Victorian bantamweight Jordan ‘Showtime’ Lucas was unsuccessful at One Championship: State of Warriors against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former world sambo champion Yusup Saadulaev of Russia.
The event took place at Thuwunna Indoor stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on Friday night.
Saadulaev came into the bout with the momentum of a three fight win streak, Lucas on the other hand fell short in his previous debut bout with the promotion, but still garnered an impressive 8-1 record.
Both fighters were very tentative from the get go, during the feeling out process. Saadulaev opted for sidekicks, while Lucas aimed for the lowkick. Lucas moved forward calm and collected looking for the opportunity to engage in the striking. He connected with a big overhand right, then pushed away from the clinch. The two fighters connected heavily with a knee exchange.
Saadulaev continued to back away and looked weary of Lucas’s standup. The Aussie engaged with punches. Saadulaev dove in for the takedown, but Lucas was able to push away. Again Lucas connected with strikes, Saadulaev reciprocated with a sloppy takedown attempt, but fell onto his back. Lucas pounced on him momentarily, but got back to his feet. Lucas used push kicks to Saadulaev’s knee to keep his opponent guessing. Saadulaev then threw a jab cross combination which dropped Lucas to the canvas. Saadulaev attacked aggressively for the crucifix position and then began to rain down punches. Lucas broke free, Saadulaev now worked for the arm-triangle choke. Lucas defended well but Saadulaev held onto Lucas’s neck and used the fence to push off, sinking the awkward looking choke even deeper forcing Lucas to tap at 4:28 of round one.
With the win, Yusup Saadulaev takes his record to 16-4-1 and continues to make a case for a bantamweight title shot in the near future.
Filipino youngster Joshua Pacio put in a gutsy performance against a fellow undefeated fighter from Japan Yoshitaka Naito in the main event strawweight title bout. Pacio had the visible edge in the striking, while Naito showed a clear advantage on the ground which ultimately got him the submission win over Pacio early on in round three via a rear-naked choke.
Results:
- Yoshitaka Naito def. Joshua Pacio via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Rd 3, 1:33
- Aung La N Sang def. Michal Pasternak via Decision (Unanimous)
- Phoe Thaw def. Saw Yan Paing by TKO (Strikes) Rd 1, 3:23
- Kevin Belingon def. Muin Gafurov via Decision (Unanimous)
- Yusup Saadulaev def. Jordan Lucas (Australia) via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Rd 1, 4:28
- Bashir Ahmad def Mahmoud Mohamed via Submission (Heel Hook) Rd 1, 1:23
- Saw Ba Oo def. Kyal Sin Phyo by Decision (Unanimous)
- Saw Yan Paing def. Ye Yint Aung by Decision (Unanimous)
- Phoe Thaw def. Kat Pali by TKO (Strikes) Rd 1, 0:22
