MMA News: Heavyweight Firefight Leads Major Takeaways From ONE: Bad Blood

The original main event matchup of ONE: Bad Blood between bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes and challenger John Lineker may have been a late scratch, but the card still had some standout moments worth mentioning.

Anatoly Malykhin sets up ONE heavyweight title challenge

Anatoly Malykhin made sure that he will be the one to face the official heavyweight king in Arjan Bhullar after knocking out Kirill Grishenko for the interim title.

Right from the opening bell, Malykhin established the center of the ring as his after forcing Grishenko to keep backpedaling thanks to his heavy hands.

Grishenko would try and keep Malykhin at bay with leg kicks, but the Russian just kept coming at him with the jab followed up by an overhand right in the hopes of landing the knockout blow.

Malykhin stayed on top of Grishenko in the last minutes of the first round, which swung the momentum in his favor.

The knockout blow would come in the form of a massive right hook to the jaw of Grishenko late in the second round and called out Bhullar in the post-fight interview.

“Arjan Bhullar, [is like a] baby chicken. [He has] no fight, no big heart. Come [and] fight!” Malykhin bellowed.

ONE commentator Mitch Chilson announced that Malykhin would receive two $50,000 performance bonuses–the first to ever receive such a distinction from the promotion.

Woo Sung Hoon has statement victory

In one of the biggest surprises of the night, Woo Sung Hoon kicked off his ONE Championship career with a massive knockout of renowned knockout artist Yodkaikaew “Y2K” Fairtex on the undercard.

The 29-year-old South Korean only needed 18 seconds to finish off Yodkakaew after catching the Thai with a massive right hook that sent him to the canvas before ending the fight with a flurry of punches.

Many believe that referee Olivier Coste called off the fight too early, but Yodkaikaew was clearly out of it as he tried to shoot a takedown on the official’s leg.

Woo was the other fighter to receive a $50,000 performance bonus as his knockout of Yodkaikaew was simply too good to ignore.

Jonathan Haggerty, Mongkolpetch Petchyindee put on Fight of the Night

Many deem the flyweight Muay Thai matchup between England’s Jonathan Haggerty and Mongkolpetch Petchyindee of Thailand as the card's Fight of the Night because of the nonstop action.

Both fighters were able to land meaningful strikes of their own, but it was Haggerty who took home the unanimous decision victory after surviving Mongkolpetch’s blitz in the second round.

By the end of the fight, Haggerty and Mongkolpetch carried scars of their brutal three-round war as both fighters showed mutual respect after the decision in favor of the Brit kickboxer was announced.