5 December 2015 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), delivered another evening of world-class mixed martial arts action to an arena packed full with raucous fight fans. ONE: KINGDOM OF KHMER made a successful return to the Koh Pich Theatre to feature ten thrilling bouts, capped off by a spectacular main event that had fans on the very edge of their seats. In the main event, Lowen Tynanes defeated opponent Rasul Yakhyaev by Rear Naked Choke to stamp his claim as one of the best lightweight talents in ONE.
In the main event of the evening, Lowen Tynanes of Ewa Beach, Hawaii scored a third-round submission victory over Russia’s Rasul Yakhyaev to extend his unbeaten streak to eight wins and no losses. The first round had the fighters sizing each other up with various grappling moves. In side control, Tynanes started to connect with overhand rights. A testy second round witnessed increased striking rates and ended with the Hawaiian landing a couple of well-timed kicks to a downed Yakhyaev. Tynanes then took full control of the third, utilizing his wrestling and grappling technique to subdue the Russian on the ground, sinking in a deep choke to force the tap.
In the co-main event, Malaysia’s Gianni Subba improved his MMA record with a split decision win over Thailand’s Anatpong Bunrad in a flyweight match that never once went to the ground. Subba showed icy composure as he weathered a storm of kicks from Bunrad and landed a series of highly accurate punches and elbows that had Bunrad’s nose bleeding heavily from the second round. In the end, Subba did just enough to earn the judges’ nod, moving him closer to a title shot.
Indonesia’s Mario Satya Wirawan made ONE Championship history, scoring the fastest knockout ever recorded after dispatching Cambodia’s Chan Heng in just 6 seconds of their bantamweight bout. Wirawan’s very first punch put Chan on his back, and the follow-up head kick gave referee Olivier Coste no option but to call a halt to the bout contest.
Cambodian judo expert Meas Meu collected another impressive victory in the ONE Cage with a first-round TKO stoppage of bantamweight Chan Sam Art. Meas started out hard and fast to stagger his rival, at one point picking Chan up and dumping him onto the canvas before dominating the ground exchange with a barrage of blows. The referee jumped in to wave off the contest shortly after.
Sim Bunsrun battled through adversity in an energetic flyweight clash against fellow Cambodian, Khon Sichan. Both fighters’ striking skills were in full display early on, but as the fight went to ground, Bunsrun started to connect with heavy elbows. With Sichan starting to lose control of the match, Bunsrun moved to secure an armbar submission, forcing the tap out with just five seconds remaining in the first round.
Indian female atomweight Jeet Toshi earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Cambodia’s Tharoth Sam. Toshi came close to a finish in the first round through strikes and an armbar submission, but ‘Little Frog’ Tharoth escaped to bring the crowd to their feet with an inspirational comeback in the subsequent round. Toshi controlled the ground game well in the third, with Tharoth barely making it through to the final bell.
Cambodian fighters Sor Sey and Chim Chetra put on a superb show in their featherweight battle that saw them go all out from the opening bell. An explosive first round had both men connecting with hard fists, elbows and knees throughout. The high intensity was matched in the second, as Sor Sey began to exert dominance on the ground, moving to top position and forcing a referee stoppage due to strikes just over a minute into the round.
Veteran Kun Khmer fighter Mission Ali went up against the youthful tenacity of fellow Cambodian featherweight Rin Saroth in the night’s second match up. As soon as the bell sounded, the contest quickly went to the ground, with Saroth executing a textbook armbar submission to earn the victory.
Eh Ya Nut and Vy Srey Chai kicked off ONE: KINGDOM OF KHMER with a battle between two emerging Cambodian female flyweights. A tentative opening round was followed up by a stronger showing in the second, with both fighters scoring knees in the clinch and trading strikes on the ground. In the closing round, fierce exchanges pumped up the crowd as Vy Srey Khouch received the victory by split decision.
Official results for ONE: KINGDOM OF KHMER
Lightweight bout: Lowen Tynanes defeats Rasul Yakhyaev by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:42 minutes of round 3
Flyweight bout: Gianni Subba defeats Anatpong Bunrad by Split Decision
Bantamweight bout: Mario Satya Wirawan defeats Chan Heng by Knockout at 0:06 minutes of round 1
Bantamweight bout: Chan Rothana defeats Sam Ang Dun by TKO (Strikes) at 4:30 minutes of round 1
Bantamweight bout: Meas Meu defeats Chan Sam Art by TKO (Strikes) at 1:14 minutes of round 1
Flyweight bout: Sim Bunsrun defeats Khon Sichan by Submission (Armbar) at 4:55 minutes of round 1
Female atomweight bout: Jeet Toshi defeats Tharoth Sam by Unanimous Decision
Featherweight bout: Sor Sey defeats Chim Chetra by TKO (Strikes) at 1:12 minutes of round 2
Featherweight bout: Rin Saroth defeats Mission Ali by Submission (Armbar) at 3:52 minutes of round 1
Flyweight bout: Vy Srey Khouch defeats Eh Ya Nut by Split Decision