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ONE 156 Results & Recap | Eersel vs Sadikovic
ONE Championship once again electrified the Singapore Indoor Stadium with ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic. The 15-bout martial arts card featured two World Title fights and action across Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA, and submission grappling.
ONE Championship, in partnership with leading premium lifestyle and luxury performance brand TUMI, presented the prestigious ONE World Title belt.
In the main event, Regian Eersel willed himself through heavy fire, defeating Arian Sadikovic to retain his ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title for the fourth time.
Eersel utilized his superior length and athleticism early, punishing the challenger with a plethora of flying knee attacks. However, Sadikovic dialed up the intensity in round two, knocking “The Immortal” down for the count with a flying knee of his own. The defending World Champion survived and proceeded to dominate rounds three and four behind a steady stream of strikes from the outside.
In the final stanza, it was anybody’s game, but a busier Eersel outworked Sadikovic en route to a hard-earned victory on the scorecards. With his 19th consecutive win overall, Eersel remained unbeaten in ONE Super Series and took home a US$50,000 performance bonus.
In the co-main event, 17-year-old Swedish phenom Smilla Sundell entered the record books against Filipina-American star Jackie Buntan and became the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion.
Buntan was methodical to start the contest, connecting on sharp counters from range. But the relentless aggression from Sundell quickly took over, as the teen sensation pressed forward behind fast and powerful combinations. After five rounds, the damage on Buntan’s face was evidence of the “The Hurricane’s” handiwork, and the lanky Swedish fighter scored a clear-cut unanimous decision.
With the victory, Sundell became the youngest ONE World Champion in history and took home a US$50,000 bonus for her effort.
Second-ranked strawweight contender Jarred Brooks continued his meteoric rise through the division with a spectacular submission of #1-ranked Bokang Masunyane. “The Monkey God” immediately met “Little Giant” at the center of the Circle, locked him up in the clinch, and quickly transitioned to take the back. From there, the American rode Masunyane’s back with a body triangle in place and then secured a deep rear-naked choke to squeeze the consciousness out of the South African. The dominant win secured Brooks the next shot at ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio.
Liam Harrison and Muangthai PK.Saenchai went to war in a ONE Super Series bantamweight Muay Thai contest, and the one-round battle was pandemonium from start to finish. Both men came out guns blazing at the opening bell, but it was Muangthai who took an early lead. A minute into the fight, he sent Harrison crashing to the canvas with a head kick and then scored another knockdown shortly after. But just when it appeared that Harrison was on his way out, the English superstar came roaring back, knocking “Elbow Zombie” down three consecutive times to seize the technical knockout victory in the first round.
In addition to a US$100,000 performance bonus, Harrison was also announced as the next challenger for ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Gaiyanghadao.
Song Min Jong used his veteran experience to edge out a game Chen Rui in a battle of bantamweights, withstanding heavy strikes to win by submission in the second round. Song weathered the early storm from Chen and defended well against the Chinese fighter’s pressure. The South Korean then went to his superior grappling skills, took “The Ghost” to the ground, and secured a rear-naked choke to force the tap.
Strawweights Danial Williams and Namiki Kawahara kicked off the main card of ONE 156 with an absolute MMA firefight. Former Muay Thai World Champion Williams employed an effective kicking game while pushing Kawahara onto the back foot with powerful punching combinations. The Japanese athlete had his moments on the ground, but Williams was able to rise above the adversity and score a unanimous decision.
Performance bonus winners: Regian Eersel (US$50,000), Smilla Sundell (US$50,000), Liam Harrison (US$100,000), Mikey Musumeci (US$50,000)
MAIN CARD
Kickboxing – Lightweight: Regian Eersel def. Arian Sadikovic via unanimous decision
Muay Thai – Strawweight: Smilla Sundell def. Jackie Buntan via unanimous decision
MMA – Catchweight (128 LBS): Jarred Brooks def. Bokang Masunyane via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:39 of R1
Muay Thai – Bantamweight: Liam Harrison def. Muangthai PK.Saenchai via TKO at 2:19 of R1
MMA – Bantamweight: Song Min Jong def. Chen Rui via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:26 of R2
MMA – Strawweight: Danial Williams def. Namiki Kawahara via unanimous decision
LEAD CARD
MMA – Strawweight: Gustavo Balart def. Yosuke Saruta via unanimous decision
Kickboxing – Light Heavyweight: Andrei Stoica def. Giannis Stoforidis via majority decision
Muay Thai – Atomweight: Anissa Meksen def. Marie Ruumet via unanimous decision
MMA – Flyweight: Windson Ramos def. Woo Sung Hoon via unanimous decision
MMA – Strawweight: Dayane Cardoso def. Ayaka Miura via TKO at 0:56 of R2
MMA – Lightweight: Abraao Amorim def. Dae Sung Park via TKO at 1:20 of R2
MMA – Welterweight: Jin Tae Ho def. Agilan Thani via submission (kimura) at 2:23 of R1
Submission Grappling – Catchweight (143 LBS): Mikey Musumeci def. Masakazu Imanari via rear-naked choke at 4:09
MMA – Featherweight: Keanu Subba def. James Yang via unanimous decision
After much deliberation, striking veterans Liam Harrison and Seksan Or Kwanmuang have finally found a date for their highly anticipated clash.
