Meng Ketuogesi claimed a decision win in the main event of ONE Hero Series 5 yesterday. The Chinese bantamweight defeated Li Shuai Hu by decision after three rounds of very one sided action in Beijing.

Ketuogesi scored his first takedown seconds after the opening bell. He proceeded to keep Li on his back and attack with a steady succession of hard punches from top position until the end of the round.

The second stanza followed an identical pattern with Ketuogesi needing less than ten seconds to catch a kick and get the fight down. With just over a minute remaining in the round the referee stood the fighters up and this time it was Li who shot for the takedown.

Top position

Ketuogesi stuffed the attempt but found himself trapped in a guillotine. He slipped out and finished the round in top position, a state of affairs that had remained almost constant throughout the first ten minutes of the fight.

Li needed to do something dramatic to turn things around in the final round. He landed a couple of left kicks against his fellow southpaw at the start of the third but was taken down before 15 seconds had elapsed.

This time Ketuogesi attempted to improve his position and moved into side control before taking Li’s back. He sunk his hooks, secured a body triangle and began to work for a rear naked choke but his opponent defended intelligently.

Complete control

Ketuogesi was in complete control but didn’t appear in any rush to finish the fight. Instead of trying to complete the rear naked choke he transitioned to an armbar which Li immediately slipped out from.

Li tried to lock on a guillotine but once again found himself on his back. He remained there until the conclusion of the fight leaving the judges with a very easy decision.

All three voted in favour of Ketuogesi who had spent virtually the entire fight in top position and improves to 2-1. His opponent drops to 1-2 after suffering a second successive OHS defeat.

ONE Hero Series 5, May 28th, Beijing
Sanda: Feng Xing Li def. Liu Ya Ning TKO in R1
Sanda: Jia Ao Qi def. Jiao Dao Bo via TKO in R2
Meng Ketuogesi def. Li Shuai Hu via Decision (Unanimous)
Chang Shuai def. Sun Shu Wei via Decision (Unanimous)
Hong Jiang def. De Ri Gun via TKO in R1
Kickboxing: Zhang Meng Fei def. ZhangShuai TKO in R2
Kickboxing: Luo Chao def. Zhang Wan Xin via TKO in R1
Xiong Pi Ping def. Wang Zhen via Decision (Unanimous)
Kickboxing: Shang Xi Feng def. Zhang Ye via Decision (Split)
Li Hong Lin def. Sha Ni Du via KO/TKO at R1
Kickboxing: Li Yuan Kun def. Zhang Tao via Decision (Unanimous)