Matheus Pereira Guillotine Topples Khasan Khaliev at ONE Friday Fights 55

Matheus Pereira put on a thrilling performance to walk away with a third-round guillotine choke submission victory against Khasan Khaliev in their ONE Friday Fights 55 lightweight showcase on Friday at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. It was the lone mixed martial arts contest on the bill.

Both competitors came out exchanging a few kicks to the legs and breadbasket before Khaliev managed to catch one and take his foe to the ground. However, the Brazilian was able to get back to his feet when Khaliev attempted to land a punch from top. Khaliev was quick to shoot in for a single-leg, only to be thrown to the canvas by the Brazilian, who followed him to the ground with a thunderous right hand from top. A hurt but relentless Khaliev found the space to attack with another takedown, eventually finding his way back to his feet. A visibly gassed Khaliev then attempted to clinch with the bigger Pereira, who was quick to drop him with a sneaky uppercut. Instead of going to the ground, Pereira directed his opponent to get back to his feet. A few moments later, Khaliev managed to land a stiff right hand on his adversary and then catch a low kick attack to swiftly take his counterpart’s back and press him against the fence.

Round 2 saw Khaliev start with several low kick attacks, keeping Pereira on the back foot. The Russian realized some success in the boxing range while landing a few spinning attacks, as well. Adjusting to the shifting momentum, Pereira began throwing several thudding body kicks, visibly damaging his foe's forearms, eventually forcing Khaliev to switch stances. Following a warning for more action from the referee, Pereira began to press the issue while landing a combination of kicks and stinging jabs, forcing Khaliev to retreat.

Pereira came out looking a lot more comfortable inside the ring in Round 3, pressing his opponent with a mix of striking attacks from southpaw. The Brazilian managed to comfortably avoid several takedown attempts from Khaliev while hurting him with stinging punches and knees to the body. As Pereira went for another high kick, Khaliev caught it in an attempt to take his opponent down, only to end up on bottom himself with the Brazilian raining punches from above. Instead of engaging on the canvas, Pereira then opted to get back to his feet and land an axe kick on Khaliev, which the Russian managed to catch while shooting in for a perfectly timed double-leg takedown. However, the visibly hurt and tired Khaliev was unable to control Pereira on the ground as the Brazilian made his way back to his feet and landed a skull-shattering knee. The Russian somehow ate the shot. Despite the exhaustion, Khaliev kept trying to take Pereira down, this time getting caught in a standing guillotine submission at 3:57 of Round 3.

In other action Kiamran Nabati kept his undefeated record after securing a unanimous decision against veteran Avatar PK Saenchai in the bantamweight muay thai main event; Rittidet Sor Sommai knocked out Tomyamkoong Bhumjaithai at 1:25 in Round 2 of their 133-pound catchweight muay thai bout; Bhumjaithai Mor Tor 1 walked away with a TKO win 16 seconds into Round 3 against Panthep VK Khaoyai in a 123-pound catchweight meeting; Denphuthai Sitjackmuaythai earned a unanimous decision over Rhuam Felipe Morais Caldas in a flyweight muay thai contest; Chalamdam Sor Boonmeerit scored a come-from-behind victory at 1:57 against Singtanawat Nokjeanladkrabang in a strawweight muay thai meeting; Kaichon Sor Yingcharoenkarnchang put on a dominant performances to earn the unanimous decision against Jompadej Nupranburi in a 122-pound catchweight muay thai tilt; Stephen Irvine laid it all on the line to score a unanimous decision against Longern Paesaisi in a 127-pound catchweight muay thai battle; Natalia Diachkova earned a ONE Championship contract thanks to her Round 1 knockout of Chellina Chirino; Taiki Naito walked away with a two-fight winning streak after receiving the nod from all the judges in his 136.4-pound catchweight muay thai meeting with Sherzod Kabutov; Ryota Koshimizu stopped Joker Paesaisi in the opening seconds of Round 3 of their 137-pound catchweight muay thai contest; and Shoya Ishiguro made a successful ONE debut after recording a unanimous decision over Toshiyasu Sagae in their submission grappling match.