VIDEO | Yoshihiro Akiyama picks up highlight reel KO at ONE: King of the Jungle

Yoshihiro Akiyama picked up an incredible knockout victory at Friday’s ONE: King of the Jungle card in Singapore.

Akiyama appeared on the event’s main card, battling Egypt’s Sherif Mohamed in a 185-pound scrap.

The bout was far and away the biggest opportunity of Mohamed’s, and he sought to make the most of it early. From the opening bell, the Egyptian charged forward, pelting Akiyama with long-range artillery. While some of these attacks landed, Akiyama kept his cool, gradually returning fire with counterpunches and leg kicks.

As the first round wore down, the thickly-muscled Mohamed began to slow. It was at that point that Akiyama delivered the fight ending blow. A sizzling right hook sent his foe careening to the canvas in an unconcious heap.

See this destructive knockout win from Yoshihiro Akiyama below:

https://twitter.com/ONEChampionship/status/1233390159711719427

In the wake of this victory, the soft-spoken Akiyama called for a ONE Championship event in South Korea — something the promotion has been targeting for some time but has not yet made happen.

Akiyama, who is Japanese-Korean by heritage, has previously discussed his desire to help the next generation of Korean fighters.

“In Korea right now there are hungry athletes who are not yet popular who deserve a chance,” Akiyama told BJPENN.com in June of 2019, days ahead of his ONE Championship debut. “By representing Korea very well, I hope that ONE Championship will go to Korea, host a very big event, and those deserving Korean athletes can get a chance to fight for ONE Championship also. I hope that I can help them out.”

With his win over Mohamed, Yoshihiro Akiyama improves to 1-1 in ONE Championship, having lost a tight decision to former title challenger Agilan Thani in his debut with the promotion. The beloved 44-year-old veteran is now 15-7 overall.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/27/2020.