Two of the three Filipinos fighting in the undercard of ONE: Roots of Honor were able to thrill the home crowd, Friday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Coming off a crushing loss to Christian Lee to start the year, Edward Kelly bounced back big time, battering the gallant Sung Jong Lee.
Kelly was dominant all throughout the fight, surviving numerous leg lock attempts from the South Korean.
“I knew that he is a leg lock specialist but I am confident that I can escape. The legs of Filipinos are strong enough to survive that,” said Edward, who is figuring in an up-and-down stage in his career.
Though he was assessed with a yellow card with 50 seconds remaining in the opening round, it did not stop his aggression. Edward poured in powerful shots from the top midway through the second stanza, that eventually led to the stoppage.
Edward goes up to 12-6 while dropping Lee to 4-5.
Edward’s brother Eric, though, could not come out victorious.
Philippine mixed martial arts legends Eric Kelly suffered his sixth straight loss – all via stoppage – after being knocked out by South Korean upstart Kwon Won Il.
Kwon – who replaced Kai Tang for this bout – landed a clean right straight to knock down the Baguio-native just seconds into the bout. The 23-year-old upstart then rained on hammer fists that knocked out Kelly just 19 seconds in.
To open the night, Gonzales, a karateka from Albay, took down his third straight win – all by way of submission. He tapped the previously-unbeaten Japanese athlete Akihiro Fujisawa with a standing guillotine choke early in the first round.
Gonzales, who was fighting for the first time in Manila, went up to 4-2 while dropping Fujisawa to 5-1.
Kwon is now 7-1 in his young pro career, while Eric fell to 12-7 in what could be his last fight in his illustrious 10-year career.
Former Survivor: David vs. Goliath contestant Bi Nguyen (5-3) and Singaporean Niko Soe (4-1) also picked up wins in the prelims after besting Indonesian foes, Dwi Ani Retno Wulan (1-1) and Eko Roni Saputra (0-1), respectively.
ONE Heifei Bantamweight Tournament finalist Xie Bin (5-1) racked up his fifth straight win – third coming by way of D’arce choke – submitting Ahmad Qais Jasoor (5-2-1) in the second round.
In the first of two kickboxing bouts in the evening, Brazilian heavyweight Anderson Silva (51-17) made quick work of Kiwi Andre Meunier (42-9), needing just 1:14 seconds to pop a walk-off right hook to dispose of his opponent.
In the Muay Thai bouts, flyweight Lerdsila Phuket Top Team (189-31) dominated Momotaro (27-10) in a three-round affair. Meanwhile, bantamweight Saemapetch Fairtex (120-15) outlasted Oghjen Topic (33-22) via majority decision.
ONE: Roots of Honor results
April 12, 2019 – SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City
- Featherweight bout (MMA): Edward Kelly def. Sung Jong Lee via TKO2 (ground and pound – 2:51)
- Heavyweight bout (Kickboxing): Anderson Silva def. Andre Meunier via KO1 (1:14)
- Featherweight bout (MMA): Kwon Won Il def. Eric Kelly via KO1 (ground and pound – :19)
- Bantamweight bout (Muay Thai): Saemapetch Fairtex def. Oghjen Topic via MD
- Bantamweight bout (MMA): Xie Bin def. Ahmad Qais Jasoon via SUB2 (D’arce choke – 2:27)
- Flyweight bout (MMA): Niko Soe def. Eko Roni Saputra via doctor’s stoppage1 (3:03)
- Flyweight bout (Muay Thai): Lerdsila Phuket Top Team def. Momotaro via UD
- Atomweight bout (MMA): Bi Nguyen def. Dwi Ani Retno Wulan via TKO1 (elbows – 3:55)
- Strawweight bout (MMA): Ramon Gonzales def. Akihiro Fujisawa via SUB1 (standing guillotine – 1:19)
