One Championship has crowned its second ever heavyweight king.
The defending champion looked quite fatigued entering into the second stanza. Bhullar made the most of his opponent’s condition by passing through the guard of “The Truth” with flashy punches. A series of jabs from Bhullar opened the way to a heavy right overhand that stunned Vera, who recovered from the shot but was forced to back down with his back against the fence. Sensing that his opponent was in imminent difficulty, Bhullar kept scoring with his punches and shrugged off all Vera’s shots. One of the Canadian’s punches reached the midsection of Vera, followed by an immediate takedown attempt. Even though Vera grabbed the cage to defend the attack, Bhullar completed the transition to the canvas from where he mauled Vera with punches on the floor. The defending champion attempted to bounce back to his feet, but Bhullar’s wrestling turned out to be too much. After many unanswered shots, the referee stepped in to stop the fight, declaring Bhullar the new champion at the 4:27 mark in the second period.
The co-main event saw a beating from Tawanchai PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym at the expense of Sean Clancy in their muay Thai clash in One’s bantamweight division. Tawanchai displayed once again his flawless technique at the hands and feet of the former WBC muay Thai champion. The Thai fighter’s lightning-fast left head kick heralded a tough night at the office for Clancy. While the European fighter attempted his best to contain his opponent’s furious offense in the opening round, he could do nothing from the second frame forward. Tawanchai scored with a variety of shots, including leaping elbows and left kicks. The end of the contest came after the Thai fighter hit Clancy with his signature left kick, dropping his opponent to the canvas and forcing the referee to stop the fight. Tawanchai claimed the victory after 35 seconds in the third stanza.
Elsewhere, Bi Nguyen (6-6) edged Ritu Phogat (4-1) on the judges’ scorecards with a narrow split decision. In addition to today’s battle, “The Indian Tigress” also lost her spot in the upcoming One Championship atomweight tournament, where she was supposed to meet Meng Bo (16-5) at One: Empower. As of publication time, the promotion didn’t offer “Killher Bee” the spot that her opponent lost.
Ayaka Miura scores her SIXTH win via scarf-hold Americana, forcing Rayane Bastos to tap in Round 1! @ayk917m #ONEDangal #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/myzaMBi71t
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 15, 2021
Earlier on the card, Ayaka Miura (11-3 1NC) forced Rayane Marques Bastos (4-1-1) to submit with a rare scarf hold armlock that stopped the 128-pound catchweight tilt 2:58 into Round 1. The event opened with a 143-pound catchweight clash that saw Gurdarshan Mangat (16-3) outpoint Roshan Mainam Luwang (6-3) via unanimous decision.