Saemapetch Dispatches Kulabdam, Xie Forces Agasa to Quit at One: Full Blast

At long last, a series of matches held in February were broadcast by One Championship in May, with five fights of varying degree of intrigue playing out via tape delay.

Atop One: Full Blast, an event put together when One: Empower fell through due to COVID-19, five bouts took place throughout the tape-delayed card on Friday. The main event saw a muay Thai clash between Saemapetch Fairtex and Kulabdam Sor. Jor. Piek Uthai. The fight took a few moments to take off, with referee Olivier Coste inviting both contenders to action more than once. With the referee’s words in mind, Kulabdam tried to get off several kicks from afar. A patient Saemapetch checked those strikes, and made his foe miss he waited for his chance to retaliate.

After the referee brought the competitors to the center of the cage to once more call for them to start fighting, Saemapetch struck. In a split second, the former title challenger landed a devastating blow to his opponent’s liver, and he followed it up by blasting “Left Meteorite” with a knee and a kick while the latter was collapsing to the canvas. The referee started the count, but stopped it after five seconds when Kulabdam showed no signs of getting back up. The official time indicated 2:07 in Round 1, and thanks to his victory, Saemapetch set his sights on another shot at bantamweight kingpin Nong-O’s belt.

Xie Wei finishes Round 2 STRONG! #ONEFullBlast #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/xpZRRoGJZx

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 28, 2021

In the co-headlining bout, this under MMA rules, Wei Xie (8-3) cemented his status as a contender in One’s flyweight division after forcing Kantharaj Shankar Agasa (11-3) to retire between rounds. The Indian’s wrestling-centered gameplan was nullified by “The Hunter,” who proved his takedown defense could pass the stress test posed by “Kannadiga.” Even when one of Agasa’s takedown attempts turned out to be successful, Xie got back to his feet without taking significant damage. Agasa spent most of the first round grinding his opponent against the fence, spending a large amount of his energy reserves keeping him there.

In the second frame, a much fresher Xie picked his opponent apart on the feet. The Chinese fighter scored with his hands and his kicks all while Agasa retreated, as the latter largely avoiding engagement unless necessary. Right before the end of the stanza, Xie leapt in with a flying knee that partially connected, cutting the left side of Agasa’s head. The physician carefully checked the cut, and ultimately allowed the Indian fighter to continue. Much to everyone’s surprise, “Kannadiga” refused to stand at the end of the rest period, resulting in a TKO victory for Xie due to Agasa’s retirement.

Elsewhere, Miles Simson outstruck Santino Verbeek en route to a unanimous decision victory at the end of their kickboxing clash in One’s welterweight division. Before that, Edward Kelly (13-8) edged Ahmed Faress (16-4) by a narrow split decision that snapped a two-bout skid for the One featherweight contender. In the opening fight on the card, Anthony Do (8-4) submitted Hui Liang (5-7-1) in their 127-pound catchweight contest with a slick triangle choke, eliciting the tap at 3:55 of Round 2. Each of these matches were recorded on Feb. 26 as part of the Fists of Fury series, and the organization withheld them until now. Do has since competed again, but the result of that subsequent match has not been released.