MANILA – China’s Ma Hao Bin relied on his striking ability to defeat Bulgaria’s Sotir Kichukov during their match in One: Global Superheroes at the Mall of Asia Arena Friday night.
In the only fight so far that went past Round 1 – and even went through the scorecards -- Ma staved off a late submission attempt by Kichukov in the first round and delivered a second-round assault that Kichukov barely survived.
Kichukov still tried to finish the fight in Round 3 with another submission attempt, but Ma quickly got loose and pounced on him anew at the end.
All three judges had it for Ma for the unanimous decision win.
The result snapped a string of six first-round stoppages, the recent being Japanese Hayato Suzuki's submission win over Brazilian Yago Bryan.
Suzuki scored a rear naked choke on Bryan that forced the latter to tap out with 57 seconds left in Round 1.
Prior to that, Thailand’s Emilio Urrutia delivered a 1-2 combination to Brazil’s Bruno Pucci that knocked the latter out at the 3:33 mark of the first round. (PNA)
