Flyweight bout: Eugene Toquero (Philippines, 8-2) vs. Li Wei Bin (China, 4-2)
Eugene Toquero, being the veteran fighter, schooled Chinese young buck Li Wei Bin.
Toquero was hyper aggressive to open the match as the crowd cheered every movement by the Filipino. The ONE Championship Beijing tournament winner was able to get a takedown on Toquero in the early-goings but the Filipino popped right up almost immediately . The head of Toquero MMA connected with body kicks but an overhand miss resulted to the second takedown of Li. The Filipino flyweight wall walked his way up and trapped the back of the Chinese upstart. Knees to the head by Toquero closed the opening stanza of the match.
Li was able to secure another takedown on Toquero to open the round but the energetic Manileno was able to reverse it for a sweep. After another takedown and choke attempt by Li, Toquero was able to reverse and take the back of Li. The Filipino was then able to land at least 64 shots to close out the round. Li’s corner did not allow their fighter to get up to stop the match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou38ctFIL90
“Wow, fantastic baby!” an enthusiastic Toquero declared. “This is Philippines versus China at nanalo tayo!”
Mazepa (Russia, 2-0) outstrikes Julaton (Philippines, 2-2) for lopsided decision win
In a match-up of two of the most accomplished strikers in women’s MMA, it was the pinpoint kickboxing of Russian Irina Mazepa that outpointed Ana Julaton’s world-class boxing skills to shock the Filipino crowd in attendance.
Julaton immediately corners Mazepa and tries to drag the Russian to the ground. However, Mazepa’s balance overwhelmed Julaton as she landed knees to the boxing champion’s body followe by a huge straight at the getaway. Julaton tried to go for the shoot once more but was negated by underhooks by Mazepa. Due to inactivity by both fighters, the match was reset with 1:02 left. Julaton was able to catch a right body kick by Mazepa that led to a takedown after. Julaton ended the round strong with short punches and a slam for good measure.
“The Hurricane” again tried to take the Russian down to open the round but again was easily shrugged off by the Russian flyweight. The kickboxer was then able to connect with clean combinations that resulted to a cut at the bridge of the nose for the Filipina. Again the speed of the combinations affected the gameplan of Julaton, resulting to just going to takedown attempts to shorten the distance. With 21 seconds left in the round, Julaton accidentally finger poked the left eye of her opponent that resulted to a momentary stoppage of the bout. Julaton was able to take Mazepa down to close-out the second round.
It was more of the same in the third round as Mazepa connected with clean combinations on Julaton while knees to the body stopped the takedown attempts by the Filipino-American. The only clean shot Julaton landed was a left hook with 2:18 remaining but fatigue had already set in for the Filipina. Again, stinging jabs by Mazepa closed out the round to further frustrate Julaton.
With the win, Irina Mazepa has knocked off the two top flyweights in ONE Championship: Ann Osman and Ana Julaton.
ONE Championship Spirt of Champions Recap |
Dream realized! Vera wins ONE World Heavyweight Championship in Manila |
Late replacement McLaren upsets Striegl |
Toquero thrills crowd; Mazepa outstrikes Julaton in lopsided match |
Lee siblings unstoppable; Silva sends Catalan to 7th loss |
ONE Spirit of Champions Results
December 11, 2015 – SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City
Flyweight bout: Eugene Toquero def.. Li Wei Bin via second round retirement
Women’s Flyweight bout: Irina Mazepa def. Ana Julaton by unanimous decision