Mark “Mugen” Striegl (15-2) made sure that he came out of Pasay City with a win.
Striegl outworked late replacement Sotir Kichukov (13-5) to take a dominant, unanimous decision win during ONE Championship’s Age of Domination card, Friday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Baguio native’s strength was in full display right from the get go, immediately going for a shoot and not letting his Bulgarian opponent up, even as Kichukov tried to push his way off, successfully doing so in the closing moments of the first round.
Kichukov tried to control the cage to start the second stanza, but Striegl’s strength proved to be too much once more as he was able to get a quick takedown. As much as the Siberian wanted to keep the fight standing up, Striegl’s wrestling negated any of his attempts to do so. The 28-year-old spent more than three minutes of the second round on top of his opponent, even if the latter attempted multiple submission attempts from his back.
But the Filipino deviated from his gameplan to start the third round, trying to clash with Kichukov. However, he Serbian was able to land a clean combination and a head kick. Having had enough, “Mugen” feinted a superman punch that led to a takedown. Striegl tried to finish the bout with a neck crank with two minutes and 30 seconds remaining, but his opponent was too slippery. Again, with 43 ticks remaining, the Filipino-American tried to go for a finish after getting his opponent’s back but the Serbian was saved by the bell.
Striegl’s original opponent, Rafael Nunes, had pulled out of the bout due to injury two weeks prior to the event.
ONE Championship: Age of Domination main card result
December 2, 2016 – SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City
Catchweight bout: Mark Striegl def. Sotir Kichukov via Unanimous Decision
