Agilan Thani scores decision win over Dante Schiro at ONE: Mark of Greatness

Agilan Thani was fighting in his hometown at ONE: Mark of Greatness after back to back matches against Japanese veterans. Having faced both Yoshihiro Akiyama and Yushin Okami, the 24-year-old found himself matched with undefeated American newcomer Dante Schiro in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Thani – who has also been in with Ben Askren – pushed the pace in the opening round against an opponent who had taken the fight at late notice. The Malaysian welterweight worked relentlessly for takedowns and spent the majority of the round in top position.

The American enjoyed more success in the second stanza. Once again Thani was able to take him down, but Schiro landed a series of upward elbows, one of which opened a cut on the face of the former title challenger.

Thani briefly had Schiro’s back, but following a series of scrambles, the American slipped out and the roles were reversed. He seemed close to locking up a rear-naked choke, but the hometown hero defended for the best part of 90 seconds before escaping and re-establishing top position just as the bell sounded.

At the start of the third they traded tired looking punches. This time it was Schiro shooting for the takedown, but Thani stuffed it and landed an elbow on the break, although his opponent retaliated with a punch of his own that re-opened the cut on the Malaysian’s face.

Sensing he was behind on the scorecards, Schiro went for broke in the final seconds, but nothing landed. The American had done more damage, opening up a cut, and had also come closest to finishing with the rear-naked choke attempt, but Thani had controlled the first eight or nine minutes.

One of the judges saw it in favor of Schiro. But the other two scored the fight for Thani, who improves to 10-4, while his opponent drops to 6-1 after suffering defeat for the first time in his professional career.

Agilan Thani 🇲🇾 sends the hometown crowd into a frenzy with a hard-fought split decision win over previously undefeated Dante Schiro! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #MarkOfGreatness pic.twitter.com/MUOq5M8K43

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 6, 2019

The crowd clearly enjoyed that fight, but another Malaysian fan favorite came up short as Jihin Radzuan dropped a decision to Denice Zamboanga. The Filipina attacked relentlessly with takedowns in the opening round.

In the second stanza both were warned and eventually yellow carded for inactivity. Radzuan looked dangerous from bottom position in the final round, but couldn’t complete an armbar or triangle choke as Zamboanga stayed on top to secure a clear-cut decision win.

Filipino firecracker Denice Zamboanga 🇵🇭 edges out hometown hero Jihin Radzuan, securing the victory by unanimous decision! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #MarkOfGreatness pic.twitter.com/MYfmGUaI1Y

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 6, 2019

With the win, Zamboanga improves to 6-0 and instantly establishes herself as a top contender in the increasingly crowded atomweight division. Radzuan drops to 5-2, but this loss is sure to sting as she came into the contest as a strong favorite.

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ONE: Mark of Greatness official results

• ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship: Sam-A Gaiyanghadao defeats Wang Junguang by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 5 rounds
• ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship: Alaverdi Ramazanov defeats Zhang Chenglong by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 5 rounds
• Mixed Martial Arts Atomweight: Denice Zamboanga defeats Jihin Radzuan by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Mixed Martial Arts Welterweight: Agilan Thani defeats Dante Schiro by Split Decision (SD) after 3 rounds
• Mixed Martial Arts Flyweight: Reece McLaren defeats Gurdarshan Mangat by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:35 minutes of round 1
• Kickboxing Light Heavyweight: Andrei Stoica defeats Anderson Silva by Knockout (KO) at 1:57 minutes of round 1
• Mixed Martial Arts Strawweight: Bokang Masunyane defeats Ryuto Sawada by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Muay Thai Flyweight: Elias Mahmoudi defeats Lerdsila Phuket Top Team by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Mixed Martial Arts Bantamweight: Chen Rui defeats Muhammad Aiman by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Mixed Martial Arts Bantamweight: Tial Thang defeats Kim Woon Kyoum by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Mixed Martial Arts Catchweight (77 KG): Yoon Chang Min defeats Rodian Menchavez by Submission (Ninja Choke) at 1:45 minutes of round 2
• Muay Thai Flyweight: Taiki Naito defeats Rui Botelho by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Mixed Martial Arts Atomweight: Rayane Bastos defeats Sovannahry Em by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:40 minutes of round 1