Saw Min Min Claims ONE Myanmar Flyweight Tournament Championship

Saw Min Min captured the ONE Myanmar Flyweight Tournament Championship in front of his countrymen on Friday, 30 June. He did so by defeating his teammate, Shwe Kyaung Thar, in the final at ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION inside Yangon’s Thuwunna Indoor Stadium.

After successfully working his way to the finals following a stunning knockout win earlier in the night, Myanmar’s Saw Min Min was ready to claim a championship trophy with one more victory against fellow finalist Ye Thway Ne.

Unfortunately, Ye Thway Ne was unable to compete due to injury, forcing an alternate to step up to the plate. As a result, Saw Min Min’s teammate out of T&T Tha Htone, Shwe Kyaung Thar, landed the final spot, and simultaneously made his professional debut under the bright lights of ONE Championship.

At first, it appeared Saw Min Min had made a mistake with a head kick attempt, having been tripped to the ground by Shwe Kyaung Thar while he was off balance. However, Saw Min Min managed to sweep to top position, and immediately went for a rear-naked choke as Shwe Kyaung Thar scrambled to his feet trying to escape a bad position.

Those efforts were for naught, as Saw Min Min changed his submission to a guillotine choke. For a second, it looked as though Saw Min Min’s arms would tire and Shwe Kyaung Thar could pop free. 

Despite having already competed earlier in the night, Saw Min Min refused to let go, and eventually applied enough torque to elicit the tap for a surprise submission victory. After all, the new tournament champion had only competed in Myanmar Lethwei up to that point.

Saw Min Min became tournament champion at 1:43 of the first round, and got his ONE Championship career of to a flying 2-0 start.