Spectacular finishes highlight ONE: GLOBAL SUPERHEROES prelims

Not a single bout on the ONE: GLOBAL SUPERHEROES preliminary card made it out of the first round, as four spectacular finishes unfolded at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila on Friday, 26 January.

The action was capped off by local favorite Edward Kelly, who set the record for the fastest knockout and victory in ONE Championship’s featherweight division at 21 seconds, and fellow Filipino Jomary Torres, who set the record for the fastest knockout and victory in the women’s competition category at 40 seconds.

Here is all the preliminary action that unfolded at ONE: GLOBAL SUPERHEROES

Edward Kelly Flattens Meas Meu with 21-Second KO

Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly may have just set the bar for knockout of the year in 2018.

In front of a raucous crowd in Manila, Kelly needed just 21 seconds to put the first blemish on Meas Meul’s perfect record, as he delivered a head kick knockout that ended with the Cambodian crashing into the canvas.

The action all unfolded during the very first exchange of the bout. Just seconds after the round began, Kelly found his range almost immediately, and he started to unload with a barrage of shots. As Meul ducked his head to avoid the punches, he was blasted by a huge high kick with the knee landing flush on the button. 

Kelly, the home crowd hero, got the KO at the 21-second mark, which moves his record to 10-4, and gives him the record for the fastest knockout victory, and overall finish, in ONE’s featherweight division.

Jomary Torres Pulls Off Astonishing 40-Second Slam Knockout

Undefeated atomweight Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres needed just 40 seconds to add a highlight-reel knockout to her resume.

The 22-year old Filipina appeared to be in some early trouble during her bout with April Osenio, who came into the bout flanked by an all-star group of coaches and training partners from Team Lakay, including former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang.

Torres went for a quick takedown, and Osenio quickly swiveled her hips to grab onto an arm as she looked for the lightning-quick submission. It appeared for a moment that Osenio was going to lock up the armbar from the bottom, until Torres grabbed onto her own hand, lifted her opponent off the ground, and then brought her back down to earth with incredible force.

“The Zamboanginian Fighter” followed up with a couple of hammer fists, but it was clear the bout was already over, as Osenio had been rendered knocked out courtesy of the massive slam to the ground.

Following the unbelievable knockout, Torres moved her undefeated record to 4-0, and set the record for the fastest knockout, and fastest victory, in ONE women’s competition.

Rajinder Singh Meena Shocks “The Ghost” Zhang Ze Hao

Rajinder Singh Meena is finally in the win column as a ONE lightweight, and it happened on Republic Day in his home of India. 

Following a string of heartbreaking losses against a laundry list of top opponents, the Indian martial artist pulled off a shocking submission to put away “The Ghost” Zhang Ze Hao in the first round of their clash.

As soon as the referee released the competitors from their corners, Meena and Zhang were launching punches at each other in a wild exchange on the feet. Just as the Chinese athlete was attempting to back out of the firefight, Meena connected with a perfectly placed right hand that put the 25-year-old down on the mat.

The Indian quickly followed him to the ground, where he grabbed onto a guillotine choke before falling back into his guard to secure the submission. A few seconds later, Zhang was asleep.

It had been a tough run this far for Meena in ONE, but now he gets his first promotional win with his stunning 42-second submission victory of Zhang.

Adrian Matheis Wraps Up Second-Straight Rear-Naked Choke Finish

Adrian “Papua Badboy” Matheis picked up his second consecutive win with an impressive submission to kick off the prelims from the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila.

The 24-year old Indonesian strawweight had to battle through a series of wild scrambles on the feet and on the ground, as Eddey “The Clown” Kalai was giving him everything he could handle during the opening moments.

Matheis did manage to fire off some fierce leg kicks, but he was also forced to eat a few hard punches from the former boxer before the bout finally landed on the ground late in the stanza. From there, it was all Matheis, as he quickly latched onto Kalai’s back, sunk his hooks in, and began fishing for the rear-naked choke.

Once “Papua Badboy” had his forearm sunk under the chin, the grimace on Kalai’s face was unmistakable, and he was forced to tap out at 4:15 into the opening round.

With the win, Matheis moves to back-to-back victories in ONE after another submission finish his last go-around this past September.