A championship bout between two undefeated women’s atomweight fighters headlined an entertaining night of fights at ONE: Dynasty of Heroes in Singapore.
‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee
Angela Lee moved to 8-0 after submitting the previously undefeated Brazilian 2:18 into the second round with an anaconda choke.
Nunes survived the usual submission onslaught from Lee, which included a tight twister submission hold in the first round. Lee used the lockdown to her advantage and unloaded a flurry of vicious strikes to the head of Nunes to close out round one.
Pure domination in Round 1 from Angela Lee. Nunes survives, and we're onto Round 2. #WATCH NOW (US ONLY)???? ☛ https://t.co/kNR1SuzMQn pic.twitter.com/AxXek1wIgy
— FloCombat (@FloCombat) May 26, 2017
Angela Lee’s stand-up game was tested early in the second round as Istela Nunes kept finding a home for her jab. A knockdown allowed Angela Lee to engage in the grappling game again only one minute into the second round. Lee used a snap takedown from the clinch to set up an anaconda choke. Nunes was resilient, but there was no escaping the depths of Angela Lee’s submission game for the second time.
Angela Lee is undoubtedly the face of ONE: Championship and the face of Asian mixed martial arts right now, too. ONE: Championship and Evolve MMA have an extremely marketable female superstar in their hands.
Askren submits ‘The Alligator’
In the co-main event, Ben Askren delivered on his promise of ‘a very rough night’ for undefeated prospect Agilan Thangalapani. Ben Askren relied on his wrestling to overwhelm the young Malaysian in the middleweight championship bout.
Askren stayed true to his ‘funky’ nickname and applied heavy top pressure on Thangalapani after quickly getting the takedown.
Well that didn't take long. Don't let Ben Askren grab you. @FloWrestling#WATCH NOW (US ONLY)???? ☛ https://t.co/kNR1SuzMQn pic.twitter.com/uhBcgeT9Zj
— FloCombat (@FloCombat) May 26, 2017
After securing a crucifix position, Askren rained down strikes on Thangalapani’s face. Agilan managed to slide out from the crucifix before being thrown to the mat again. Askren managed to secure the arm triangle choke and moved to an undefeated 16-0 record.
Ben Askren called out current ONE: Championship middleweight champion Bigdash Vitaly post-fight. Askren labelled Bigdash a ‘chicken’ and wants to fight him on the upcoming August 18 card in Kuala Lumpur.
“So here’s the deal: Bigdash, I need a dance partner on August 18, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I hope you’re going to come out and see me. And Bigdash, if you decide you’re busy and want to cluck around like a chicken some more, then I’ll take the Swedish man.”
For now, Vitaly Bigdash will be competing in a rematch with Aung La Nsang at ONE: Light of a Nation in Yangon on 30 June. Bigdash and La Nsang fought a five-round decision in January 2017 in which Bigdash was victorious.
‘The Lionkiller’ taps a legend
Singaporean fans were also treated to a ‘Grappling Super-Match’ between Garry Tonon and Shinya Aoki. The submission-only, 15-minute match proved successful for the organisation. Most importantly, the deviation from usual procedure didn’t disrupt the flow of the event in Singapore.
Garry Tonon’s leg-lock mastery proved too much for Shinya Aoki 7:47 minutes into the match when Tonon submitted Aoki with a heel-hook. Aoki had controlled the flow of the caged submission grappling match most of the way.
GARRY. TONON. #ONEFightNight #Singapore #WATCH NOW (US ONLY)???? ☛ https://t.co/kNR1SuzMQn pic.twitter.com/ahwxLotMD1
— FloCombat (@FloCombat) May 26, 2017
Tonon confirmed his pursuit of a crossover into mixed martial arts post-fight:
“That’s definitely where this train is headed next (MMA), absolutely”
The jiu-jitsu sensation elaborated on some of the difficulties in facing a MMA star like Aoki:
“Guys, I will tell you though, heading into mixed martial arts, we did a bunch of cage work, we did a bunch of wall wrestling. We were prepared. But at the same time, man, his MMA experience showed through and his ability to control me and push me against the fence, definitely something I wasn’t 100 percent ready for, so it just goes to show you how much more work I have to do to get into this mixed martial arts game.”