The pair will meet in a 140-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest when ONE Championship returns to the U.S. for ONE 168: Denver on Saturday, 7th September.
The event inside Denver, Colorado’s Ball Arena is already stacking up to be one of the biggest cards of the year for the world’s largest martial arts organization, and the addition of this matchup will only increase the hype among martial arts fans.
Harrison has been on the sidelines for some time now. He suffered a worrying knee injury when he challenged former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama for the gold at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August 2022, and he had to overcome further complications before thinking about a return to action.
The British striking legend will have a chance to shake off the cobwebs before colliding with Seksan, however, as he is scheduled to make his way back to ONE for a battle with Katsuki Kitano at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on 8th June.
“Hitman” will need all the preparation he can get for his match with Seksan. The former Rajadamnern Stadium and WBC Muay Thai World Champion has built a fearsome reputation in ONE Championship over the last 15 months, given that he amassed eight consecutive wins after his debut last January.
Seksan appeared unstoppable in the promotion until he met Japanese star Yutaro Asashi at ONE Friday Fights 58 earlier this month.
After three thrilling rounds of Muay Thai, the Thai veteran fell to a unanimous decision loss, which means he’ll be charged up for a triumphant return to form against Harrison.
And with “Hitman” keen to find his way back to the top in ONE, their clash in Denver on 7th September is all but guaranteed to be a barnburner.
The whirlwind surrounding Ryan Garcia’s victory over Devin Haney last weekend is just beginning to settle down but it seems the controversial boxer is intent on staying in the headlines as he eyes UFC champion, Sean O’Malley.
The bizarre lead up to the fight with Haney was plagued with erratic behaviour on Garcia’s part, rumours of a mental breakdown, signs of alcohol and drug issues, and generally controversial behaviour. Garcia missed weight by 3.2lbs, and appeared to chug a beer on the scales during the weigh ins.
Entering the fight as an underdog, Garcia surprised everybody by dropping Haney three times and emerging victorious by majority decision. After the fight, Garcia insisted he drank and smoked every day in the build up to the fight and still picked up the win. This shocking turn of events has now opened up a variety of possible lucrative match ups for Garcia going forward, and it seems one MMA superstar wants a piece of that action.
The UFC hasn’t sanctioned a boxing crossover bout since Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather back in 2017. ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has long campaigned for the opportunity to test his striking skills against Garcia, and this week on his podcast The Timbo Sugar Show, he insisted that the UFC have already given him the green light to seek out some opportunities in the boxing ring:
“A boxing fight’s possible for sure. I’m not there yet. I’ve still got to become bigger. Two more f*cking sick performances, then we’re talking about being able to do it.
O’Malley continued: “They told me ‘You can do a boxing fight, 100 percent, if it makes us enough money’. The option is there, it just has to be able to make enough money. But Ryan being a f*cking freak like that, you need two A-sides to make a f*cking Floyd v Conor fight”.
Ryan Garcia tweeted an image of himself and O’Malley this week with the caption: “RAINBOW CACA BRAIN. WANTS TO BOX. BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW”
RAINBOW CACA BRAIN
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 22, 2024
WANTS TO BOX
BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW pic.twitter.com/GGrvV7ZSCH
Sean O’Malley became the UFC’s bantamweight champion when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last August. He then defended the belt and avenged the only loss on his record when he dominated Marlon Vera over five rounds at UFC 299 in March.
The next step in the fascinating UFC journey of Alex Pereira remains to be seen. ‘Poatan’ pulled off a sensational knockout finish over Jamahal Hill in the first round of their main event bout at UFC 300 to defend his light heavyweight belt.
In his post-fight interview, the Brazilian called for the opportunity to compete at heavyweight at UFC 301 which takes place in Rio De Janeiro in just a couple of weeks. UFC president Dana White seemed unenthusiastic about that idea, however, and it seems now that the dust has settled after 300, Pereira is a little more willing to take his time before signing up for his next fight.
In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast, Pereira was asked if he’d rather defend his 205lb title again or test the waters in the heavyweight division. He responded:
“It’s hard to answer that. I haven’t thought too much about it yet. If it’s a longer period of time, I’d obviously rather defend my belt. If it takes too long and I fight at heavyweight and there are injuries, when am I going to defend my belt? I don’t want to hold up the division.
I was imagining the best-case scenario when I called for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301, but I have two broken toes. Both feet are f*cked. It’s complicated. I don’t want to hold up the light heavyweight division. A cool scenario would have been fighting at heavyweight at 301 and then giving the opportunity to someone to fight for the light heavyweight belt next. I think that would have been cool”.
205lb contender Magomed Ankalaev has called for a fight with Pereira on the UFC’s October pay-per-view card in Abu Dhabi, but ‘Poatan’ brushed that idea off instantly, saying:
“I don’t want to fight at the end of the year. I want to fight sooner, so maybe that shows he won’t be ready. I don’t know why he said that. This guy is complicated”.
If Pereira manages to get another win under his belt and is ready to go again before the end of the year, he said he would much rather compete on the Madison Square Garden event in November, which is closer to his current home in Danbury.
“It makes total sense” he said. “Wait one more month and I’m fighting at home? It’s so much better”.
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