Eto Submits Khan, Akiyama KOs Mohamed at One Championship ‘King of the Jungle’

OWS winner Kimihiro Eto submits Amir Khan via rear-naked choke just 99 seconds into the first round! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #KingOfTheJungle pic.twitter.com/QLCygmv2hl

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 28, 2020

One Championship returned to Singapore this week as King of the Jungle emanated from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang on Feb. 28.

Even though the stands were empty due to the coronavirus situation, the fighters overcame their fears about the invisible menace and dutifully went about fighting each other. In the main event, Janet Todd defeated Nong Stamp via unanimous decision and won the One atomweight kickboxing championship. In the muay Thai co-main event, Sam-A Gaiyanghada edged out a unanimous decision victory over Rocky Ogden.

In the top match of the mixed martial arts portion of the card, One Warrior Series alum Kimihiro Eto (17-5-2) submitted former title challenger Amir Khan (12-7) in the first round of their clash. Eto quickly brought his opponent on the ground, where he took his back just as easily, before securing a smooth rear-naked choke finish. The Japanese fighter is now 4-1 in his last five, with all finishes coming via submission.

Martial arts legend Yoshihiro Akiyama drops Sherif Mohamed with a DEVASTATING right hook for the first-round knockout! @akiyamayoshihir #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #KingOfTheJungle pic.twitter.com/ywi6gbWPKa

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 28, 2020

It didn’t take long to Yoshihiro Akiyama to take care of Sherif Mohamed. “Sexyama” (15-7, 2 NC) caught his reckless opponent, who was chasing the Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran across the cage with his guard down, with a rightly paced right hook. After a rough start to his One career that saw Akiyama dropping a decision to Agilan Thani, the MMA veteran has now brought home his first victory within the promotion and the first one since the judges awarded him a unanimous decision victory over Amir Sadollah at UFC Fight Night 52. This is also Akiyama’s first victory inside the distance since submitting Masanori Tonooka back in 2008. “The Shark” Mohamed (8-6) is still looking for his first victory in One.

In the opening bout of the main card, Tiffany Teo (9-1) won her second shot at Jingnan Xiong's title after crushing Ayaka Miura (10-3) in the third round of their encounter. After a first round that saw Miura in control of the situation, Teo’s strikes started slowing the Japanese fighter. In the third stanza, Miura tried a desperate takedown attempt, which was easily stopped by Teo before the latter land some serious damage from ground and pound. The referee was forced to stop the action at 4:45 mark of the final round.