SHINYA “TOBIKAN JUDAN” AOKI MAKES A SUCCESSFUL DEBUT AT ONE FC: RISE OF KINGS | MMA NEWS

ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) Asia’s premier Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization impressed a sold-out Singapore Indoor Stadium with ONE FC: RISE OF KINGS. The largest MMA event held to date in Singapore proved to be a night of unforgettable action with a series of world class battles inside the famous ONE FC cage. The highly-anticipated debut of Japanese MMA superstar Shinya Aoki ended in success as the Japanese fighter defeated Arnaud “The Game” Lepont with a triangle choke submission in just 1:25 minutes of round 1.

After suffering a setback in his last fights, Aoki looked to have regained his winning ways as he entered the cage with confidence and proceeded to dominate the fight early by bringing the on-rushing Frenchman to the ground and making him fight where Aoki is most dangerous. Once on the ground, Aoki applied a triangle choke to finish Lepont in impressive fashion.

The packed Singapore Indoor Stadium also witnessed the crowning of Kotetsu Boku as the first ever ONE FC Lightweight World Champion and Soo Chul Kim as the first Bantamweight World Champion. Boku started throwing pin-point strikes at the far taller Moreira from the opening bell and it became quickly apparent that Zoro Moreira was not afraid to stand and trade punches with Boku. Both fighters displayed world class striking skills attempting various combinations throughout their bout. After a back and forth battle, Boku was able to land a series of right hands defeating his opponent at 1:02 minutes in round 3 by TKO.

Kim wasted no time against Leandro Issa in what turned out to be a very impressive night for the young Korean. Kim landed a hard right hand knocking his opponent to the canvas and finished him off with a series of strikes at just 15 seconds of round 2.

The first round of the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix got off to an exciting start with American Jens Pulver defeating Zhao Ya Fei from China by unanimous decision in round 3, Japanese Masakatsu Ueda defeating Korean Min Jung Song by unanimous decision in round 3 and Filipino Champion Kevin Belingon defeating Russian Yusup Saadulaev by TKO in round 1. All three fighters will advance to the second round of the Grand Prix which will be held at upcoming ONE FC events. The winner of the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix will contend for the ONE FC Bantamweight World Championship title in 2013.

Official results for ONE FC: RISE OF KINGS:
Shinya Aoki defeats Arnaud Lepont by triangle choke submission at 1:25 minutes of round 1
Kotetsu Boku defeats Zorobabel Moreira by TKO at 1:02 minutes of round 3
Soo Chul Kim defeats Leandro Issa by KO at 15 seconds of round 2
Melvin Manhoef defeats Ryo Kawamura by KO at 4:40 minutes of round 1
Jens Pulver defeats Zhao Ya Fei by unanimous decision of round 3
Masakatsu Ueda defeats Min Jung Song by unanimous decision at 3:00 minutes of round 3
Kevin Belingon defeats Yusup Saadulaev by TKO at 3:18 minutes of round 1
Gianni Subba defeats Bruce Loh by KO at 33 seconds of round 1
Mitch Chilson defeats Ngabdi Mulyadi by TKO at 3:57 minutes of round 2