ONE On TNT 1 Results & Recap

ONE On TNT 1 Results & Recap

ONE Championship kicked off their ONE on TNT series on April 7th, their debut on US network television.

After what appeared to be a last-minute reshuffle, the main event of the evening was the catchweight Muay Thai feature between Thai superstar Rodtang Jitmuangnon and late notice replacement, Australia’s Danial ‘Mini T’ Williams.

Most experts were predicting an easy win for Rodtang, but the fight was an all-out war. Williams showed no fear and stood toe to toe with the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai Champion.

However, it was Rodtang who was more effective, dropping Williams in Round Two and running away with a unanimous decision win.

Williams for his part, announced himself to the ONE audience with a valiant performance. ‘Mini T’ is signed to ONE for both Muay Thai and MMA, so it will be interesting to see where his next opportunity takes place.

The co-main event produced what would be considered a shocker to ONE’s new US audience. Reigning ONE Flyweight Champion Adriano Moraes defeated former longtime UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson by TKO in the second round.

After a tactical battle in the first round, Moraes wobbled Johnson with a punch as the American advanced, following up with a big knee as he went down and closing the show with punches on the ground.

Moraes will now have to search for another challenge, as his dominance over the flyweight division continues.

Johnson, the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix winner, saw his three-fight winning streak in the ONE circle snapped. The 34-year-old falls to an overall record of 30-4-1.

Eddie Alvarez’s frustrating start to life as a ONE athlete continued, as he was disqualified from his bout with Iuri Lapicus due to illegal strikes to the back of the head.

Alvarez was in top position against the cage when he started unloading punches as Lapicus turned his head. After a couple of punches, the referee warned ‘The Underground King’ who responded, but continued to throw punches. Another landed, and the Moldovan cried out in pain, causing the referee to step in.

After giving Lapicus time to recover, a red card was shown to Alvarez and as such, he was disqualified. The American immediately protested, but was all class after the fight, even appearing visibly shaken as his Moldovan opponent was escorted from the cage on a stretcher.

Alvarez now holds a 1-2 record in the ONE circle, and now faces an even longer road to the ONE World Lightweight Title. The 37-year-old will likely face Lapicus in a rematch, due to the controversial nature of Wednesday’s fight.

Former title challenger Lapicus, will likely need to go 2-0 against Alvarez to be able to lay claim to a rematch with champion Christian Lee, to whom he lost in quick fashion in October.

The fight card, as many have in the current climate, suffered some late changes due to COVID protocols. Rade Opacic and Mehdi Barghi were late withdrawals, while their opponents, Oumar Kane and Patrick Schmid agreed to a matchup under MMA rules.

The bout went as most had predicted, as Kane ran Schmid over, throwing heavy leather standing up before taking the fight to the ground. The Swiss kickboxer stayed composed despite never having fought in MMA before, but ‘Reug Reug’ was too much in that realm, with the referee stepping in to stop the onslaught shortly after.

ONE on TNT 1 Results:

Catchweight (61.5kg) Muay Thai: Rodtang Jitmuangnon (Thailand) defeated Danial Williams (Australia) by unanimous decision

ONE Flyweight Title: Adriano Moraes (Brazil) (C) defeated Demetrious Johnson (USA) by R2 TKO (knee and punches)

Lightweight MMA: Iuri Lapicus (Moldova) defeated Eddie Alvarez (USA) by disqualification (strikes to the back of the head)

Welterweight MMA: Raimond Magomedaliev (Russia) defeated Tyler McGuire (USA) by unanimous decision

Featherweight kickboxing: Enriko Kehl (Germany) defeated Chingiz Allazov (Belarus) by split decision

Heavyweight MMA: Oumar Kane (Senegal) defeated Patrick Schmid (Switzerland) by R1 TKO (ground and pound)