Former XFC and Eternal champion Reece ‘Lightning’ McLaren won’t be making it through to the ONE Championship Flyweight World Grand Prix final, after a split decision loss, on Friday night.
In a highly competitive bout that had the crowd on their feet, the Australian took on local Danny Kingad at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, for ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes event.
McLaren started strong with an early takedown contesting with the shouts of ‘Kingad’ from the crowd throughout. He managed to keep the Filipino down through multiple scrambles until the fading seconds of the round where both fighters were left standing.
The second-round was much of the same, with a few exchanges on the feet added in, it was obvious McLaren liked his chances on the ground.
Going into the third-round, McLaren looked a little tired, and Kingad looked desperate.
The Australian again went for the takedown but wasn’t able to keep the Filipino down for long, the fight eventually went to a scramble and this time Kingad scored his first takedown.
The fight ended with another Kingad takedown and some ground and pound from the Filipino, which scored highly with the judges going to the decision.
The Card was headlined by Australian Martin Nguyen who was victorious in his Featherweight title defense.
Former UFC Champions Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson and Eddie Alvarez also competed on the card.
