It was a redemptive win for ONE Championship fighter Rajinder “Knockout” Singh Meena, 31, of India on January 26, 2018 when he faced Zhang Ze Hao, 25, of China at “ONE: Global Superheroes” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Their lightweight bout was the second bout of the evening.
Meena captured his first victory inside the cage defeating his opponent, who is a highly touted Chinese mixed martial artist, by way of first-round submission. Determined to break into the winner’s column, ten Indian MMA fighter needed just 42 seconds in the opening round to put his opponent to sleep with a guillotine choke.
It was Zhang’s first loss as a professional MMA fighter and under the promotion. He made his promotional debut on September 2, 2017 at “ONE Championship: Shanghai,” where he knocked out his fellow Chinese fighter Cheng Chao Li.
On November 3, 2017, Zhang knocked out his Indian opponent Bala Shetty at “ONE: Hero’s Dream.” After losing to Meena, Zhang now has 2 wins and 1 loss.
On the other hand, Meena currently holds a record of 9 wins and 7 losses. He suffered a losing streak from 2015 to 2017 before finally winning at “ONE: Global Superheroes.”
Coming from the Indian MMA promotion Super Fight League, Meena had an impressive record of 8 wins and 1 loss when he made his ONE Championship debut at “ONE: Age of Domination” on March 13, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He lost to Peter Davis, 36, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at “ONE: Age of Champions” via technical knockout, the beginning of a series of losses.
On December 2, 2016, Meena tried to redeem himself in the ONE Championship cage at “ONE: Age of Domination” but he lost via armbar submission to Honorio “The Rock” Banario, 28, of Benguet, Philippines. On January 20, 2017, the former returned to the SFL and lost to his fellow Indian fighter Farhad Hazratzada at “SFL 2017: Wreck Thy Neighbor- Delhi Heroes vs. Haryana Sultans.”
On February 25, 2017, Meena lost to Patrick “The PNW Bad Boy” Benson, 25, of Montana, United States at “SFL 2017: Finals- The Final Battle: Delhi Heroes vs. Sher-E-Punjab” via Brabo choke submission. On May 26, 2017, the Indian fighter made yet another ONE Championship comeback as he faced Amir Khan, 23, of Singapore at “ONE: Dynasty of Heroes.”
Khan defeated Meena via technical knockout via punches. It was Meena’s sixth loss as a professional MMA fighter.
On August 5, 2017, Meena was knocked out by Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai, 29, of Bangkok, Thailand at “ONE: Kings and Conquerors.” It was Meena’s fourth fight under ONE Championship and fourth loss under the promotion.
CONAN Daily 