Evolve MMA Dominates ONE FC: ‘Kings & Champions’ With Five Wins Out of Five and Lightweight Title Triumph

Evolve MMA cemented its status as the number one fight team in Asian MMA with a dominant performance at ONE FC: ‘Kings & Champions’ at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last Saturday night.

Five fighters were on the card, the majority of them against more experienced opponents, and every single one emerged victorious to set a record for a single team’s success at a ONE FC event which may never be matched.

In the main event Shinya Aoki (pictured with from l-r Attachai Fairex, Chatri Sityodtong and Heath Sims) dominated Kotetsu Boku to win the ONE FC World Lightweight Title courtesy of a rear naked choke in the second round.

Aoki won his last fight courtesy of an overhand right but this time he did not get to showcase his much improved striking, instead executing a grappling based game plan to perfection to give Boku absolutely no chance of retaining the title he won last October.

Surrounded by a scrum of journalists after the title win Aoki, who is now 2-0 fighting for ONE FC, claimed that the training had been harder than the actual fight,

“Sparring with Attachai Fairtex at Evolve MMA was very scary, much worse than fighting Boku!”

While Aoki was expected to win, the outcome of the fights involving the other four Evolve MMA fighters was far from a foregone conclusion. Eddie Ng has been out of action for over a year with an injury and was taking on an opponent, in Arnaud Lepont, who had almost twice as many fights.

It turned out to be a ‘fight of the night’ contender as Ng took the fight to the ground and controlled the opening round but then found himself in a defensive position for the majority of the second stanza with Lepont on top of him and trying to systematically break him down with ground and pound.

After so long away from the cage with a serious shoulder injury it appeared the fight might be slipping away from the Hong Kong native but he showed real tenacity and determination, as well as a high level ground game, to dig deep, escape from underneath Lepont and then, with seconds remaining in the round, slap on a fight finishing armbar.

The win takes Ng’s ONE FC record to 3-0 making him the most successful fighter since the promotion’s formation, alongside Malaysian Peter Davis, and many fans are hoping that these two lightweights will face off sooner or later although there is no shortage of potential opponents in a division which is also home to Vuyisile Colossa Eduard Folayang and Lowen Tynanes.

Leandro Issa was also handed a tough assignment against Dream veteran Yusup Saadulaev who had been widely tipped to win the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix. Both men were coming off losses so the stakes were high and the opening round was highly entertaining as they exchanged takedowns and submission attempts.

In the second round Issa began to utilize his superior striking as Saadulaev could not close the range in order to use his world class Sambo skills and had no answer for the Brazilian’s much improved boxing and Muay Thai. Issa arrived in Singapore as a BJJ black belt who was a very one dimensional mixed martial artist but has evolved into a truly well rounded fighter.

For two rounds Issa was able to dominate Saadulaev, who is famous for knocking out Japanese veteran Hideo Tokoro, with his Muay Thai making it an easy decision for the judges to award the fight to the Brazilian. His ONE FC record improves to 3-1 and he moves a step closer to a second title shot.

Another BJJ black belt looking to bounce back from a loss was Evolve MMA’s Alex Silva who went the distance with Geje Eustaquio on his ONE FC debut but lost via decision. He was up against Wushu world champion Rene Catalan and put on a grappling masterclass to dominate the Filipino on the ground and finish him with an armbar.

With the win Silva’s ONE FC record improves to 1-1 and he remains a contender in the flyweight division which is stacked with world class fighters like Shinichi Kojima, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Eustaquio and Rey Docyogen and also includes Andrew Leone, Gianni Subba and Yun Ting Chen.

Evolve MMA’s night got off to the perfect start when Jake Butler showcased some of his new skills en route to a TKO victory. He comes from a pure wrestling background but rocked Saipan’s Swain Concgo, who had never previously been beaten as a professional, with a head kick before taking him down and stopping him with strikes.

Butler’s ONE FC record improves to 2-0 and while, in MMA terms, he is far from the finished article the American has dominated two much more experienced opponents and is on track to potentially become a title contender in the light heavyweight division. So far Butler’s decision to swap a job on Wall Street for life as a professional fighter seems to be paying off.

The five Evolve MMA fighters in action at ONE FC: ‘Kings & Champions’ reflected the diversity of the fight team with all coming from contrasting backgrounds and bringing varying levels of experience. Every single one of them came away with the win to provide the perfect present for the man behind the Singapore based camp, Chatri Sityodtong, who celebrated his birthday on Monday.

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