Hiroshi Minowa, Jenelyn Olsim and Hu Yong were the big winners at ONE: ‘Fists of Fury’ Part III. The event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium was broadcast tonight.
Minowa faced off against former strawweight champion Alex Silva. The Brazilian is a decorated BJJ black belt and he was a bag full of tricks in the opening round with the Japanese fighter forced to constantly defend submissions.
The second round was not quite so one sided. Silva was constantly looking to get to the ground and didn’t seem to mind whether he was on the bottom or the top.
Dominant positions
It allowed Minowa to spend some time in dominant positions and he capitalized with some ground and pound while Silva was plotting his next submission attempt. The Brazilian looked the livelier and landed a very sharp elbow from a neutral position during a scramble.
Minowa found himself stuffing another takedown at the start of the third and was able to secure top position after sprawling. Silva never looked short of ideas on the ground and soon reversed the position before working for another takedown.
Split decision
Once again he got the fight to the ground but ended up on the bottom. Silva used a sweep to escape and stand up but he might have been better off staying on the floor as Minowa started to score with punches.
Silva’s head movement was non existent and his face was testament to the fact that Minowa had been doing damage with his punches. The momentum had shifted in the Japanese fighter’s favour and he wound up winning by split decision.
Minowa improves to 13-2 having won both his ONE Championship fights by split decision. Silva drops to 9-6 and the 38 year old will likely lose his #5 spot in the strawweight rankings after this loss.
Clash of styles
The flyweight fight between Hu Yong and Yodkaikaew Fairtex was also a clash of styles. The Thai southpaw made a very strong start and scored with kicks to the head and body in the opening round.
Yodkaikaew was letting his hands go and a cut opened up above Yong’s right eye. There was some respite from the Chinese fighter when he completed a takedown and did some damage for top position.
Yu had effectively found a blueprint to win the fight and he used it. Yodkaikaew spent virtually all of the next two rounds on his back as he was taken down early and frustrated in his efforts to get back up.
It left the judges with a simple job and all three of them scored it for Yong. The Chinese fighter improves to 7-2 while Yodkaikaew drops to 7-3-1.
Impressive debut
There was a very impressive debut for strawweight Jenelyn Olsim (4-2). The Team Lakay representative hurt Maira Mazar (7-4) with a right hand at the start of the fight but elected to clinch up and throw knees to the body, giving the Brazilian time to recover.
It never looked like being a decisive error as Olsim controlled the fight from start to finish, flooring Mazar with a push kick to the body in the second round. The Brazilian knew she was a long way behind on the scorecards and came out aggressively at the start of the third.
Olsim took it in her stride and when Mazar pressed her against the cage she locked in a guillotine. Seconds later the Brazilian was tapping furiously with the Team Lakay representative celebrating a very impressive ONE Championship debut.
ONE: ‘Fists of Fury’ Part III, Singapore, March 19th
Kickboxing: Regian Eersel (c) def. Mustapha Haida by Decision (Unanimous) (For Lightweight Title)
Muay Thai: Janet Todd def. Alma Juniku by Decision (Unanimous)
Hiroshi Minowa def. Alex Silva by Decision (Split)
Roshan Mainam def. Aziz Calim by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:45 of Round 1
Jenelyn Olsim def. Maira Mazar by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:43 of Round 3
Hu Yong def. Yodkaikaew Fairtex by Decision (Unanimous)
