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Aung La Nsang Stops Ken Hasegawa in Epic Thriller at ONE Championship in Yangon
Aung La Nsang and Ken Hasegawa went toe to toe in a middleweight title fight that will be remembered for years to come at Friday's "ONE: Spirit of a Warrior" at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium.
There was no quarter asked or given as the two traded strikes for the best part of five action-packed rounds. La Nsang and Hasegawa were both bloodied, bruised, and visibly exhausted when the Burmese fighter finally found enough energy to finish the fight in the final round.
With Hasegawa’s right eye virtually swollen shut, La Nsang threw a short right hook to the body. It was a shot he had been landing all night and this one took the life out of the Japanese middleweight, who staggered backwards and was dropped with a fight finishing right uppercut.
For La Nsang the relief was instant. He had controlled the opening round with a series of body kicks, but Hasegawa succeeded in turning the second stanza into a boxing match, which he clearly got the better of, causing the champion issues with the sheer volume of his punching output.
Although Hasegawa was landing more consistently, La Nsang did connect cleanly with several straight right hands, one of which was probably responsible for the cut which opened above the challenger’s right eye. The third started in similar fashion with the two trading punches at close quarters and the Japanese fighter getting the better of the exchange.
La Nsang landed two right hands and seemed to be gaining momentum, but Hasegawa simply planted his feet and fired back. The Burmese middleweight stumbled to the ground and his opponent briefly found himself in side control only for the champion to spring back to his feet.
A clinch against the cage ensued with La Nsang doing damage upstairs with his elbows. By this stage, the frenetic pace seemed to have taken its toll on Hasegawa, who looked to be on unsteady feat but as the hometown hero attacked he was able to continue countering with remarkable accuracy.
It was turning into a war of attrition, but a feature of the fight had been La Nsang’s insistence on working the body, something he continued to do even during the most furious exchanges. This strategy really started to pay dividends in the fourth with Hasegawa looking weary as the champion dropped him with a straight right.
It seemed the finish was in sight, but La Nsang elected to go for the submission rather than throwing strikes and a stalemate on the ground ensued. The Burmese fighter would score with a beautifully executed trip later in the round, but again his attempts to secure a rear naked choke were unsuccessful.
Hasegawa looked much steadier on his feet in the fifth, but La Nsang has fought the full 25 minutes on two previous occasions and was in more familiar territory. He capitalized with a straight right hand and another trip which swept the challenger off his feet.
Just when it seemed the fight was destined to go the distance two short right hands from La Nsang took the life out of Hasegawa. He stumbled forwards desperately trying to get hold of his opponent, but merely succeeded in walking straight into a right uppercut.
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This time there was no question of the fight continuing. Hasegawa collapsed on the canvas, while the crowd inside the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium erupted in joy with the finish coming at 3:13 in the fifth and final round.
With the win La Nsang improved to 23-10-0-1, while Hasegawa drops to 16-3-1. Despite having successfully defended his middleweight title for the first time, the two-division champion announced that he intends to improve.
https://twitter.com/ONEChampionship/status/1012759614587219968
“I'm not happy with this performance I want to be the best, I want to be the best middleweight in the world.”
Earlier in the evening, Tetsuya Yamada (26-6-2) stopped Rafael Nunes (11-2) in the second round of their featherweight fight. Meanwhile, former bantamweight title challenger Leandro Issa (16-6) needed less than 90 seconds to submit promotional newcomer Roman Alvarez (8-2) with an arm triangle choke.
https://twitter.com/ONEChampionship/status/1012742296763183104
ONE: Spirit of a Warrior Results
ONE Middleweight World Championship bout: Aung La N Sang defeats Ken Hasegawa by Knockout (KO) at 3:13 minutes of round 5
Bantamweight bout: Leandro Issa defeats Roman Alvarez by Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) at 1:26 minutes of round 1
ONE Super Series Kickboxing Catchweight bout (72.0kg): Sorgraw Petchyindee Academy defeats Samy Sana by Majority Decision (MD) after 3 rounds
Featherweight bout: Sagetdao Petpayathai defeats Ma Jia Wen by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Featherweight bout: Tetsuya Yamada defeats Rafael Nunes by TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) at 4:05 minutes of round 2
Bantamweight bout: Chen Lei defeats Ahmad Qais Jasoor by TKO (Strikes) at 1:27 minutes of round 3
Strawweight bout: Kritsada Kongsrichai defeats Jeremy Miado by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
ONE Super Series Kickboxing Catchweight bout (67.0kg): Tukkatatong Petpayathai defeats Mehdi Zatout by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Flyweight bout: Mite Yine defeats Saw Darwait by TKO (Strikes) at 2:48 minutes of round 1
ONE Super Series Kickboxing Lightweight bout: Elliot Compton defeats Matthew Semper by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
