Stefer Rahardian impresses in spectacular strawweight debut

Stefer Rahardian had a dominant run in the flyweight division over the past few years, as he demolished everyone who stood across from him.

The undefeated Indonesian superstar opted to move down a weight class this past weekend, and in his strawweight debut at ONE: GRIT AND GLORY, he looked just as unstoppable.

On Saturday, 12 May, in front of a hometown crowd at the Jakarta Convention Center, Rahardian needed just two and a half minutes to finish off Himanshu Kaushik with a rear-naked choke, and put the rest of his new division on notice.

Kaushik, a seven-time Indian national wushu champion, opened up the contest with a low kick, and then landed a roundhouse kick on the Jakarta native. But going to the well a third time proved to be his undoing.

A third low kick was caught by Rahardian, who wasted no time driving Kaushik into the fence, and then promptly taking him down. The Indian popped up after hitting the canvas, but the determined Rahardian planted back to the mat immediately, and assumed the mount.

The Indonesian was relentless on the ground, as he took Kaushik’s back and landed a string of unanswered blows before sinking in a rear-naked choke. Miraculously, Kaushik survived the first attempt, but found himself ensnared in another moments later.

Rahardian forced his rival to submit at the 2:25 mark of round one. Not only did he look comfortable in victory, but he also looked comfortable in his new weight class. 

The Indonesian hero improves his record to 9-0, and has undoubtedly broken into the top tier of the strawweight division.