9-1 in his last ten fights. Twenty-two finishes. Seventeen in the first round. Aung La N Sang has become a massive star for Asian’s ONE Championship, and the train kept rolling right along on Friday. While the UFC was in New Brunswick, Canada, its Eastern counterpart was in Yangon, Myanmar. There, ‘The Burmese Python’ put on a show for his hometown crowd. In the main event of ONE Championship: Pursuit of Greatness, he did not disappoint.

Sang (24-10, 1NC), who holds the ONE light heavyweight and middleweight championships, was facing another champ-champ on Friday. Mohammad Karaki was a Desert Force middleweight and light heavyweight title holder before jumping up to ONE to face Sang, with the middleweight crown on the line.

It didn’t take Aung La N Sang long to turn it up in Yangon. Just ninety seconds or so in, he dropped Karaki with an uppercut. The noise bellowing through the arena made the call of the action in the fight barely audible. Karaki tried in vain to land upkicks; Sang deftly worked around them.

The challenger would escape, for a time. Karaki struggled to his feat, eating blow after blow from the champion. Aung La stalked him. Caught him with a counter right. Defended a takedown from a desperate Karaki, then set up the finish. Sang went to the liver with a left hand, clearly hurting Karaki with the body shot. Karaki began backpedaling, and soon went down as Aung La N Sang dropped shot after shot.

“The Burmese Python” brings the house down with a sensational TKO of Mohammad Karaki at 2:21 of Round 1! @AungLANsang #WeAreONE #AungLaKaraki #PursuitOfGreatness #Yangon #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/8kc7b48gZb

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 26, 2018

The ref waved it off, and once again, Aung La N Sang had defended the title.

What comes next for ‘The Burmese Python’ will be interesting. He seemed to escape Pursuit of Greatness relatively unscathed, and has yet to defend his light heavyweight belt. “I’m gonna keep getting better and guarantee I’m gonna put on better shows,” he promised after the fight.

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ONE Championship was in action on Friday, bringing Pursuit of Greatness to Yangon, Myanmar, where the crowd would be firmly in the corner of local hero Aung La N Sang. ‘The Burmese Python’ as he’s otherwise known held both light heavyweight and middleweight gold in ONE. On Friday, against Mohammad Karaki, it would be the middleweight crown on the line.

UFC veteran Daichi Abe was also in action at ONE Championship: Pursuit of Greatness, taking on Brazilian standout Luis Santos. Featherweight action, meanwhile, made up the co-main event as Phoe Thaw took on Keany Subba.

Check below for full results from the night’s card in Yangon!

ONE Championship: Pursuit of Greatness Results:

Main Card

Aung La N Sang def. Mohammad Karaki by KO/TKO, Round 1 – for the ONE middleweight world championship
Keanu Subba def. Phoe Thaw by submission, Round 1
Tarik Khbabez def. Ibrahim El Bouni by KO/TKO, Round 3 – ONE Super Series Kickboxing Bout
Masakazu Imanari def. Radeem Rahman by submission, Round 1
Han Zi Hao def. Ryan Jakiri by KO/TKO, Round 1 – ONE Super Series Kickboxing Bout
Ye Thway Ne def. Mite Yine by Unanimous Decision
Luis Santos def. Daichi Abe by KO/TKO, Round 1

Preliminary Card (Facebook/Twitter)

Josh Tonna def. Joseph Lasiri by Unanimous Decision
Ahmad Qais Jasoor def. Ma Xu Dong by KO/TKO, Round 2
Rudy Agustian def. Kaji Ebin by submission, Round 1

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ONE Championship multi-weight champion Aung La N Sang returns this October, and is set to defend his middleweight title at ONE: Pursuit of Greatness. Challenging for the title in Yangon, Myanmar will be Mohammad Karaki. ONE released the news in a press release on Thursday. It will be the second straight title defense at middleweight for ‘The Burmese Python,’ who also holds the ONE Championship light heavyweight title.

“Aung La N Sang is a two-division titleholder and an absolute phenom, beloved by his people for his immense skill in the martial arts arena, and his ability to unite everyone whenever he performs,” Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, said in Thursday’s press release. “He embodies the true values of martial arts and is a tremendous champion with a big heart.”

N Sang (23-10), who hails from Myanmar, is coming off an absolute war against Ken Hasegawa at ONE Championship: Spirit of a Warrior in July. He finished Hawegawa in the fifth round, but not before the two thoroughly battered each other for the better part of the fight in a middleweight classic. The pride of Myanmar, Aung La N Sang has won four straight bouts, and eight of his last nine.

Mohammad “O Lutador” Karaki (9-0) will put his undefeated record on the line against the champ. A Phoenix FC champion who previously fought in Desert Force, where he held both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles, Karaki has eight finishes in his nine pro fights. That includes five submissions, and three knockouts.

Additional bouts are expected to be added to the card in the coming weeks. ONE Championship: Pursuit of Greatness takes place October 26 at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.

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