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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Shinya Aoki finished former ONE champion John Lineker in an openweight bout Sunday at ONE 165 in Tokyo, Japan.

Aoki was set to take on Sage Northcutt in a 170-pound match in the final MMA bout of the card, but it was announced by the broadcast during the event that Northcutt had to withdraw “unforeseen circumstances with his cornermen”. Lineker, who stepped on the scale at 151 pounds as an unannounced replacement, took his spot.

A much larger and taller Aoki, nearly 20 pounds heavier than the Brazilian the morning before, didn’t have trouble imposing his game on Lineker, who eventually had the grappling wizard working on his back and securing a rear-naked choke to force the tap. The defeat snapped Lineker’s two-fight winning streak at bantamweight, with Aoki rebounding from back-to-back stoppage losses.

Northcutt announced on his social media that both his cornermen were denied visa entering the country, so he decided against competing.

“I’m sorry to all my fans and to my opponent Shinya Aoki for not fighting tonight,” Northcutt wrote. “There were some last-minute visa issues with two of my coaches and they are on their way back to the US right now. ONE Championship offered to help by giving me a world champion jiu-jitsu coach for a replacement, but not having my coaches that I trained my whole camp with out there with me to compete against arguably the worlds greatest MMA submission artist of all time wasn’t going to be best for me. Thank you Chatri and ONE Championship for trying your best to make things work at the last minute. Again I apologize to Shinya and everyone that was tuning in. I know that One 165 is an incredible card with incredible world class talent that everybody will still enjoy.”

Fellow Japanese legend Yoshihiro Akiyama competed against Nieky Holzken in a mixed rules contest where the opening round was boxing rules only, followed by muay thai rules, and finally full MMA in the third. Unfortunately for Akiyama, he didn’t went past the opening stanza, losing in under two minutes by stoppage.

The penultimate MMA clash of the night had Garry Tonon securing the biggest victory of his career in under one round, tapping former ONE champion Martin Nguyen with a rear-naked choke and pocketing a $ 50,000 bonus.

Check the complete ONE 165 results below.

Superlek Kiatmoo9 def. Takeru Segawa via unanimous decision [kickboxing]
Kade Ruotolo def. Tommy Langaker via unanimous decision [grappling]
Shinya Aoki def. John Lineker via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 3:00
Nieky Holzken def. Yoshihiro Akiyama via TKO — Round 1, 1:40 [custom rules]
Marat Grigorian def. Sitthichai via TKO — Round 3, 1:20 [kickboxing]
Garry Tonon def. Martin Nguyen via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 4:41
Ayaka Miura def. Itsuki Hirata via unanimous decision
Yuya Wakamatsu def. Danny Kingad via unanimous decision
Rade Opacic def. Iraj Azizpour via unanimous decision [kickboxing]
Bokang Masunyane def. Keito Yamakita via unanimous decision
Gustavo Balart def. Hiroba Minowa via split decision

MMA Fighting – All Posts

ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 returned to the ring on Sunday for a showdown with former three-division K-1 titleholder Takeru Segawa. Emanating from Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, Takeru made his long-awaited ONE Championship debut in the ONE 165 main event against one of the promotion’s most dangerous strikers.

Superlek controlled much of the opening round, mixing up his kicking attacks by brutalizing Takeru’s legs while occasionally attacking the body. Takeru struggled to get his offense going as ‘The Kicking Machine’ continued to bring the heat in the closing seconds of the first.

The trend continued into the second round as the Thai tenderized the lead leg of Takeru. However, things began to take a turn in the third round as Takeru was able to close the distance and unleashed a flurry of body blows, forcing Superlek to cover up and weather the storm. He did exactly that, making it out of the third round, but likely giving it up on the scorecards.

‘The Kicking Machine’ once again picked up the pace and the pressure in the fourth round, but Takeru simply refused to go away leading to a fifth and final round where it was anyone’s fight to win. The former K-1 king was desperately seeking a highlight-reel-worthy finish as the seconds ticked down, but Superlek was able to keep Takeru at bay with teep kicks until the final bell sounded.

Official Result: Superlek def. Takeru via unanimous decision to retain the ONE flyweight kickboxing world championship.

Check Out Highlights From Superlek vs. Takeru at ONE 165:

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jailton Almeida returned to action a little sooner than his epic upcoming fight at UFC 299.

Almeida competed in a charity fight tonight at Demo Fight 18 (Sat., Jan. 27, 2023), where he lost to Alvaro Borges, an athlete with Down syndrome via a decision from inside CT de Boxe e Artes Marciais, in Salvador, Brazil.

The match had quite a bit of action in it. The UFC Heavyweight took Borges down, but then Borges reversed position and ended up in Almeida’s guard, where he dropped ground and pound. Borges took Almeida’s back and then transitioned into a triangle choke after he fell off the top.

The second round opened with Almeida picking Borges up, running around the cage, and eventually dropping him. Borges would reverse Almeida again and try to lock up an armbar.

