ONE Championship 109 results: Yoshihiro Akiyama rolls back the years to flatten Sherif Mohamed

Asian MMA legend Yoshihiro Akiyama turned the tables on heavy-handed Sherif Mohamed to score a stunning first-round knockout and show that at 44, he still possesses the sort of punching power that can finish a fight in an instant.

Akiyama (15-7) had to weather an early storm against Mohamed (9-6) when the Egyptian came flying out of his corner throwing bombs from the opening bell and tagged the Japanese-Korean star in the opening exchanges of their bout at “ONE Championship 109: King of the Jungle.”

Mohamed had clearly arrived in Singapore looking to overwhelm the older man, and kept the pressure on as he chased the backpedaling Akiyama around the cage, connecting with heavy punches as he dominated the first 90 seconds of the fight.

But Akiyama eventually found his feet and briefly halted Mohamed’s charge with a thumping leg kick that clearly affected his opponent. He then narrowly missed with a spectacular spinning heel kick to the head as the veteran showed his physical gifts were still very much at his disposal.

Then, with Mohamed launching into another charge, “Sexyama” struck. A perfectly-timed short left hand connected flush on the onrushing Mohamed’s chin, sending the former EFC champion crumbling down to the canvas. Akiyama moved in to land a finishing shot to his downed foe, and the fight was swiftly stopped to give the former UFC veteran a stunning knockout win – his first victory since his win over Amir Sadollah at UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama in September 2014.

After his victory, Akiyama told ONE co-commentator Mitch Chilson, “This is the start of my martial arts journey,” before asking for the chance to fight in South Korea.

“I want a chance, if possible, in Korea,” he said.

Eto stuns Singapore’s Khan with quickfire submission

The top-billed MMA fight on the card saw Singaporean lightweight contender Amir Khan submitted in swift fashion by Japanese grappler Kimihiro Eto as the ONE Warrior Series graduate announced himself as a legitimate threat to the lightweight division’s best.

Khan (12-7) looked to settle into his striking early, but was quickly taken to the canvas by Eto (17-5-2), who pinned his man against the fence, then locked up a tight rear-naked choke that eventually put Khan to sleep inside the opening two minutes of the matchup.

Teo surges back into title contention at strawweight

It may have been a disappointing night for Singapore’s Khan, but it was a huge night for his compatriot as former women’s strawweight title challenger Tiffany Teo stopped surging Japanese judoka Ayaka Miura to position herself for a potential title rematch with the woman who beat her to win the inaugural title, China’s Xiong Jing Nan.

Xiong was an interested spectator at cageside as Teo (9-1) used her striking skills to nullify Miura’s grappling attack before eventually finishing an exhausted “Zombie” with body shots on the ground with 15 seconds remaining in the fight.

Miura (10-3) had actually started well, and appeared to be dominating the action on the mat, but Teo managed to escape before settling into her striking rhythm to pepper the Japanese contender with a constant jab and chopping leg kicks en route to a last-gasp stoppage victory.

“ONE Championship 109: King of the Jungle” official MMA results:

• Kimihiro Eto def. Amir Khan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:39
  
• Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Sherif Mohamed via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:04
  
• Tiffany Teo def. Ayaka Miura via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 4:45
  

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Denice Zamboanga def. Mei Yamaguchi via unanimous decision
  
• Troy Worthen def. Mark Abelardo via unanimous decision
  
• Honorio Banario def. Shannon Wiratchai via split decision
  
• Ritu Phogat def. Wu Chiao Chen via unanimous decision
  
• Murad Ramazanov def. Myung Ho Bae via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 4:53
  
• Jeff Chan def. Radeem Rahman via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:00