Photo credit to ONE Championship PR
ONE: Battleground III results (Sitthichai wins Muay Thai main event)
ONE Championship returned earlier today with ONE: Battleground III. This was a tape-delayed card from the Singapore Indoor Stadium that broadcasted on Friday, August 27th. The show featured five exciting mixed martial arts fights and a high-level Muay Thai main event to wrap up the ONE: Battleground series.
In the top of the marquee bout, kickboxing legend Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong returned to Muay Thai and bested surging superstar Tawanchai PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym. Their matchup was fought at an incredible pace and remained exciting for the full bout duration.
Sitthichai kept getting Tawanchai on the defensive and on the backfoot with pressure-oriented boxing combos. Tawanchai countered with a variety of left kicks to the body. But the veteran did not relent in pressuring his younger opponent. The combatants took the center of the Circle and the final round saw their heaviest strikes landed. In the end, Sitthichai gutted it out against Tawanchai via razor-thin split decision.
In the co-main event, former ONE World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke turned in a masterful performance. He stymied an aggressive start from ONE Championship debutant Banma Duoji to notch the TKO win. This in spite of Dejdamrong facing a pronounced size disadvantage. Banma used his height and reach to keep the smaller man at distance early on in the first frame.
Dejdamrong eventually closed the distance and found his range in the second stanza though. Dejdamrong connected with flush right elbows. Strikes that dropped Banma and then things were finished off with a knee strike to the head thereafter.
ONE Championship
Xie Wei got it done in stellar fashion versus Dae Hwan Kim to score his third straight striking-based finish. Xie was devastating and accurate throughout the contest. He kept Kim on the back foot with that sharp and powerful striking. A devastating left hook to the body in the third round crumpled Kim onto the mat. The strike to cause the story of this fight to stop unfurling.
In a ballyhooed women’s atomweight contest, Jenelyn Olsim got it done against Bi Nguyen to earn the victory via unanimous decision. It was fairly even in the striking exchanges throughout the bout. But Olsim pulled away slightly on the scorecards with her grappling and the submission attempts.
Song Min Jong handed Tial Thang the first defeat of his pro MMA career. Song put together a multi-faceted performance with his taekwondo base serving him well. He also dominated Thang in the grappling department to garner the well-earned unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.
Purev Otgonjargal opened up ONE: Battleground III with an exciting KO win. He stopped Ben Royle less than a minute (49 seconds) into the first frame. After cracking Royle with a timely right hand that dropped him, Otgonjargal would subsequently halt the bout via follow-up ground and pound.
Official Results for ONE: Battleground III
- Muay Thai – Featherweight: Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong def. Tawanchai PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym via SD
- MMA-Catchweight (57.7 KG): Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke def. Banma Duoji via TKO at 3:31 of Round 2
- Mixed Martial Arts – Flyweight: Xie Wei def. Dae Hwan Kim via TKO at 1:46 of Round 3
- Mixed Martial Arts – Atomweight: Jenelyn Olsim def. Bi Nguyen via UD
- MMA- Bantamweight: Song Min Jong def. Tial Thang via Unanimous Decision
- Mixed Martial Arts – Bantamweight: Purev Otgonjargal def. Ben Royle via KO at 0:49 of Round 1
