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This day in ONE Championship history: Aung La N Sang vs Ken Hasegawa I
On this day in ONE Championship history (June 29th, 2018) Aung La N Sang vs Ken Hasegawa I took place. ONE Championship took over Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.
Aung La N Sang and Ken Hasegawa threw down in the main event and sent the partisan crowd home happy. N Sang is a cultural icon in Myanmar and that resonated in a big way during this fight.
The cacophonous reactions from adoring fans rang out during this bout whenever a momentum shift would favor The Burmese Python.
This day in ONE Championship history
The monumental contest stands as arguably the most high-octane, memorable clash in the history of ONE.
N Sang was defending his ONE middleweight world championship in this contest. Hasegawa came into the clash as the DEEP Megaton Openweight champion.
The first frame of the fight was a purely stand-up affair with the crowd roaring in approval every time the defending world champion connected.
The second stanza saw N Sang get caught off balance. The champion maintained that composure and he showed an economical approach to his game thereafter.
The challenger who had been building momentum in the strikes shot for the takedown. But N Sang was able to stuff Hasegawa’s advances. A cut opens on Hasegawa and the fistic fireworks increased to close out the round.
N Sang rocks Hasegawa in the third but the challenger is able to get things to the mat. The exhaustion is clearly setting in but yet the strikes are unwavering from both.
The fourth saw N Sang drop Hasegawa in a big way after a right and a pair of uppercuts. He took the back to work for a rear-naked choke leading to a wild momentum-shifting scramble. One where N Sang briefly got mount before the bludgeoning striking war soon resumed a bit afterward.
The final frame of the fight was where the dramatic finish finally transpired. A KO/TKO via Punches at 3:13 sealed the deal for the defending champion, Hasegawa was put out for good this time, and the crowd lost it for Aung La N Sang’s triumph.
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