One Championship News & FeaturesLe Mauls Tonon, Lineker Smashes Fernandes in One ‘Lights Out’ Headliners
Eight out of ten fights ended by knockout in the latest One Championship event, one appropriately
titled “Lights Out.”
The One: “Lights Out” headliner saw Thanh Le notch his first title defense against grappling ace Garry Tonon at 155 pounds. The fight itself only lasted 56 seconds, the time for the two contestants to study one other and exchange a few shots. When the Dana White's Contender Series vet Le (13-2, 5-0 One) started reaching his opponent with a few combinations, Tonon (6-1, 6-1 One) dropped low in pursuit of a heel hook. Le resisted the first submission attempt, and Tonon switched to a kneebar after a remarkable transition. At the same time, the John Danaher protégé left himself exposed to his opponent shots, which landed hard on their target. Tonon was visibly out after taking a couple of punches, but Le continued to drop bombs until the referee stopped him. Le’s majestic performance – and his fifth straight by stoppage – was rewarded with a $50,000 performance bonus.
The co-main event featured a One bantamweight championship affair between defending titleholder Bibiano Fernandes and the power-punching John Lineker. The pair put on a hard-fought battle as they exchanged heavy shots for much of the fight. Fernandes (24-4, 12-1 One) attempted to nullify his opponent’s power by dragging the action to the ground, and he looked to have some success for a while. When the Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Lineker (34-9, 3-0 One) bounced back to his feet, he immediately started to throw haymakers, only to get clipped with a short hook. “Hands of Stone” took the flash knockdown well, scrambling scrambling his way back on top, and he unleashed heavy punches for the rest of the frame.
In Round 2, the 41-year-old succeeded in striking his way into a takedown entry, where he grounded Lineker until the challenger wall-walked back to his feet. In trademark Lineker fashion, several wild exchanges ensued, and the Brazilian bomber’s punches found their home as he scored a perfectly timed left hook right on Fernandes’ chin. “The Flash” went down in a heap with his legs crossed, and there was no fight left in the soon-to-be former champion. Referee Olivier Coste stopped the action at the 3:40 mark, and the championship-claiming triumph for “Hands of Stone” also earned him an extra $50,000 in the form of a performance bonus.
Elsewhere, former two-division kingpin Martin Nguyen (14-5, 11-5 One) defeated Kirill Gorobets (11-2, 0-1 One) with a barrage of punches at the 2:18 mark of Round 3 in One’s featherweight division; heavyweight kickboxer Iraj Azizpour smashed Ismael Londt with a massive left hook that ended the contest at 2:01 of the second frame; Adrian Mattheis (10-5, 10-5 One) scored a sudden upset at the expense of former One strawweight titleholder Alex Silva (11-7, 10-7 One) when he knocked down his opponent with a clean overhand right. The referee rushed in to stop the contest five seconds into the second round, as Silva was reaching for a takedown. In a strawweight kickboxing affair, Zhang Peimian halted Josh Tonna by recording a trio of knockdowns that called a stop to the fight at 2:11 of Round 2.
In the lead card, Eko Roni Saputra (6-1, 6-1 One) scored his sixth straight first-round finish by submitting Chan Rothana (7-5, 6-5 One) with a 94-second rear-naked choke in One’s flyweight category; Iman Barlow successfully debuted in her strawweight muay Thai and picked up a $50,000 bonus check by forcing the doctors to step in 99 seconds into her bout with Daniela Lopez after delivering a nasty elbow; in a 177-pound muay Thai battle, Liam Nolan stopped Kim Kyung Lock with knees in only 62 seconds to pocket a $50,000 performance bonus; Heqin Lin outpointed Milagros Lopez on all scorecards in their strawweight kickboxing clash to start off the evening in the event’s lone decision.
