Hiroki Akimoto Edges Zhang Chenglong at One ‘Reign of Dynasties 2’

One Championship aired the pre-recorded second part of One: Reign of Dynasties on Friday.

Kickboxing star Hiroki Akimoto earns his first victory at bantamweight, edging former ONE World Title challenger Zhang Chenglong via split decision! #ReignOfDynasties2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/GJNxsVj2Di

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 16, 2020

The sophomore installment in the One: Reign of Dynasties event series was headlined by a kickboxing clash between Hiroki Akimoto and Zhang Chenglong in One's bantamweight division. The two contenders produced a hard-fought battle that saw some back-and-forth striking action. However, the Japanese fighter was the one who impressed the majority of the judges the most as he took home a split decision victory.

In the co-main event, Sagetdao Petpayathai overcame Zhang Chunyu in his return to muay Thai competition after a six-year hiatus. Sagetdao largely dominated his opponent across all three rounds, leading to a unanimous decision victory.

Tang Kai improves to 3-0 in ONE Championship after a stellar showing against Keanu Subba! #ReignOfDynasties2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship

How to watch ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES II tonight https://t.co/aVrLoAmAPq pic.twitter.com/WIbxVWi4Cs

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 16, 2020

The MMA main attraction on the card pitted Keanu Subba against Kai Tang in a lightweight contest that turned out to be a one-sided battle. Tang found little opposition from his opponent throughout the fight, as the Malaysian fighter offered little-to-no offense of his own. On the feet, Tang teased his opponent with his jab and blocked all Subba’s attempts to take the fight down. After 15 minutes, Tang took home a clear-cut unanimous decision.

The second and last MMA contest on the card saw Ryuto Sawada defeat Li Tao Miao on the scorecards in their flyweight affair. Sawada came close to finishing his opponent in the second round when he took Miao’s back. The Chinese fighter kept his calm and defended all his opponent’s submission attempts to survive. In the third, “Dragon Boy” slowed his pace visibly as Miao attempted to capitalize by landing a few shots from ground-and-pound on the fatiguing Japanese fighter. However, it was to no avail as the all three judges rewarded Sawada with a unanimous verdict.

Elsewhere, Wang Wenfeng upended Azwan Che Wil via unanimous decision in a muay Thai clash in the flyweight division. Han Zi Hao smashed Mohammed Bin Mahmoud to earn a TKO at the 0:49 mark of Round 3 in their bantamweight muay Thai clash.