Rafael “Indio” Nunes, 30, of Brazil faced Eric “The Natural” Kelly, 35, of the Philippines at “ONE: Global Superheroes” on January 26, 2018 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the first ONE Championship event in 2018 in the Philippines.
Kelly is a mixed martial arts veteran. Nunes is a Muay Thai specialist.
At “ONE: Global Superheroes”, Nunes and Kelly battled it out in the featherweight division. The Brazilian MMA fighter made a triumphant return to the ONE Championship cage after two years away from competition to defeat Kelly by second-round submission.
Nunes kept Kelly on the defensive with his striking. Afterwards, the Brazilian MMA fighter took matters to the ground and sank in a deep D’Arce choke to score the finish.
This improved Nunes’s professional MMA record to 11 wins and 1 loss. On the other hand, Kelly now has 12 wins and 5 losses.
In the co-main event of “ONE: Global Superheroes,” Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, 22, unveiled an improved grappling game, submitting China’s Lan Ming Qiang, 24, via rear naked choke in the very first round. In the main event, Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio, 28, of Baguio City, Philippines clinched the ONE Interim Flyweight World Championship, edging Kairat “The Kazakh” Akhmetov, 30, by unanimous decision in an exhilarating five-round title tilt.
CONAN Daily 