Lights OUT! 💡@ThanhLeMMA 🇻🇳🇺🇸 uncorks a looping right hand on Garry Tonon to close the show and retain his ONE Featherweight World Title! #ONELightsOut pic.twitter.com/GAM5Mn1BlB
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 11, 2022
The One: “Lights Out” headliner saw Thanh Le notch his first title defense against grappling ace Garry Tonon at 155 pounds. The fight itself only lasted 56 seconds, the time for the two contestants to study one other and exchange a few shots. When the Dana White's Contender Series vet Le (13-2, 5-0 One) started reaching his opponent with a few combinations, Tonon (6-1, 6-1 One) dropped low in pursuit of a heel hook. Le resisted the first submission attempt, and Tonon switched to a kneebar after a remarkable transition. At the same time, the John Danaher protégé left himself exposed to his opponent shots, which landed hard on their target. Tonon was visibly out after taking a couple of punches, but Le continued to drop bombs until the referee stopped him. Le’s majestic performance – and his fifth straight by stoppage – was rewarded with a $50,000 performance bonus.
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"Hands of Stone" ROCKS the Champ and "The Flash" returns fire! 👊💥👊 @johnlineker #ONELightsOut
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 11, 2022
Live & Free In 🇺🇸 | Watch Live 👉 https://t.co/0BwiA1QYgg | ONE Super App 👉 https://t.co/3F0ImkkhFC | ONE YouTube 👉 https://t.co/qlU7w0Xvne pic.twitter.com/rPG4zCIpNf
The co-main event featured a One bantamweight championship affair between defending titleholder Bibiano Fernandes and the power-punching John Lineker. The pair put on a hard-fought battle as they exchanged heavy shots for much of the fight. Fernandes (24-4, 12-1 One) attempted to nullify his opponent’s power by dragging the action to the ground, and he looked to have some success for a while. When the Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Lineker (34-9, 3-0 One) bounced back to his feet, he immediately started to throw haymakers, only to get clipped with a short hook. “Hands of Stone” took the flash knockdown well, scrambling scrambling his way back on top, and he unleashed heavy punches for the rest of the frame.
In Round 2, the 41-year-old succeeded in striking his way into a takedown entry, where he grounded Lineker until the challenger wall-walked back to his feet. In trademark Lineker fashion, several wild exchanges ensued, and the Brazilian bomber’s punches found their home as he scored a perfectly timed left hook right on Fernandes’ chin. “The Flash” went down in a heap with his legs crossed, and there was no fight left in the soon-to-be former champion. Referee Olivier Coste stopped the action at the 3:40 mark, and the championship-claiming triumph for “Hands of Stone” also earned him an extra $50,000 in the form of a performance bonus.
Elsewhere, former two-division kingpin Martin Nguyen (14-5, 11-5 One) defeated Kirill Gorobets (11-2, 0-1 One) with a barrage of punches at the 2:18 mark of Round 3 in One’s featherweight division; heavyweight kickboxer Iraj Azizpour smashed Ismael Londt with a massive left hook that ended the contest at 2:01 of the second frame; Adrian Mattheis (10-5, 10-5 One) scored a sudden upset at the expense of former One strawweight titleholder Alex Silva (11-7, 10-7 One) when he knocked down his opponent with a clean overhand right. The referee rushed in to stop the contest five seconds into the second round, as Silva was reaching for a takedown. In a strawweight kickboxing affair, Zhang Peimian halted Josh Tonna by recording a trio of knockdowns that called a stop to the fight at 2:11 of Round 2.
In the lead card, Eko Roni Saputra (6-1, 6-1 One) scored his sixth straight first-round finish by submitting Chan Rothana (7-5, 6-5 One) with a 94-second rear-naked choke in One’s flyweight category; Iman Barlow successfully debuted in her strawweight muay Thai and picked up a $50,000 bonus check by forcing the doctors to step in 99 seconds into her bout with Daniela Lopez after delivering a nasty elbow; in a 177-pound muay Thai battle, Liam Nolan stopped Kim Kyung Lock with knees in only 62 seconds to pocket a $50,000 performance bonus; Heqin Lin outpointed Milagros Lopez on all scorecards in their strawweight kickboxing clash to start off the evening in the event’s lone decision.
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