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There’s a new lightweight king in town.
Shinya Aoki took a short break after reclaiming the ONE title with a first-round submission over Eduard Folayang on March 31, and returned to the ring to put his belt on the line against Christian Lee in the main event of ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon in Singapore.
Yet, things did not go his way on Friday.
The Japanese star quickly took the fight to the ground in the first round, coming close to finishing Lee with a tight armbar, but Lee managed to survive and escape. Aoki attempted to take his opponent to the mat as the second round started, but this time Lee defended the takedown and blasted Aoki with punches, forcing the referee to end the title fight at the 51-second mark of the second round.
ONE Championship✔@ONEChampionship
UNBELIEVABLE toughness from “The Warrior!” @ChristianLeeMMA #WeAreONE #EnterTheDragon #Singapore #MartialArts30211:48 PM – May 17, 2019108 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy
Christian Lee (12-3) joins his sister in ONE’s stable of champs, dethroning Shinya Aoki with a second-round comeback salvo! The 20-year-old lightweight king has stopped three straight and finished each of his wins, eight by knockout. #EnterTheDragon6211:30 PM – May 17, 201930 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy
The second-to-last MMA bout of the card featured the promotional debut of Sage Northcutt. Yet, the night ended quickly for the UFC veteran, who got brutally knocked out by experienced Brazilian striker Cosmo Alexandre in just 29 seconds (watch here).
In the lightweight division, Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev continued to impress with a vicious first-round knockout over short-notice replacement Amir Khan, putting him out in less than three minutes to advance to the lightweight tournament final.
Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev aka “Dagi” destroys Amir Khan in under 3 minutes, advancing to the ONE LW GP Final. Arslanaliev is now 8-1 and has finished all his fights. #EnterTheDragon419:22 PM – May 17, 201916 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy
Arslanaliev is now expected to face the winner of Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Lowen Tynanes in the lightweight tournament final later this year. Nastyukhin and Tynanes scored first-round finishes over Eddie Alvarez and Honorio Banario, respectively, in their quarterfinal bouts.
In an alternate bout for the flyweight grand prix, former champion Geje Eustaquio scored a decision victory over Kim Kyu Sung to return to the win column four months after losing the title to Adriano Moraes.
Jiu-jitsu wizard Garry Tonon was the biggest attraction of the preliminary portion, scoring a 55-second finish over Yoshiki Nakahara to improve to 5-0 as a mixed martial artist (watch here).
Click here for complete ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon results.
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