Training at Fairtex Pattaya in Pattaya, Thailand, Mark “Tyson” Fairtex Abelardo, 27, of New Zealand was one of the winners at “ONE: Clash of Legends” at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on February 16, 2019. The Filipino-Kiwi ONE Warrior Series winner defeated Daichi Takenaka, 29, who is training out of Paraestra Izumi in Izumi, Osaka, Japan.
“ONE: Clash of Legends” is the first ONE Championship event in Thailand in 2019 and it featured five Muay Thai contests and seven mixed martial arts bouts. In the ninth bout of the evening, Takenaka and Abelardo battled it out in an MMA bout in the bantamweight division.
Kemp Cheng served as the referee of the bantamweight contest between Takenaka and Abelardo. The Filipino-Kiwi fighter weathered through numerous takedowns and remained relentless as he continued to score points with his strikes while fending off submission attempts.
In the final round, Abelardo delivered an elbow that opened up a deep cut on Takenaka, which caused a halt to the bout. After 2 minutes and 34 seconds in the third round, Cheng raised the hand of the Filipino-Kiwi contender, who was declared the winner via doctor stoppage.
This made Abelardo the first fighter to defeat Takenaka in a professional MMA bout. Winning at “ONE: Clash of Legends” improved the Filipino-Kiwi contender’s professional MMA record to 18 wins and 5 losses while the Japanese fighter now has 11 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw.
Including New Zealand and Japan, 14 countries were represented at “ONE: Clash of Legends.” The other countries were Cambodia, China, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States will also be represented at “ONE: Clash of Legends.”
Check the complete “ONE: Clash of Legends” results on Top Sports Asia. Watch all the bouts here:
CONAN Daily 