Igor Svirid (10-1) captured the inaugural ONE FC middleweight championship by knocking out Leandro Ataides (8-1) in a mere 17 seconds in today’s ONE FC 22 headliner.
The Kazakhstani fighter walked through his opponent with little difficulty as his first jab of the contest put Ataides on his back. He briefly survived and returned to his feet, but Svirid quickly jumped on his wobbled foe and threw a series of punches that rendered him unconscious.
Svirid handed the previously unbeaten fighter his first loss, which came at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
After falling short in his MMA debut in April 2011, Svirid has put together a 10-fight winning streak. However, no victory during that stretch was as meaningful as his title-winning effort against Ataides.
While Svirid made a major statement with his performance, he had little to say about the career-defining moment in his post-fight interview with commentator Josh Thomson.
“I have no words,” Svirid said. “This is for the Kazakhstan people.”
Ando starts slow, but finishes Moreira late
Koji Ando (11-3-2) had to race against the clock to get a third-round TKO finish of lightweight Zorobabel Moreira (7-3) in the co-main event.
After a more than two-year layoff, Moreira returned to the cage with a lot of anticipation. He started strong with sharp striking in the first round, but as the clock continued to tick, he continually faded until he allowed Ando to move into the driver’s seat.
Ando started to overwhelm with volume striking before he finally dropped Moreira and landed a couple soccer kicks to the face for the brutal stoppage.
“The Commander” is now 2-0 under the ONE FC banner and believes he should now be the No. 1 contender to Shinya Aoki’s lightweight title.
“Next time I enter the cage, I want to challenge the champion,” Ando said in his post-fight interview. “When I leave the cage, I want to have the belt.”
Santos thrives in ONE FC debut, calls for title shot
Luis Santos (61-9-1) was flawless in his ONE FC debut against welterweight Bakhtiyar Abbasov (12-4) as a vicious flying knee to the body at the 53-second mark of Round 1 pushed him to his seventh consecutive victory.
Santos knows a thing or two about finishing fights; more than 75 percent of his victories have come by stoppage. He added another to that column when a perfectly placed knee to the liver crumpled Abbasov and forced him to tap out from the pain.
Abbasov required a stretcher to exit the cage, a show of how much damage Santos can inflict in a brief period. The 34-year-old Brazilian dispatched Abbasov much quicker than ONE FC welterweight champion Ben Askren, and after the fight, Santos called for the next crack at the titleholder’s belt.
“I really want the opportunity to fight for the belt,” Santos said in his post-fight interview. “I really want to fight the champion. If you give me the opportunity it will be amazing for me.”
Mizuno outworks Rafiq for rare ONE FC decision
Tatsuya Mizuno (13-10) and middleweight Brayan Rafiq (8-4) snapped a streak of 19 consecutive ONE FC finishes when they fought for three rounds, with Mizuno coming out on top by decision.
The Japanese middleweight was superior over the course of the 15-minute affair as he racked up points with submission attempts, ground control, and as the contest wore on, his standup.
Rafiq did his best to stay competitive, but he was never truly able to get in an offensive groove. It wasn’t the most eventful contest, but it was clear by the end that Mizuno deserved his victory.
Vandijck ragdolls, pounds out Hinds
Christophe Vandijck (7-1) put his judo background to use against welterweight Dwayne Hinds (10-1) with a onesided first-round submission victory due to strikes. Vandijck faced little resistance from the outset as he repeatedly tossed the previously undefeated Hinds around the cage.
Vandijck finally grounded his opponent, advanced to a dominant position, and the finish was imminent from there. He proceeded to land heavy blows from on top until Hinds had enough and tapped out from the punishment.
Overall scores another quick win
After scoring a “Knockout of the Month” winning finish in May, featherweight Major Overall (6-1) had high expectations for his return to the ONE FC cage. He delivered once again.
Overall needed just 29 second to knock down then submit Gary Bullos (7-2), who at no point was in the fight. Overall barely missed on another soccer kick finish after the knockdown, but he instead pounced on Bullos’ neck for the rear-naked choke.
The full ONE FC 22 results included:
- Igor Svirid def. Leandro Ataides via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:17 – to win inaugural middleweight title
- Koji Ando def. Zorobabel Moreira via TKO (punches and soccer kicks) – Round 3, 4:21
- Luis Santos def. Bakhtiyar Abbasov via submission (knee to body) – Round 1, 0:53
- Tatsuya Mizuno def. Brayan Rafiq via unanimous decision
- Christophe Vandijck def. Dwayne Hinds via submission (punches) – Round 1, 2:40
- Major Overall def. Cary Bullos via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:29
- Martin Nguyen def. Rocky Tune Batolbatol via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:10
- Amir Khan def. Waqar Umar via knockout (elbows) – Round 1, 1:25
- Jeff Huang def. Zuli Silawanto via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:10
- Kirstie Gannaway def. Adek Omar via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:34
For more on ONE FC 22, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
