Aung La N Sang needed a Herculean effort to retain his status as a ONE two-division champion Friday night — and a Herculean effort is exactly what he delivered.
“The Burmese Python” stopped Japanese challenger Ken Hasegawa with a devastating fifth-round assault to defend his middleweight title and emerge victorious from a bloody, grueling war of attrition in the main event of ONE Championship: Spirit of a Warrior, which took place at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar. A dual middleweight and light heavyweight titleholder, Sang (23-10) extended his winning streak to four straight.
Highlights of his performance can be seen below.
Aung La N Sang knocks out Ken Hasegawa in the fifth round of an EPIC clash to retain his ONE Middleweight World Championship! #SpiritOfAWarrior #Yangon #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/ooadNEoaui
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 29, 2018
In the night’s co-main event, Brazilian bantamweight contender Leandro Issa (16-6) needed just 86 seconds to submit 23-year-old up-and-comer Roman Alvarez (8-2) with a first-round arm triangle.
The entirety of ONE Championship: Spirit of a Warrior can be watched above. Complete event results can be seen below.
- Aung La N Sang def. Ken Hasegawa via TKO (strikes) at 3:13 of round five
- Leandro Issa def. Roman Alvarez via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:26 of round one
- Sagetdao Petpayathai def. Ma Jia Wen via unanimous decision
- Tetsuya Yamada def. Rafael Nunes via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 4:05 of round two
- Chen Lei def. Ahmad Qais Jasoor via TKO (punches) at 1:27 of round three
- Kritsada Kongsrichai def. Jeremy Miado via unanimous decision
- Mite Yine def. Saw Darwait via TKO (strikes) at 2:48 of round one