By:  | March 25, 2023 10:58 am

Seo Hee Ham earned a unanimous decision win over Itsuki Hirata in their long awaited atomweight fight this morning. They had been scheduled to face one another last year but the Korean pulled out when her opponent was unable to make weight.

This time around Hirata had no issues at the weigh ins. But she caused Ham very few problems during a 15 minute fight which was controlled from start to finish by the former Rizin super atomweight champion.

The Korean southpaw was looking to land the straight left early on but there were very few strikes attempted or landed. Hirata shot for her first takedown of the fight but it was stuffed.

Ham was finding a home for her left hand although they were glancing blows rather than solid shots. Hirata continued to shoot for takedowns but ate a knee on the break.

No marks

At the start of the second Ham appeared to drop Hirata with a left hand but the Japanese fighter bounced up immediately with a big grin on her face so the damage was clearly minimal. She responded with a takedown but it was stuffed and the UFC veteran ended up in top position.

Hirata slipped out and briefly had Ham’s back before pressing her up against the cage and completing a single leg takedown. The Korean eventually worked her way out looked to land more left hands before stuffing a takedown.

Hirata had barely landed a single strike heading into the third round and was given a yellow card for constantly backtracking. Ham landed a left kick to the midsection and the Japanese fighter responded with a takedown attempt.

Too little too late

They would spend much of the remainder of the final round on the ground with Hirata’s hands wrapped around the Korean’s waist while Ham landed some punches and elbows from a sitting position. With seconds remaining the Japanese fighter rolled out and briefly had side control but it was too little too late.

There as no a single mark or blemish on Ham’s face at the end of the fight and she took a clear cut decision win which takes her record to 26-8. Hirata drops t0 5-2 but might feel that going the distance with the seasoned Korean was an accomplishment in itself.

Best of the rest

The card was headlined by two title bouts. In the co-main event Allycia Rodrigues made a successful return to the ONE Championship cage, defeating Janet Todd by decision in her first fight since 2019.

Rodrigues was fighting for the first time since giving birth to her son. Todd was the interim atomweight champion and the Brazilian was the regular champion but she unified the titles with victory in Singapore.

In the main event Superlek Kiatmoo9 stopped Danial Williams in the third round. He knocked the late replacement down with a knee to the head and then finished him with a flurry of punches.

Williams had initially been scheduled to compete in a strawweight Muay Thai bout. But he stepped up to challenge Superlek for the flyweight kickboxing belt after Rodtang Jitmuangnon withdrew.

ONE Fight Night 8, Singapore, March 25th
Kickboxing: Superlek Kiatmoo9  def. Danial Williams via TKO (Punches) at 1:55 of R3
Muay Thai: Allycia Rodrigues def. Janet Todd via Decision (Unanimous)
Seo Hee Ham def. Itsuki Hirata via Decision (Unanimous)
Akbar Abdullaev def. Oh Ho Taek via TKO (Punches) at 0:44 of R1
Kickboxing: Zhang Peimian def. Torepchi Dongak via Decision (Unanimous)
Muay Thai: Aslanbek Zikreev def. Rui Botelho via Decision (Split)
Keito Yamakita def. Alex Silva via Decision (Unanimous)
Muay Thai: Eddie Abasolo def. Niclas Larsen via KO (Punch) at 2:14 of R2
Muay Thai: Iman Barlow def. Ekaterina Vandaryeva via Decision (Unanimous)
Submission Grappling: Tammi Musumeci def. Bianca Basílio via Decision (Unanimous)