Four Biggest Moments From Stellar ONE 157 Card

Last Friday's ONE 157 delivered great fights across the board with multiple disciplines of martial arts being featured at different points.

Here are some of the most noteworthy moments of the massive card.

Ruotolo Brothers Make Their Mark

The highly-anticipated ONE debut of grappling brothers Kade and Tye Ruotolo saw both men come out on top of their respective matches against world-renowned grapplers and famed promotional veterans Shinya Aoki and Garry Tonon.

Kade and Aoki were first up on the card and both men were very much ready to showcase their grappling skills to the world.

Despite Aoki’s best efforts and overwhelming experience, the slick and precise movements of the 19-year-old Ruotolo allowed him to be more aggressive by having more credible submission attempts, ultimately winning the fight by unanimous decision.

As for his brother Tye, he had a shorter night at the office after securing the D’Arce choke on the “Lion Killer” in just under two minutes.

Seeing the Ruotolos each take a home a victory points to ONE having a reliable set of hands to help make their grappling scene even more appealing to those who are still gauging their interest in the sport.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon Nets Another Dominant Win

Thai superstar and reigning flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon has remained untouchable within ONE Championship, and he added another win to his formidable 10-fight win streak by easily dispatching Englishman Jacob Smith.

Rodtang and Smith were paired up with one another for the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix, and it was clear from the start that Rodtang was on a different plane of existence.

Rattling off sharp and crisp punches to open his combos and ending with an elbow strike was Rodtang’s bread and butter throughout the three-round beatdown of Smith, who simply had no answers.

Should Rodtang go on to win the entire tournament, he might get closer than ever to making his mixed martial arts (MMA) debut, which is something that he has been hinting towards before in the past.

Joseph Lasiri Shocks Prajanchai

In the biggest surprise of the night, Italian-Moroccan Joseph Lasiri successfully knocked off Thailand’s Prajanchai PK.Saenchai off the pedestal to become the new ONE strawweight Muay Thai champion.

From the get-go, Lasiri’s length proved to be a problem for Prajanchai as the champion was repeatedly caught with stinging straights thanks to his combination of speed and accuracy.

The challenger broke the fight wide open in the second round with a massive uppercut that slipped through the guard of the champion, which left him with a massive cut under the eye.

Though Prajanchai would mount a burst of offense late in the third round, Lasiri was quick to bounce back and take the momentum away from Prajanchai before both men went to their corners.

With blood pouring from his face, Prajanchai himself waved the white flag from his stool, giving Lasiri the highly unlikely TKO victory.

Now the king of the strawweight Muay Thai division and being awarded a $50,000 bonus for his victory, Lasiri’s next big challenge is to defend his newly-acquired title.

A Razor-Thin Main Event

ONE: 157’s main event was certainly one for the ages as ONE featherweight Muay Thai king Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy went up against promotional newcomer Jimmy Vienot of France.

Fight fans did not need to wait long for both men to start throwing bombs at each other for the better part of five rounds, and Vienot took the first two rounds with ease before Petchmorakot got right back into it in the third round.

Petchmorakot scored the only knockdown of the fight as he dropped Vienot with a perfectly-placed counter right hook to start the fourth round and both fighters proudly stood toe-to-toe for the rest of the fight.

Going into the scorecards, the result could have easily gone either way as both men had moments of excellence.

The judges would award the split decision in favor of Petchmorakot, much to the dismay of Vienot and his team.

With some fans being vocal in their doubt of his victory, Petchmorakot had a simple message for them.

“Instead of saying anything else, I want to say thank you for the fight. If they say that, I’m ready. I’m open for a rematch,” he said through an interpreter.