With Nobutatsu Suzuki left without an opponent, ONE FC officials were forced to scratch their headlining 170-lbs title bout this past Thursday evening, when Portuguese starlet Vitor Pinto (7-0) failed to pass his pre-fight medical. Pinto, stepped in as a replacement for Adam Kayoom (4-1), who earlier withdrew from the title contest due to injury.
As a result of the tussle, Yusup Saadulaev vs. Adriano Moraes was promoted to main event status. Along with the conclusion of the promotion’s inaugural Malaysian 145-lbs tournament, that’ll see Borneo Tribal Squad native AJ Lias Mansor locking horns with Melvin Yeoh, a herd of Malaysian fighters will be under the spotlight as they look set to compete for national pride.
ONE FC 12: Warrior Spirit takes place at the Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The first bout is set to commence at 7 P.M. local time and 6 A.M. ET. Main card festivities are expected to take place at 8:30 P.M. local time and 7:30 A.M. ET. Unfortunately, prelims will not be streamed online this time around.
While the main card is set to air on the Star Sports network, global fans can catch all the action at http://www.onefc.livesport.tv/ for a price of USD $9.99, following free prelims on YouTube.
Keep it locked to MMASucka.com below as we bring you real time results, play-by-play and updates of the event:
MAIN CARD (Livesport.tv, Star Sports, 7:30 A.M. ET)
*Vitor Pinto vs. Nobutatsu Suzuki (For inaugural ONE FC Welterweight Championship title) > Cancelled, Pinto failed his pre-fight medical
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Bout 10/Catchweight tilt: Adriano Moraes (9-0) vs. Yusup Saadulaev (10-3-1)
Report: Moraes opens up with a few kicks, but both fighters soon start scrambling on the canvas where the Brazilian, Moraes, almost had a Triangle choke. Saadulaev lands his vintage belly-to-belly takedown, and surges on ground-and-pound. The Russian continues to display his grappling prowess with top control, although they’re soon stood up by the referee. Both guys end the round on their feet with striking exchanges.
A fast pace between Moraes and Saadulaev to the start the second frame as both fighters picked up where they left off in the first round: the stand-up department. Saadulaev lands the first takedown of the round and looks for a D’arce choke, but Moraes scrambles out of it. The Brazilian continues to impress with his footwork, but he’s till struggling to land a clean shot on his Russian opponent. Saadulaev secures another takedown and after a few transitions and scrambles and what not, it was Moraes who found himself in half guard. Moraes starts landing some heavy leather and ends the round on a high note.
Third round starts and Moraes tries to take a page out of Saadulaev’s book by landing a suplex of his own, but fails. Soon after, Saadulaev misses with a belly-to-belly suplex, and Moraes capitalized with full mount. The Russian rolls for a kneebar, but to no avail. Now on top, in this really evenly matched affair, Saadulaev squanders his opponent with knees and ends the fight in a dominant position. Great, technical fight between the two, and just exhibition stuff from them on the canvas.
Result: Yusup Saadulaev def. Adriano Moraes via Split Decision
Bout 9/Middleweights: Bryan Rafiq (8-2) vs. Leandro Ataides (5-0)
Report: Ataides gets a successful double-leg takedown and maneuvers to half-guard quickly. The Brazilian starts working with strikes and Rafiq looks to be simply holding on for dear life. He manages to recover though and they both get back to their feet. After an uneventful minute or so up against the cage, Ataides catches Rafiq clambering into his range with a few strikes, and a right hand wobbled the Frenchman as fell face first to the mat. Great sportsmanship shown by Ataides who thought about laying out a few more strikes for good measure, but refrained from doing so.
Result: Leandro Ataides def. Bryan Rafiq via TKO (Punches) at 4:14 of Round 1
Bout 8/Heavyweights: Chris Lokteff (11-1) vs. Tony Johnson (7-1)
Report: Lokteff lands a huge right hand that momentarily stuns Johnson, who scrambles for a takedown in an attempt to recover. Once he completes it, the AKA native, though, doesn’t do anything substantial, and they both get back to their feet. Lokteff lands another right hand which rocks Johnson once again, but Johnson recovers, remarkably, and pushes the Australian up against the cage. Both fighters exchange knees but they’re soon separated. The round ends with Johnson tying Lokteff’ up against the cage.
Round two commences and Johnson captializes on a takedown as Lokteff misses with a high kick. Johnson, clearly the bigger fighter, is doing well on the canvas preventing Lokteff from doing anything effective from the bottom. The American continues to stay busy with an array of strikes, elbows and more. Lokteff is tries his best to get up but in doing so, he gives up his back. Johnson gets a Rear-Naked choke attempt which certainly looked tight but Lokteff escapes. Fabulous heart and spirit shown by Lokteff.
Johnson shoots for a takedown to start the third frame but Lokteff sprawls and defends well. The Australian seems to be getting the best of the striking exchanges, as Johnson looks tired and fatigued. He gingerly goes for another takedown but Lokteff defends it well, and reverses position, ending up in side control. As they separate, Lokteff lands a solid soccer kick. The fight concludes with both fighters fighting up against the cage.
