Team Lakay finally heaved a huge sigh of relief as Jhanlo Sangiao marched to a dominant victory on the lead card of ONE 164 on Saturday night, December 3 at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila.
The son of Team Lakay lynchpin Mark Sangiao obliterated Anacleto “L.A.” Lauron, a ONE Warrior Series Philippines alumnus who filled in for Argentine standout Matias Farinelli on short notice, in their 70-kilogram catchweight showdown.
In his sophomore appearance for the promotion, Sangiao imposed his will with no effort, taking Lauron for a ride with an empathic slam that drew a chorus of cheers from the packed crown.
Securing the back mount, Sangiao drowned Lauron with a volley of punches before he latched on a rear-naked choke to force the tap at 1:48 of the very first round.
By defeating Lauron, Sangiao kept his immaculate standing intact and improved to 5-0.
“I’m very confident because I know I’m stronger than the guy. I’m stronger on the ground and in the stand-up,” he said in his post-fight interview,
“Actually, I was supposed to strike with him, but I put him down and submitted him. I always practice my rear-naked choke in the gym.”
Chatri Sityodtong—ONE Championship’s chairman and CEO—surprised Sangiao by awarding a $50,000 bonus.
Meanwhile, Lauron dropped to a 1-1 record.
Sangiao’s head-turning display was welcome news for his father and the rest of Team Lakay following the heartbreaking loss of Eduard Folayang at ONE on Prime Video 5 this morning and the disappointing setback of Jenelyn Olsim in the curtain-raiser of ONE 164.
China’s Meng Bo only needed 24 seconds to dispose of Olsim in their 59.3-kilogram catchweight contest on the preliminary portion of the aforementioned live event.
It didn’t take too long for Meng to settle in and size up the Filipina striker as she delivered a thunderous right straight that slipped through the cracks of Olsim’s guard with ease.
With Olsim laying flat on her back and reeling from the effects of the harrowing blow, Meng followed her defenseless opponent to the mat and hammered a relentless barrage of punches to force the stoppage.
Meng returned to the win column with the scintillating performance against Olsim, allowing her to raise her record 20-6 as well as arrest her two-match losing skid.
The Chinese heroine may have prevailed over Olsim in decisive fashion, but she is willing to give the Team Lakay vixen a chance to redeem herself in a rematch.
“I would like to have the match again with Olsim. I would love to fight her again,” Meng said through her translator.
On the other hand, Olsim fell to a 6-4 win-loss and sustained her second loss under the ONE Championship banner.
In other matches on the lead card of ONE 164, Lara Fernandes eked out a razor-thin split decision to beat Dangkongfah Banchamek in a women’s atomweight Muay Thai clash.
Moreover, Tagir Khalilov chopped down Chorfah Tor.Sangtiennoi with a meteoric uppercut to attain an enthralling knockout in the first round of their flyweight Muay Thai encounter.
Khalilov’s conquest of Chorfah was rewarded with a $50,000 performance bonus.
