ONE Championship crowned its first ever women’s kickboxing atomweight champion at Battle for the Heavens in China on Saturday!
ONE Championship returned to action, and returned to China on Saturday for ONE Championship: Battle for the Heavens. The card went down in Guangzhou, China, and in a bit of a twist, the main event was not an MMA contest. Instead, Thailand’s Yodcherry Sityodtong faced Chinese kickboxer Kai Ting Chuang for the ONE Super Series Kickboxing Atomweight World Championship. It would be the inaugural match for the title, giving both women a chance to make history.
Also on the card, Australia’s Reece McLaren faced Japan’s Tatsumitsu Wada in the co-main event. As well, women’s atomweight standouts Istela Nunes and Gina Iniong collided in early action.
Check below for the results from Saturday’s ONE Championship card, along with some key highlights from the night’s action.
Zhao Zhi Kang submits Ma Xu Dong with a tight guillotine choke at 1:08 of the third round! #BattleForTheHeavens #Guangzhou #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/GtInuPUeJK
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 7, 2018
Chinese superstar Fu Chang Xin put on an amazing performance in his ONE debut, finishing Rustem Yensebayev with a TKO at 4:32 of Round 1! #BattleForTheHeavens #Guangzhou #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/CVuemtrPln
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 7, 2018
The co-main event of the evening saw former flyweight title challenger Reece McLaren of Australia return to action to take on Tatsumitsu Wada from Japan. After a full three rounds of hard-fought action, McLaren managed to pull off a split decision win. Speaking in the cage afterwards, he called for a title shot against the champion who was “keeping his belt warm for me!”
In the main event, meanwhile, Chaina’s Kai Ting Zhaung went the full five rounds against Yodcherry Sityodtong in order to capture gold. In a unanimous decision, she wowed her home country on route to winning the inaugural ONE Super Series Women’s atomweight kickboxing championship.
ONE Championship: Battle for the Heavens Results:
Kai Ting Zhuang def. Yodcherry Sityodtong by unanimous decision – For The inaugural ONE Kickboxing Women’s Atomweight Championship
Reece McLaren def Tatsumitsu Wada by split decision
Ibrahim El Bouni def. Andre Meunier by knockout, Round 1, 1:31 – ONE Super Series Kickboxing.
Changxin Fu def. Rustem Yensebayev by TKO, Round 1, 4:32
Saemapetch Fairtex def. Deividas Danyla by unanimous decision – ONE Super Series Kickboxing
Zhikang Zhao def. Meas Meu by submissions (guillotine choke), Round 3, 1:08
Preliminary Card:
Istela Nunes def. Gina Iniong by unanimous decision
Shuya Kamikubo def. Sunoto Peringkat by TKO, Round 2, 3:54
Xuewen Peng def. Eddey Kalai by TKO, Round 1, 0:57
Robin Catalan def. Adrian Matheis by submission (heel hook), Round 2, 2:10
