ONE Fight Night 23: Early results from Bangkok

ONE Championship returned to the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok for a loaded ONE Fight Night 23 card, headlined by an interim ONE lightweight world title clash pitting former champion Ok Rae Yoon against newcomer Alibeg Rasulov.

But first, fight fans were treated to some exciting early action, including the return of Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane ahead of his anticipated clash with three-division king Anatoly Malykin in September.

Kicking off the card was Russian standout Alexey Balyko who dispatched Ireland’s Stefan Korodi with a brutal left hook just past the two-and-a-half-minute mark of the opening round. With the win, the Tiger Muay Thai product moved to 3-1 under the ONE Championship banner.

Up next was Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane, the next man in line for reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin. Looking to stay active, Kane stepped inside the ring for a kickboxing clash against fellow countryman Boucher Ketchup.

It only took ‘Reug Reug’ two minutes to finish Ketchup, finishing his foe with some well-timed counterstriking just past the two-minute mark of round one.

Delivering an absolute barnburner in the third fight of the evening, Ellis Badr Barboza bested Aliff Sor Dechapan via split decision following a three-round war in the art of eight limbs.

Hiroba Minowa snapped a three-fight losing skid in the next fight of the night, using his wrestling skills to score a closely contested split decision against strawweight MMA standout Jeremy Miado. With the loss, ‘The Jaguar’ has now come up short in his last four fights while Minowa continues to cling to his spot as the fourth-ranked contender in the division.

Keeping the excitement coming was Thai standout Black Panther who scored his 79th career win with a spectacular second-round head kick KO against Ali Saldoev.

Former Japanese MMA world champion Tatsumitsu Wada scored his second-straight win under the ONE Championship banner and fifth overall with a solid showing against Xie Wei in a flyweight MMA shadow. ‘The Sweeper’ left Bangkok with a unanimous decision win, moving him to 5-5 in ONE.

In one of the most exciting fights of the night, French standout Bampara Kouyate overcame a late-fight flurry from Dubuque, Iowa native Luke Lessei to secure a sensational knockout victory in the third and final round with a sneaky uppercut.

After nearly two years on the shelf, Kirill Grishenko returned to the ring and delivered a fairly dominant performance against South Korean knockout artist Kang Ji Won, scoring himself a unanimous decision victory. Though the fight didn’t exactly set the world on fire, it should put the Belarusian right back into the heavyweight title picture.

---

Full early results from ONE Fight Nigh 23 on Prime Video

Kirill Grishenko defeated Kang Ji Won via unanimous decision (MMA - heavyweight)

Bampara Kouyate defeated Luke Lessei via KO (uppercut) at 2:08 of round three (Muay Thai - featherweight)

Tatsumitsu Wada defeated Xie Wei via unanimous decision (MMA - flyweight)

Black Panther defeated Ali Saldoev via KO (strikes) at 0:23 of round two (Muay Thai - catchweight 139.25lbs)

Hiroba Minowa defeated Jeremy Miado via split decision (MMA - strawweight)

Ellis Badr Barboza defeated Aliff Sor Dechapan via split decision (Muay Thai - catchweight 125.75lbs)

Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane def. Boucher Ketchup via KO (strikes) at t 2:08 of round one (Kickboxing - heavyweight)

Alexey Balyko defeated Stefan Korodi via KO (left hook) at 2:42 of round one (Muay Thai - catchweight 151.5lbs)