Jhanlo Sangiao and Stephen Loman rose to the occassion and made spectacular first impressions in their respective debut in ONE Championship but fellow Team Lakay warriors Danny Kingad and Kevin Belingon fell to their opponents in ONE: Winter Warriors II at the Singapore Indoor Stadium Friday night, Dec. 17,
Sangiao, living up to his newly acquired moniker "The Machine," a nickname formerly owned by his father and Team Lakay coach Mark, did not hesitate to show his aggressiveness against Indonesian foe Paul Lumihi in their bantamweight bout.
The 19-year-old Sangiao, after punishing Lumihi with a barrage of combinations and crisp punches, took it to canvas and aimed for a submission win.
Sangiao, orchestrating the submission from Lumihi's back, slowly slipped in his arms and found the right angle to lock in the rear-naked choke as referee Justin Brown halted the match at the 1:41 in the first round.
"Mas mabo-boost nito 'yong confidence ko kasi alam ko na 'yong feeling na nasa loob (This win will surely boost my confidence because I already know what it feels like to fight in the Circle)," said Sangiao, who earned his first win in the professional scene. "Debut ko pa lang kaya kinakapa ko pa lang pero gagawin natin 'yong best natin para makasabay (It's just by debut so I'm kind of adjusting but I will do my best to level myself with the others in the division)."
Loman, a longtime bantamweight champion in the BRAVE Combat Federation, already made a name early in his ONE career by knocking out No. 3 contender Yusup Saadulaev at the 4:09 mark of the first round as well.
The Team Lakay stalwart showcased precise and powerful overhand lefts, followed up by aggressive combinations and high kicks in between, with 1:08 remaining before landing another lethal overhand left.
With Saadulaev down on the canvas, Loman did not stop and still unloaded a couple of hammer punches before referee Olivier Coste stopped the match.
"I did my best talaga na talunin siya and hopefully, makasali talaga ako sa ranking. 'Yon 'yong binabalak ko (I really did my best to beat him and hopefully I can make it into the rankings)," said Loman, who improved to a 15-2 record. "Kayang kaya pa din pero kung sino 'yong next na opponent, kailangan paghandaan ulit nang mabuti (Whoever my next opponent is, I really need to prepare for it once more)."
On the contrary, both Kingad (14-3) and Belingon (20-9) suffered bitter fates after yielding Kairat Akhmetov and Kwon Won Il respectively.
Akhmetov, who most likely earned the rightful spot for a title shot, showed who's boss in wrestling and dominated Kingad both in the first and second rounds, almost fighting the match in his comfort zone.
It was only midway the third round where Kingad started scoring through combinations and an elbow strike, a desperate move that may change the momentum knowing that Akhmetov earned the earlier rounds.
However, the Kazakh fighter, after a costly Kingad knee strike against the wall, took down the Igorot warrior once more with less than a minute to go and continued the ground and pound punishment.
Meanwhile, Belingon cannot help but to grimace after taking a solid liver shot from Kwon at the 52-second mark of the second round.
Belingon and Kwon showed a slugfest to remember but the South Korean fighter properly timed, ducked, and then unloaded the left hook to the body which sent the Team Lakay stalwart on his knees en route to a clear KO victory.