Ev Ting Edges Kamal Shalorus in One Championship ‘Throne of Tigers’ Main Event

Ev Ting and Kamal Shalorus gave the buying public exactly what it wanted: a standup war contested entirely on the feet.

Ting put his fourth straight win in the books with a split decision over the World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran in the One Championship “Throne of Tigers” headliner on Friday at Stadium Neagra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two of the three cageside judges sided with Ting, spoiling Shalorus’ return from more than a two-year layoff.

Neither man established clear superiority over the other. Shalorus leaned on the wild, winging power punches for which he has always been known, mixing in occasional kicks to the body and leg. Ting met his aggression in controlled bursts, punching well in combination while committing to a full-on assault on the Iranian’s lead leg. Though his thigh was mangled and grotesquely discolored by fight’s end, Shalorus continued to fire away with looping hooks upstairs. Some connected; others whizzed by Ting’s head.

Shalorus has suffered consecutive losses since starting his One Championship run with victories over Eduard Folayang and Ariel Sexton.

In the welterweight co-main event, Agilan Thani stayed undefeated and submitted Jeff Huang with a second-round rear-naked choke. Huang bowed out 2:25 into Round 2.

Thani wore down his counterpart with takedowns and ground-and-pound. Huang kept his composure through what was essentially one-way traffic, but by the second round, he had little left with which to defend himself. Thani executed a takedown, slid to full mount and unleashed elbows and punches until the American Kickboxing Academy Thailand rep surrendered his back. From there, he slid his arms into place, squeezed on the choke and coaxed the tapout.

Meanwhile, Fight Nights Team prospect Movlid Khaibulaev took a serious step forward in his development, as he improved to 11-0 and cruised to a lopsided unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Herbert Burns in a three-round featherweight showcase.

Burns had issues everywhere. Khaibulaev operated behind a jackhammer left jab and stung him repeatedly with overhand rights in their standup exchanges. However, the 26-year-old made his living on the ground, as paired takedowns with positional control and applied his ground-and-pound through various submission attempts from Burns. Khaibulaev punctuated his performance in Round 3, where he smacked the Brazilian with knees and elbows from side control and briefly achieved full mount.

In other action, Ann Osman wiped out Vy Srey Khouch with punches 4:58 into the first round of their women’s strawweight encounter; Keanu Subba tapped Ahmed Mujtaba with a guillotine choke 2:56 into the first round of their featherweight scrap; Alex Silva submitted Roy Doliguez with an armbar 2:36 into the third round of their strawweight pairing; Saiful Merican was awarded a technical knockout against Bernard Soriano when the latter retired in between the first and second rounds of their bantamweight tilt; Tiffany Teo claimed a unanimous verdict over Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol in their three-round women’s strawweight; and Muhammad Aiman put away Eduardo Novaes with punches 2:50 into the second round of their bantamweight affair.