Leandro Issa Shows Black Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Skills In First-Round Victory

Leandro Issa Shows Black Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Skills In First-Round Victory
Leandro Issa Shows Black Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Skills In First-Round Victory
PHOTO: Leandro Issa Shows Black Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Skills In First-Round Victory

BJJ world champion Leandro Issa picked up another dominating submission win in front of a capacity crowd at Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar at ONE: SPIRIT OF A WARRIOR.

“Brodinho” has worked his way toward a shot at Bibiano Fernandes with impressive back-to-back wins in ONE Championship in the past year. To earn the chance to dethrone the long-reigning bantamweight king, he needed to continue to impress in the co-main event on Friday, 29 June.

In the opposite corner, Roman “Boom” Alvarez hoped to snap his opponent’s two-bout win streak and have a memorable debut in the world’s largest martial arts organization.

Alvarez surprised the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and almost scored a surprising early stoppage when he cracked Issa early with a left hook that sent his adversary skidding backwards. He landed another as Issa scrambled back to his feet, which put him on his backside again.

The Brazilian was able to survive the heavy-handed attack and recover – immediately grabbing his opponent and charging forward into a takedown. Alvarez was soon on his back and under pressure from a grappling skill set that was more advanced than he had faced in his career before.

Soon, Issa moved to mount and wrapped his long arms around Alvarez’s head and arm. He passed into side control, and promptly choked his opponent out at 1:33 of round one.

Issa continues to impress with his third straight victory and 10th career submission – advancing to 16-6 in his career and strengthening his case for a ONE Bantamweight World Title shot.

Alvarez falls to 8-2 but walks with some credit after coming close to a quick knockout over an experienced ONE veteran.

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