Result: Chris Lokteff def. Tony Johnson via Unanimous Decision
Bout 7/Lightweights: Alaa Mazloum (1-0) vs. Peter Davis (6-3)
Report: Davis immediately tries for a takedown to which Mazloum responds with a couple of knees. The Egyptian lands a punch which sends Davis tumbling to the canvas, but the Malaysian manages to recover. Mazloum, now in top position, starts working some credible ground-and-pound. Davis goes for a Triangle-choke, but Mazloum squeezes out of it. Davis finally gets a takedown, and lands a hard knee in the process. In half guard, Davis goes for a head-arm choke but his Egyptian counterpart reverses position, and ends up on top instead. The Malaysian continues to remain active despite being in the bottom, and once the referee stands them back up, he immediately shoots for a takedown once again and gets it. Davis ends the round with an unorthodox choke from the bottom, but Mazloum survives. Great start to the fight.
Second stanza is underway and Davis, as you’d expect, goes for a takedown, but Mazloum scrambles out the way. Davis soon grabs a hold of Mazloum’s back, gets his hooks in, and sinks in the Rear-Naked choke. Mazloum taps, and the fight is stopped.
Result: Peter Davis def. Alaa Mazloum via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:23 of Round 2
Bout 6/Flyweights: Gianni Subba (2-0) vs. Chen Yun Ting (1-0)
Report: Hotly contested striking affair gets us going with Ting findng success with kicks, and Subba with punches. Soon after, Subba scores a sweet doube-leg takedown and passess to side control. Ting has a quick Armbar attempt which Subba defends. Now in Ting’s full guard, Subba generates a series of devastating elbows which opens up a bad cut on Ting’s face. The referee intervenes and stops the fight. Brutal stuff by Subba who improves to 3-0.
Result: Gianni Subba def. Chen Yun Ting via TKO (Elbows) at 3:03 of Round 1
Bout 5/Flyweights: Tok Sophon (2-0) vs. Saiful Merican (1-1)
Report: Merican throws a head kick which is well ducked by Sophon. Sophon runs forward and throws a kick which is well countered by Merican via Left hook. Merican then knocks Sophon down with another left hand and secures top position with a takedown. He starts working with elbows and an Americana but the Cambodian defends the submission attempt well. A poor takedown attempt by Merican is capitalized by Sophon who takes top control, but both fighters seperate soon after. Sophon gets another takedown and he finds himself in full guard. Merican shoots for an Armbar but that’s defended well. Merican clearly having the edge on the canvas. Sophon lands yet another takedown towards the last few seconds and ends the round with some slight ground-and-pound.
Second round starts with Sophon landing a trip takedown, but both fighters get back to their feet moments later. The fight progresses near the cage, where Sophon lends a takedown after exchanging knees and elbows with Merican. Sophon lands a takedown once again and seamlessly finds himself in full mount, but he doesn’t do anything substantial. The Cambodian seems to open up every time he moves forward to strike a flurry of punches which hasn’t quite worked out for him. Merican has been timing Sophon’s runs into his range well, although he hasn’t landed a clean shot.
Third round commences and Merican lands a clean left hook, and finds himself in full mount after a takedown. Crowd roars the Malaysian on to get some ground-and-pound going and he complies. Submission or ground-and-pound wise, however, Merican doesn’t do anything effective. Referee Yuji Shimada then stands both fighters up with 01:30 to go. The fight takes a short halt and the doctor checks Sophon’s eye lid, which has a cut. Fight continues, Merican lands a takedown and as they recover, Sophon lands a knee which strikes his opponent’s head cleanly. Merican then lands a straight right hand in the final seconds before the bell sounds. Great start to the main card.
Result: Saiful Merican def. Tok Sophon via Unanimous Decision
Bout 4/Featherweights: AJ Lias Mansor (1-3) vs. Melvin Yeoh (7-1) > Malaysian Featherweight Tournament Final bout
Report: Mansor takes the center of the cage and looks to dictate settings. A couple of strikes exchanged between the two as the feeling out process ensues. Crowd urges both fighters to go on, and Mansor responds with a spinning back fist of sorts. Yeoh continues to push the pace as both fighters exchange kicks. Although Mansor is connecting with punches as he moves backwards, he doesn’t seem looks to be landing hard shots. The Malaysian lands the first takedown of the match, and starts working from Yeoh’s full guard. He ends the round with ground-and-pound.
Yoeh checks three leg kicks to start the second round as both fighters continue their striking battle. Yeoh pulls guard on Mansor, and looks for a Triangle-choke, but Mansor shrugs it off and tries to impose his physical strength on his opponent. Referee soon stands both guys up for lack of action. Mansor lands a beautiful spinning back fist, right hand combination and soon drives for a Josh Koscheck-like takedown. Yeoh gives it up in hopes to sink in a Guillotine choke, but Mansor gets out of it and starts landing some ground-and-pound. Yeoh ends the round with a Guillotine choke which looked tight but the bell rings and he doesn’t have the time to finish it.
Third round starts, and Yeoh starts throwing combinations. Mansor lands yet another takedown and this time, he’s relentless with his ground-and-pound. He starts throwing elbows, punches, knees, everything. Yeoh looks fatigued and Mansor manages to easily pass into side control. He works for a kimura but bails on it. Mansor lands the final takedown of the match and ends the round in dominant fashion.
A fairly lackluster bout but a vital victory picked up Mansor who snaps his three-fight losing skid.
Result: AJ Lias Mansor def. Melvin Yeoh via Unanimous Decision
PRELIMS
- Bout 3/Featherweights: Samir Mrabet def. Steven Durr via Unanimous Decision
- Bout 2/Welterweights: Nik Harris def. Zuli Silawanto via TKO (Retirement) at 5:00 of Round 2
- Bout 1/Bantamweights: Casey Suire def. Raymond Tan via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:28 in Round 1
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