Training out of Arj Trainingen, Tarik Khbabez, 26, of Morocco was one of the winners at “ONE: Reign of Valor.” It marked his third victory in ONE Championship’s striking-only league ONE Super Series.
“ONE: Reign of Valor” featured nine MMA matches and five ONE Super Series contests, which were kickboxing bouts. It was the first ONE Championship event in 2019 held in Myanmar.
Held at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on March 8, 2019, “ONE: Reign of Valor” marked Khbabez’s third ONE Super Series bout. In the sixth bout of the evening, he faced Andrei “Mister KO” Stoica, 31, of Romania in a kickboxing contest in the light heavyweight division.
Atsushi Onari served as the referee. Stoica and Khbabez in an exciting ONE Super Series Kickboxing contest.
The two light heavyweight behemoths traded powerful striking combinations from the sound of the opening bell. For three full rounds, both kickboxers stood right in the pocket, exchanging their biggest shots.
But it was Khbabez who landed with more power and frequency. In the end, all three judges scored in favor of the Moroccan kickboxer to win by unanimous decision.
Winning at “ONE: Reign of Valor” improved Khbabez’s professional kickboxing record to 44 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw. On the other hand, Stoica now has 49 wins and 12 losses.
Khbabez started his karate training when he was 6 years old and went on to become a multiple-time Muay Thai and kickboxing World Champion. When he made his ONE Super Series debut at “ONE: Pinnacle of Power” at Studio City Event Center in Macau, China on June 23, 2019, he knocked out Alain “The Panther” Ngalani, 43, of Hong Kong.
Stoica was not the first opponent Khbabez defeated at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium. At the same venue, the latter knocked out his fellow Moroccan kickboxer Ibrahim “Mr. Cool” El Bouni, 25, at “ONE: Pursuit of Greatness” on October 26, 2018.
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CONAN Daily 