When Chatri Sityodtong announced that Petchmorrakot Petchyindee’s decision win over Giorgio Petrosyan was being overturned it created a steady stream of online comments and videos. Many people questioned which rules the Thai has broken.
This morning the ONE Championship CEO provided the answers. In a detailed post Chatri explained exactly how Petchmorrakot had infringed on the promotion’s kickboxing rules:
https://www.facebook.com/100001565101686/posts/2350703531658461/
Contrary to popular belief Petchmorrakot was not accused of clinching for longer than the allotted three seconds. However, according to Chatri, he repeatedly used the clinch for defensive purposes which is now allowed under kickboxing rules in ONE Championship.
He also states that ‘under ONE rules, the clinch is ONLY allowed for offensive aggression with strikes’ and says that the referee should have intervened to issue Petchmorrakot a yellow card instead of repeatedly warning the Muay Thai veteran.
Petchmorrakot was recently ordained as a monk, something which most young Buddhist men do in Thailand. His camp, Petchyindee, has indicated that they will not accept a rematch with Petrosyan as they are unhappy with the decision to overturn the result.
Daniel Dawson won the alternate bout at ONE: ‘Enter the Dragon’ last weekend. Should Petchmorrakot withdraw from the tournament, as his management have suggested, then Petrosyan will presumably be matched with the Australian in a rearranged quarter final bout.
The Featherweight Kickboxing Grand Prix final is scheduled to take place at ONE: ‘Century’ in October with $1 million awaiting the winner. That leaves the promotion with a very limited amount of time in which to arrange an alternative quarter final and the two semi finals.
