reel knockout wins. Tha Pyay Nyo finished Myo Man Thit with punches to become the featherweight winner while in the lightweight tournament final Thway Thit Aung put Saw Ba Oo away with a devastating one punch KO which will be being replayed for years to come.

In another international, Taiwan's Jenny Huang won a hard fought split decision over Russian Sanda specialist Elena Pashnina. Huang showed tremendous tenacity to recover and rally after being cut in the opening round.

Since being founded in 2011, ONE Championship has expanded at a remarkable rate putting on events in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, the UAE, Cambodia and, most recently, Myanmar.

The promotion has a hectic schedule for the remainder of 2015 which will see ONE Championship head to six separate cities all across Asia in the space of just under 15 weeks, including Shanghai and Macau for the first time.

a1admin@sph.com.sg

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