Nevertheless, Borges would defeat Almeida and get a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) replica belt wrapped around his waist.

Check out the highlights below:

After the fight, “Malhadinho” took to his social media.

“Guys, unfortunately I couldn’t win. But my congratulations to champion Alvinho Borges. You deserve it so much!!! Congratulations,” Almeida wrote.

What a gem of a human being …

Almeida (20-2) returns to action on March 9 at UFC 299, where he takes on No. 5 Heavyweight Curtis Blydes in a rebooking of a fight that was supposed to headline UFC Sao Paulo. He is coming off a dominant but lackluster decision win over Derrick Lewis.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Francis Ngannou, two-sport world champion? It’s possible.

When Ngannou stepped into the ring with heavyweight great Tyson Fury this past October, he entered the boxing world as a UFC champion who never lost his title in the cage. He didn’t defeat Fury, but he earned plenty of respect with a thrilling third-round knockdown and a razor-close split decision loss that many felt should have been a win.

Now, the PFL fighter is set to face another top boxer in Anthony Joshua on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At a recent press conference for the event, Ngannou made it clear that he isn’t letting any success or praise go to his head.

“I’ve been sitting here listening to people talking and even [Matchroom Boxing Chairman] Eddie [Hearn] praising me, which I appreciate that,” Ngannou said. “At the same time, I’m not sure he’s honest, or if just wants to get me [sleeping on] his guy, which, that’s not going to happen. I’m just a beginner out here that’s going to train really hard and do everything and come as the underdog to win the fight. I don’t take my last fight as a reference. I think that I get this done, I think that I get everything, I know exactly where I am at. I’m just a beginner, and I’m definitely going to come out better, get better and better, so that’s how I see things. I’m getting prepared for a hard fight.

“Yes, the Tyson Fury fight was great, it was awesome, but that’s now in the past, and I have a new challenge in front of me when I take it even more serious now than before, because now, I think there is something more on the line, which is probably the undisputed [title].

“Let’s see, maybe I will do something that nobody has done before, and I really believe that I have the tools to do that. Starting off having a win against A.J. on March 8 in Riyadh, which is going to be a big fight. Not an easy one, but a possible one, and I’m going to take that.”

Though nothing is official, both Ngannou and Joshua have spoken publicly about the winner of their clash possibly going on to compete for undisputed heavyweight champion status. That likely means a fight with either Oleksandr Usyk or Fury, who are set to fight on Feb. 17 with their respective titles on the line.

As the owner of 10 UFC knockout victories, Ngannou was asked if he expects to test the quality of Joshua’s chin. Joshua has lost just three times in 30 boxing matches, with one of those losses coming by way of TKO.

“I’m going to fight him, so what do you think I’m going to do?” Ngannou said. “It’s to look for his chin. That’s what happens in the fight. In the fight, you’re trying to hit somebody in the chin or wherever you can hit him, and yes I heard that he doesn’t have a chin. I don’t know if it’s true or not, I hope I have the opportunity to test that out. That’s my wish. That’s what I’m wishing for.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Earlier this week, the UFC snapped up PFL (Professional Fighters League) star, Kayla Harrison to a stunning Octagon debut in April, however, it appears upcoming French star, Cedric Doumbe won’t be following in the Olympian’s footsteps and penning a deal with the Dana White-led promotion – again.

Doumbe, a former GLORY Kickboxing champion at the welterweight limit twice, is slated to make his sophomore PFL debut at PFl 7 in March in the Peter Murray-led promotion’s return to Paris, France.

Taking on the unbeaten prospect, Baissangour Chamsoudinov, Doumbe will attempt to turn in his second consecutive victory since his move to the promotion, following a stunning 9-second KO win over Jordan Zebo in a Knockout of the Year contender last September – in front of French World Cup winner, Kylian Mbappe. 

Cedric Doumbe unsure of future UFC move

Released from a penned deal with the UFC following the cancellation of an Octagon debut against Darian Weeks at a ‘Fight Night’ event billed for Paris back in 2022, Doumbe, who has been tipped to eventually make the transition to the Octagon, has shot down the idea of signing a deal once more.

“That makes me smile because they [the UFC] f*cked up,” Cedric Doumbe told MMA Fighting. “They f*cked up, but I didn’t lose anything. They lost. So, it is what it is, you know? Everything happens for a reason. I’m just doing my thing. I know I would do the same, maybe even better, maybe less in UFC, but I’m just doing my thing. Some people say that, ‘You will never have done that (walkout) with the mattress in the UFC. They will never let you do this.’ So, I’m better here [in the PFL].”

“We never know for tomorrow, but I think 90 percent, no,” Cedric Doumbe said of his chances of signing with the UFC in the future. “90 percent no. Because I’m not 20 [years old]. I’m not 21. I’m not that younger fighter. So, I think I’m more close to the end than the beginning, so I think I will not open the UFC door again. But, we never know.” 

Would you like to see Cedric Doumbe eventually make a UFC move?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts