ONE Fight Night 16 results: Halil Amir inches closer to lightweight gold with first-round TKO of Ahmed Mujtaba

Turkish sensation Halil Amir and Ahmed Mujtaba brought the house down in the final MMA bout of the evening. As many predicted, it was fast-paced action from start to finish in their lightweight contest at ONE Fight Night 16.

‘No Mercy’ got things started right out of the gate with a big body kick to Mujtaba, but a minute into the bout, Mujtaba landed a stiff left hand that rattled the former.

From there, the Pakistani martial artist looked to capitalize on his wrestling skills by dragging Amir to the ground. Instead of getting things his way, Amir managed to land in the top position during the exchange.

Despite having his back on the canvas, Mujtaba stayed alert and managed to snatch Halil Amir’s arm and locked in a kimura.

Referee Herb Dean called for a catch, but Amir was able to roll through and escape the submission attempt. Amir once again managed to get the top position and unleashed a flurry of strikes.

With 10 seconds left in the round, Halil Amir teed off, landing multiple unanswered strikes, but the referee was content to let the fight go until the round came to a close.

Before coming out for the second round, Ahmed Mujtaba’s corner threw in the towel, resulting in a first-round finish via technical knockout for Halil Amir.

Official Result: Halil Amir defeats Ahmed Mujtaba via TKO (referee stoppage) at 5:00 of round one

The Turkish standout moved to 10-0 in his mixed martial arts career and 3-0 under the ONE Championship banner with the victory.

Having amassed two knockouts in his first three appearances inside the Circle, the No.4-ranked contender could spring himself towards the top contender’s spot as he seeks a lightweight world title opportunity.

His opponent, Ahmed Mujtaba fell to 4-4 in ONE, 10-4 overall. ‘Wolverine’ is now looking at back-to-back losses by way of finish in 2023, the first coming against the returning ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt at ONE Fight Night 10 this past May.