Undefeated ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder snatched the light heavyweight world title by beating Aung La N Sang across five intense rounds of action in the main card of ONE on TNT IV at the Singapore Indoor Stadium Thursday.
The Dutch superstar became a two-division ONE World Champion after earlier taking the middleweight title from Aung La last October.
De Ridder brought Aung La to the mat at will for much of the fight, scoring with a variety of takedowns while threatening with multiple submission attempts. The Burmese icon defended well against those attempts, but the fighter from the Netherlands proved far too skilled on the mat.
In the fifth and final frame, Aung La was able to reverse positions on the ground to end up on top but wasn't able to mount a comeback with only a few minutes remaining.
All three judges scored the bout for De Ridder to win by unanimous decision.
In the co-main event, No. 5 lightweight contender Ok Rae Yoon shocked the mixed martial arts world by defeating American legend and former UFC star Eddie Alvarez after three grueling rounds.
Alvarez closed the distance with multiple shots that led to clinch situations but Ok defended well against the Circle wall.
In the first round, Ok hurt Alvarez with a punch that sent him crashing to the canvas, where the South Korean nearly found the finish with ground-and-pound.
Alvarez survived and was aggressive in the next two frames, but in the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Ok to win by unanimous decision.
The opening fight of the main card saw unbeaten heavyweight Kirill Grishenko deal Senegalese sensation Oumar Kane the first loss of his professional career, winning by technical knockout in the second round.
While Kane tried his best to grapple in close quarters, Grishenko picked him apart with strikes. A big right hand to the chin landed as the second round came to an end as“Reug Reug” could no longer continue.
In the lead card, former lightweight champion Shinya Aoki closed the book on his storied rivalry with Eduard Folayang, winning their trilogy bout by first-round armbar.
Filipino-American striker Jackie Buntan powered through a close three-round muay thai battle against Ekaterina Vandaryeva to win by majority decision.
Also, Colbey Northcutt showed that she is a threat on the ground, finishing Courtney “No Mercy” Martin with an impressive armbar submission