ONE Fight Night 25 results and recaps: Bokang Masunyane vs. Mansur Malachiev

The battle of ranked strawweight MMA contenders was witnessed on Saturday morning as Bokang Masunyane and Mansur Malachiev faced each other inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok at the ONE Fight Night 25 card.

This match has world title implications, and the winner can shake up the division and possibly move in front of the line for the chance to fight for the 26-pound golden belt against reigning ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio and current ONE interim strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks.

See the blow-by-blow action from this thrilling MMA match.

Round 1: Malachiev attempted three early spinning attacks and landed a beautiful spinning back fist that momentarily stunned Masunyane. Masunyane, though, continued to press forward and landed a knee strike on the Russian head. Malachiev attempted a takedown and tried to take Masunyane's back but was stopped successfully.

Masunyane pressed Malachiev against the corner and connected more knee strikes on his head and body. At the 2:00 minute of the round, Masunyane took Malachiev's back and attempted to lock a body triangle from his side. The Russian rolled out of the threat and returned to his feet. Malachiev ended the round in a superior grappling position.

Round 2: Malachiev fired off two front kicks in Masunyane's body. He also started to let go of his hands, which clipped Masunyane in the opening phase of the round. A more aggressive Malachiev was seen in the round, but Masunyane gladly exchanged hands with him. Malachiev is inflicting more damage with punches and front kicks.

Masunyane momentarily halted the barrage from Malachiev by holding him in a clinch position. They quickly returned to the center of the ring after that clinch battle. With under a minute left in the round, Mansuyane tried to control Malachiev with another takedown attempt but failed to secure it. The round ended in a heavy exchange on the feet.

Round 3: With the fight hanging in the balance, both fighters started the round aggressively and unleashed striking combinations against each other. Masunyane changed things up with another clinch battle on the corner. While in the position, the South African star fired elbow strikes against Malachiev.

Masunyane went airborne with a flying knee strike attempt within under three minutes of the fight before returning to the clinch and controlling Malachiev in the corner. Malachiev capitalized on the mistake that Masunyane made and took him down with less than two minutes remaining in the match. The match ended with Malachiev taking the back of Masunyane.

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ONE Fight Night 25 - Bokang Masunyane vs. Mansur Malachiev official result

Number five-rated MMA strawweight contender Mansur Malachiev has assured himself a move up in the division's rankings after beating number two-ranked contender Bokang Masunyane in their match at ONE Fight Night 25 via unanimous decision.

The Russian star displayed his much-improved striking chops to force the 'Little Giant' to be the defensive fighter and initiate grappling exchanges to slow down his offense.

Malachiev landed more significant strikes with multiple combinations of punches and kicks to secure his third win under the world's largest martial arts organization. Additionally, it improved his professional record to 13 wins and one loss.

Mansur Malachiev defeated Bokang Masunyane via unanimous decision in their MMA strawweight fight.