Chang Min Yoon was one of the big winners at ONE: ‘Full Blast’ Part II which was broadcast last Friday. The Korean secured a rear naked choke win over Ma Jia Wen in the opening round of their featherweight fight.
It was a virtuoso display from Yoon who wasted no time in getting the fight to the ground and then sinking in the submission. It was the fifth win of his ONE Championship career but there was one issue which needed to be cleared up after the fight.
Ma didn’t tap, or at least he didn’t get a chance to before the referee dived in to call off the contest. The submission was deep and the Chinese fighter appeared to be just about to tap for the first time but the referee got their first.
Really deep
There did not appear to be any prospect of Ma working his way out of the position and there were more than three minutes remaining in the round. As far as Yoon is concerned the referee did the right thing,
“When the choke was in I felt his breathing getting heavier and heavier. It was really deep and I knew the fight was over.”
Yoon took his opponent down with a trip and then proceeded to exert complete control on the ground. It was the fourth submission win of his ONE Championship career but surprisingly he says the fight didn’t go entirely according to plan,
“At first my plan was to strike with him but when I felt that choke it was really deep so I felt this was a chance I shouldn’t let go.”
Fully in
Eddie Alvarez recently saw a DQ loss to Iuri Lapicus overturned with the result changed to a ‘no contest’. However the former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion was on the verge of winning by stoppage when the fight was paused due to several blows to the back of the head.
By contrast Ma appeared to be on the verge of tapping anyway when the referee stepped in to call of this contest so it’s unlikely that any retrospective action will be taken. For his part Yoon is adamant that the stoppage came at the correct time,
“I felt his body weaken. It was fully in.”
With five stoppage wins out of six in the ONE Championship circle Yoon remains a contender at featherweight and is clearly one of the top fighters outside of the current top five.
