KUALA LUMPUR: Muhammad Aiman Raziz Affindi redeemed himself in Singapore when he defeated promotion newcomer Yang Fei of China at One: Immortal Pursuit, tonight.
Fighting in the second preliminary bout of the evening, the Malaysian mixed martial arts (MMA) exponent reinserted his name into the winner’s column by outworking Yang in a tactical three-round catchweight contest.
Aiman, who had moved up from bantamweight, was declared the victor by way of unanimous decision.
He says the win has given him renewed confidence for the fight in Kuala Lumpur, next year.
“I feel like he’s (Yang) not a ground guy but he couldn’t handle me on the feet, (he) tried to win some points on the ground but I didn’t let hm. He’s definitely light and he’s not a ground guy but he got desperate, I guess,” said the 22-year-old.
“I managed to win and dominate. I know it’s nice because they’ve given me a fight and I’ll be fighting again at home in Kuala Lumpur where I’ll get back to my weight class plus try to climb that bantamweight rank.”
Aiman, who hails from Kuala Pilah, felt his win against Yang helped him achieve what he came to the Singapore Indoor Stadium to do, which is to garner more fans.
“As I was walking out, a lot of people were cheering for me and I wanted to make a good impact and win more fans.”
Meanwhile, former US Olympian Ben Askren accomplished what he came to Singapore to do, and that is to end his career on a high after securing a win against Evolve teammate Shinya Aoki to retain his Welterweight World Championship title.
At 33, Askren retires with an undefeated record of 18-0 as one of the most accomplished franchise fighters around.
He successfully defended his title for a second consecutive time this year after downing former Lightweight World Champion Aoki by way of technical knockout (TKO) when the fight was stopped in 57 seconds in the first round due to strikes.
Asian martial arts veteran Arnaud LePont made a successful return to the cage, submitting Richard Corminal of the Philippines while China's Miao Li Tao won against Cambodian Sim Bunsrun.
Miao was in his maiden outing at One Championship and delivered and outstanding performance to stop Bunsrun in the first round.
After pulling off an impressive promotional debut last August, Singaporean May Ooi continued her winning ways against Cambodia’s Vy Srey Khouch in the first round via submission in the female strawweight division.
But the drama of the night came in the form of a heated featherweight matchup that ended abruptly when China’s Li Kai Wen was disqualified for illegal blows to the back of Ahmed Mujtaba’s head.
The Pakistani was given five minutes to recover from the injury but was unable to continue after the allotted time expired.
The One Championship franchise will end its 2017 season with One: Warriors of the World, set to be staged in Bangkok, Thailand on December 9.
The show will be headlined by undefeated Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka Naito against BJJ World Champion Alex Silva.
OTHER RESULTS:
ONE Welterweight World Championship bout: Ben Askren defeats Shinya Aoki by TKO (Strikes) at 0:57 minutes of round 1
Lightweight bout: Amir Khan defeats Adrian Pang by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Bantamweight bout: Leandro Issa defeats Dae Hwan Kim by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Women’s strawweight bout: May Ooi defeats Vy Srey Khouch by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:58 minutes of Round 1
Featherweight bout: Ahmed Mujtaba defeats Li Kai Wen by Disqualification (Illegal Blows)
Women’s catchweight bout (58kg): Tiffany Teo defeats Puja Tomar by Submission (Armbar) at 4:07 minutes of Round 1
Women’s atomweight bout: Mei Yamaguchi defeats Gina Iniong by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Lightweight bout: Arnaud LePont defeats Richard Corminal by Submission (Arm Triangle) at 3:16 minutes of Round 1
Catchweight bout (69.4kg): Muhammad Aiman defeats Yang Fei by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Strawweight bout: Miao Li Tao defeats Sim Bunsrun by TKO (strikes) at 1:49 minutes of Round 1