Adriano Moraes cemented his legacy as the best fighter in the division after reclaiming the flyweight title against Geje Eustaquio in the main event of the ONE Championship: Hero's Ascent at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night.
The Brazilian became a three-time world champion after the unanimous decision win in the culmination of a classic rivalry that began in 2014.
Looking for the finishing blow, Moraes brought the match to the ground. He pinned down Eustaquio twice in the final round, putting himself in a prime position to win the contest.
But Eustaquio rallied in front of a raucous home crowd but in the final moments he appeared like he was only looking to survive the five-rounder. As he was lying on the ground, he kept deflecting each of Moraes' strikes until the bell rang.
"It's very tough to fight here in Manila against a Filipino. But today I made history. I'm so proud of myself," said Moraes.
Eustaquio was gracious in defeat.
"Sorry Pilipinas I didn't make it tonight. In my mind I thought I was winning the fight. But that's part of the game. Tonight is not my night," he said. "But the road doesn't end there. I've been through it before. Time to get back to the drawing board."
In the co-main event, Lowen Tynanes made short work of Filipino Honorio Banario and scored a technical knockout after 4:46 in the opening salvo.
Tynanes, who hailed from Hawaii, didn't look like he was coming off a two-year break. He was quick to seize control after bringing the match to the ground. It was all Tynanes from there, with Banario showing little to no resistance the rest of the way.
"Like I said, I'm very excited since the beginning. I'm so happy to be back especially here in Manila," said Tynanes.
Tynanes will advance to the Lightweight Grand Prix.
Ushering in that match was the Danny Kingad-Tatsumitsu Wada battle, which was not lacking in action the entire time.
It was virtually anybody's match in the first two rounds. But Kingad came out more aggressive in the final round and landed several solid blows before Wada took control from below.
Good thing the 23-year-old FIlipino fighter was able to reverse it in the nick of time and win the bout via unanimous decision.
Kingad will advance to the Flyweight Grand Prix.
In the muay thai flyweight match, Rodtang Jitmuangnon was on attack mode early on, battering Fahdi Khaled on all fronts. Although clearly outmatched, Khaled was able to survive for three rounds.
Still, the flamboyant Jitmuangnon picked up the victory via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring in his favor.
In the battle between the middleweights, Reinier de Ridder went to work early. He dictated the match and it didn't take long before he put the stranglehold on the victory over China's Fan Rong via a D'Arce choke in the 1:51 mark of the opening round.
The 28-year-old mixed martial artist from The Netherlands improved to a perfect, 10-0 win-loss card.
Meanwhile, Hiroki Akimoto preserved a pristine 20-0 record after beating Australia's Josh Tonna via unanimous decision in their kickboxing (flyweight) tussle. It was anybody's match until the Japanese fighter went berserk in the final round, a stellar performance highlighted by a smashing right kick to the abdomen that sent his counterpart to the canvass with 1:40 left in the final round.
Kicking off the main card was the muay thai bout (featherweight) between Brown Pinas and Bangpleenoi Petchyindee Academy. Action started to pick up only in the 1:30 of the last round, when Bangpleenoi decked his foe with a left hook to the jaw. The Thai fighter went on to win via unanimous decision.
Prelim results: Flyweight bout (Muay Thai): Elias Mahmoudi def. Yukinori Ogasawara via unanimous decision
Featherweight Bout (MMA): Tang Kai def. Sung Jong Lee via KO2 - 1:14 (left head kick)
Bantamweight Bout (Muay Thai): Hiroaki Suzuki def. Mohammed bin Mahmoud via TKO3 (2:53)
Strawweight Bout (MMA): Himanshu Kaushik def. Egi Rozten via TKO1 - 3:33 (ground and pound)