Tawanchai PK.Saenchai
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NE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen delivered spectacular knockouts from the opening to the closing bells, highlighting the skill set of some of ONE Championship’s brightest stars.
At the event on Friday, June 3, that went down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, fifth-ranked featherweight Muay Thai fighter Tawanchai PK.Saenchai dazzled in the headliner match with a stunning second-round finish of great Dane Niclas “Dreamchaser” Larsen.
Dreamchaser started the bout strong but moved erratically. Tawanchai picked up on this and dropped him within moments of the first round, earning Larsen an eight-count that he eagerly tried to reclaim for the rest of the round. But Tawanchai circled the Danish fighter and landed kicks both upstairs and down with ease.
It was clear by the second round that Larsen had difficulty finding his footing, and he wasn’t given much of a chance to figure it out. As he tried to close the distance, he ate multiple shots that caused him to stumble.
Not even 2 minutes into the second round, Tawanchai landed a heavy right hook, left cross combination that dropped Larsen. Unresponsive, the Dane’s dreams of winning the fight came to an end at 1:42 in the second round.
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Tawanchai’s performance earned him a shot at ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Petchmorakot Petchyindee and a US$50,000 bonus from ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
In the precursor to the main event, fourth-ranked bantamweight mixed martial arts star Fabricio “Wonder Boy” Andrade took on second-ranked contender “Pretty Boy” Kwon Won Il. After weeks of talking himself up, Andrade had a lot to prove in the Circle, and he did.
Wonder Boy needed all but 62 seconds to finish Kwon with a left kick to the liver, which earned Andrade not only the victory, but also a US$50,000 bonus and a possible showdown with ONE Bantamweight World Champion John “Hands of Stone” Lineker.
In the main card’s opener, Indonesia’s Adrian Mattheis had to bow out to idol-turned-rival Alex Silva from an inside heel hook at 3:34 of round one. During their first encounter in March, it was “Papua Badboy” who emerged victorious with a second-round technical knockout (TKO).
MAIN CARD RESULTS:
- Tawanchai PK.Saenchai defeats Niclas Larsen via KO at 1:42, round 2 (Muay Thai, featherweight)
- Fabricio Andrade defeats Kwon Won Il via KO at 1:02, round 1 (MMA, bantamweight)
- Reece McLaren defeats Xie Wei via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:42, round 1 (MMA, flyweight)
- Kairat Akhmetov defeats Tatsumitsu Wada via unanimous decision (MMA, flyweight)
- Guto Inocente defeats Rade Opacic via KO at 2:33, round 1 (kickboxing, heavyweight)
- Alex Silva defeats Adrian Mattheis via submission (inside heel hook) at 3:34, round 1 (MMA, strawweight)
LEAD CARD RESULTS:
- Gurdarshan Mangat defeats Yodkaikaew Fairtex via split decision (MMA, flyweight)
- Constantin Rusu defeats Marouan Toutouh via unanimous decision (kickboxing, lightweight)
- Marcus Almeida defeats Simon Carson via TKO at 2:24, round 1 (MMA, heavyweight)
- Odie Delaney defeats Mehdi Barghi via submission (straight armlock) at 2:22, round 2 (MMA, heavyweight)
- Jasur Mirzamukhamedov defeats Duke Didier via split decision (MMA, heavyweight)
- Jenelyn Olsim defeats Julie Mezabarba via split decision (MMA, atomweight)
- Edson Marques defeats Kim Kyung Lock via unanimous decision (MMA, lightweight)
Watch ONE 159 on July 22 on the ONE Super App and subscribe to ONE Championship on YouTube!
This article was published in collaboration with ONE Championship.
