Waqar Umar stuns Zhao Zhi Kang, scores submission win

Waqar “Psycho” Umar had not competed inside the ONE Championship cage for nearly a year and a half. But the Pakistani featherweight made his return to the promotion on Saturday, 24 March, at ONE: IRON WILL in Bangkok, Thailand, and looked spectacular.

The Lahore, Pakistan-based athlete submitted China’s Zhao Zhi Kang only seconds before the end of the first round.

A touch of the gloves brought a start to the action, followed by a giant high kick from Zhao. The Chinese sanda champion immediately brought the contest to the canvas, and looked to work from the top position.

Umar was on his back for a long portion of the opening stanza, but he displayed a very impressive guard, and eventually was able to cleverly take Zhao’s back.

From there, “Psycho” was methodical in his attack, as he flattened his Chinese nemesis on the ground with just under a minute left remaining in the frame. Remaining calm, he locked in a palm to palm rear-naked choke, which forced the Chinese native to tap out at 4:21 of round one.

Even though Umar has been away from competition since September 2016, the hiatus does not seem to have affected him, as he notched an impressive win over a highly-successful athlete.