ONE Warrior Series 8 was held at the Bellesalle Shibuya Garden in Tokyo today. In the main event Emmanuel Onyedikachi avenged the only loss in his professional career with a technical decision win over Devon Morris.
The second encounter between two hard-hitting welterweights was an intense back-and-forth affair as they stood toe-to-toe and went strike-for-strike until the abrupt end in the third round.
Learning from the mistakes made in their initial meeting, Onyedikachi pressed the action from the get-go. He put together blistering combinations of solid punches that had his opponent frantically backtracking.
When Morris was able to momentarily halt the Nigerian’s momentum by uncorking a jab-straight combination in the second stanza Onyedikachi retaliated with a huge left hook of his own.
Change of plan
As Morris’ stinging right hands found a home Onyedikachi changed his plan of attack and unloaded a series of unforgiving leg kicks that caused the American to struggle in keeping his balance and range.
The difficulties in defending the low kicks persisted for Morris. Capitalizing on the situation, Onyedikachi saw a clear opening to clobber an uppercut that turned out to be the key highlight of the entire five-minute period.
Onyedikach seemed to be in the lead going into the third round. However he was not guilty of complacency and continued to be the aggressor.
Premature ending
Onyedikach’s drive to finish the dying seconds of the final frame saw the fight end on an anticlimactic note. Morris fired back but inadvertently landed an illegal blow to the groin.
Although he was given five minutes to recover, Onyedikach could barely walk due to the pain, forcing the referee to wave off the contest. With the best part of three rounds having elapsed we went to the scorecards and the Nigerian won by unanimous decision.
Onyedikach improves to 4-1 and avenges the only loss of his professional career. Meanwhile Morris drops to 5-5 after suffering his first OWS defeat.
Strong message
In the co-headliner Japanese prospect Ryoji Kudo (6-1-1) sent a strong message to the promotion’s featherweight roster by blemishing the previously-unscathed MMA record of Jerry Olsim (6-1).
Kudo put on an impressive display of dominance to defeat Olsim by way of unanimous decision. The hometown favorite was more aggressive and able to get the action to the ground.
He succeeded in grinding out Olsim in the final round, landing a last-second takedown that effectively ended any faint hopes the Filipino might have had of winning the decision.
ONE Warrior Series 8, Tokyo, October 5th
Emmanuel Onyedikachi defeats De’von Morris by Technical Decision (Unanimous)
Ryoji Kudo defeats Jerry Olsim by Decision (Unanimous)
Sandra Godvik defeats Ayaka Miyauchi by Decision (Unanimous)
Min Jong Song defeats Kodai Murata by Decision (Unanimous)
Nobutaka Naito defeats Alex Schild by Decision (Unanimous)
Hikaru Yoshino defeats Chan Samart by Decision (Unanimous)
So Yul Kim defeats Satomi Takano by Decision (Unanimous)
Otgonbaatar Nergui defeats Takuya Nagata by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 4:10 minutes of round 1
Asuka Tsubaki defeats Long La by TKO (Strikes) at 4:27 minutes of round 2
Ahmed Faez Anuar defeats Ryuichi Yamashita by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 4:55 minutes of round 1
Kickboxing: Sean Rush defeats Koki Shimokawa by Technical Knockout (TKO) at 2:11 minutes of round 2
Yuko Suzuki defeats Edilah Johany by Submission (Armbar) at 2:12 minutes of round 1
Hiroyasu Sakurai defeats Shimamura Naoki by Decision (Split)
Kickboxing: Shoa Arii defeats Lehe by Technical Knockout (TKO) at 1:54 minutes of round 3
Kickboxing: Kanta Motoyama defeats Cep Holik by Decision (Unanimous)
