Rittewada Slashes Saemapetch, Forces Doctor Stoppage in One: NextGen 2 Headliner

It wasn’t the outcome fans were hoping for, but the fight was fun while it lasted.

The “One: NextGen 2” main event saw Rittewada Petchyindee cut former One bantamweight muay Thai title challenger Saemapetch Fairtex open with an elbow to force a doctor stoppage. Saemapetch adopted a wait-and-see approach, absorbing some of his opponent’s front kicks so that he could answer with three-punch combinations. The 2017 Lumpinee Stadium champ Rittewada scored a spinning back elbow, but a few seconds later, Saemapetch retaliated with a series of punches that knocked his opponent down. Although Rittewada beat the count, he lost the opening round due to the knockdown.

Like a hot knife through butter Rittewada takes home the TKO over Saemapetch due to doctor stoppage! #ONENextGen2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/0ygdQqAtPC

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 12, 2021

In the second frame, Saemapetch looked comfortable as he stumbled his opponent once again with his accurate punches. Rittewada composed himself and retaliated with body kicks, which did force Saemapetch to lower his guard to defend the incoming shots. After pressing Saemapetch back against the fence, Rittewada landed a razor-sharp elbow on the right side of his opponent’s face. In a matter of seconds, Saemapetch started leaking blood as his face began to swell, and the Thai fighter sensed his opening and attacked. Noticing the damage, referee Olivier Coste called in the cageside physician to check on the cut. After examination, the damage was so severe that the referee stopped the contest immediately, with the official time 2:10 of Round 2.

Tang Kai makes good on his promise and KOs Yoon Chang Min in Round 1! #ONENextGen2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/JWrcVcLBwI

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 12, 2021

In the main mixed martial arts attraction on the bill, Kai Tang (13-2, 5-0 One) made his case for a spot in One’s featherweight rankings after smashing Yoon Chang Min (5-2, 5-2 One). Min looked to take down his opponent in the early stages of the fight, but Tang denied the attempts and fired back with punches to the head and the body. The Chinese fighter took a few seconds to get his bearings and started landing with his jab, following them with occasional low kicks. After blocking some more takedowns, Tang blasted his foe with a short left hook. While “The Big Heart” showed big heart and recovered from the shot, Tang had him measured. A minute later, Tang clipped Min with another big left hand, this time sending Min crashing to the canvas. A series of follow-up punches from Tang forced the referee to step in, sealing the fight at 4:03 in the opening stanza.

Elsewhere, Lithuanian star Dovydas Rimkus did just enough to get by Chunyu Zhang, winning a majority decision to advance to One’s featherweight kickboxing grand prix as an alternate; former Lion Fight two-division titleholder “Smokin’” Jo Nattawut put away Yurik Davtyan with a devastating two-piece combination in their One featherweight kickboxing contest, forcing the stoppage at 2:50 in the opening frame; former Pancrase champion Hiroyuki Tetsuka (10-4, 2-1 One) stopped One vet Agilan Thani (11-6, 10-6 One) with punches at the 3:45 mark of Round 3 in their 190-pound catchweight affair.

The first battle on the card saw Han Zi Hao even the score with Victor Pinto, taking home a unanimous decision in their bantamweight muay Thai rematch.