MMA News: Three Main Takeaways From Explosive ONE: Revolution

ONE Championship had one of its best cards this year when it held ONE: Revolution at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last Friday, September 24.

Here are some key takeaways from the explosive fight card.

Anatoly Malykhin’s Punching Power

Malykhin proved that he deserves a heavyweight title shot after stopping Amir Aliakbari in the first round of their clash.

The Russian contender pounded Aliakbari with precisely-timed shots, rarely wasting any of his strikes and dominating him quickly.

Aliakbari was throwing off shots of his own but were simply ineffective as Malykhin slipped most of them and put up counters that rocked Aliakbari as soon as his hands touched him.

Arjan Bhullar has been waiting for his first contender, and Malykhin’s heavy hands have proved himself to be a dangerous matchup for the heavyweight champion.

The Best Ever Strawweight In ONE Championship

Joshua Pacio’s defense of the strawweight crown against Yosuke Saruta established himself as the best 125-pound champion in the promotion.

The Filipino counterpuncher allowed Saruta to take control of the opening exchanges, finding out what the Japanese fighter’s game plan would be for their trilogy fight.

Saruta unexpectedly kept the fight standing, which was highly uncharacteristic of him to do so, allowing Pacio to take advantage.

Saruta threw a leg kick, but Pacio caught it and threw a powerful looping right hand to his face, leading to a series of punches that gave the Filipino the victory via TKO.

Pacio’s performances in the five years since he joined ONE Championship has been nothing short of spectacular, and this victory over Saruta pushes his hold over the title to 898 days--the longest reign in the division.

Christian Lee Experienced Stern Test

The main event of ONE: Revolution saw Christian Lee lose his lightweight title to South Korea’s Ok Rae Yoon in an absolute war of skill between the two fighters.

He immediately called for a rematch and a review of the fight, saying that the judges had robbed him of his victory and the belt.

The South Korean weathered Lee’s early storm of hard shots and quick-but-ineffective takedowns, proving in the eyes of the judges that he fought an overall better fight compared to the Singaporean-American.

Controversial decisions are not new to combat sports, and Lee’s loss to Ok is but another chapter in the book.

As his sister and atomweight queen Angela Lee once said, “It's important to always finish your opponent and never leave it in the hands of the judges.”