ONE Championship: dominant Kongthoranee keeps rolling with Mazoriev win, picks up US$10,000 bonus
- Thai fighter Kongthoranee Sor Sommai picks up unanimous decision victory over Russian Sharif Mazoriev
- Undoubted highlight of the evening sees Majid Karimi get back off the canvass to finish Teeyai PKSaenchaigym
Kongthoranee Sor Sommai just keeps on winning. The Thai flyweight made it six in a row with a decision victory over Sharif Mazoriev in the main event of ONE Friday Fights 48.
The Russian southpaw was competing on one of these cards for the first time, but immediately seized the centre of the ring and looked to land left crosses and left kicks. The strategy initially appeared to be paying dividends with Kongthoranee making a slow start.
The action intensified at the end of the round with Kongthoranee starting to find a home for his right kick, targeting the inside of his opponent’s right thigh. Both men landed left hands from the southpaw stance leaving the fight nicely poised heading into the second round.
Kongthoranee turned up the heat at the restart, landing punches and elbows with Mazoriev desperately grabbing the ropes to keep his balance. The Russian looked a little intimidated as his opponent landed punches to the head and body.
The first round had been close but at this stage the experienced Kongthoranee was clearly in the ascendancy. He continued to target the lower legs and started to pile on the pressure in the third round.
The Russian was doing a good job of showing he wasn’t hurt, waving his hands and smiling but it was one way traffic. With 30 seconds remaining in the round Mazoriev finally wilted under the pressure and took a count after a sustained attack of punches and elbows.