Striker's Paradise: Three Major Takeaways From ONE: First Strike

ONE Championship delivered on its promise of delivering a striking bonanza with ONE: First Strike.

Here are three major takeaways from the card.

Show Opener Served As Preview

Serbian kickboxer Rade Opacic started off a night filled with knockouts after defeating the heavy-handed Swiss in Patrick Schmid in two rounds.

Both men were not shy to let their hands loose, and it was Schmid who took most of the damage.

Opacic was surgical in the placement of his shots, targeting the body early and often that caused Schmid to fall to a body shot first and then a superb head kick next in the first round.

The 23-year-old would close the fight out in the second round with two more knockdowns, invoking the four-knockdown rule.

The entire match served as a showcase for what was to come in the night.

Chingiz Allazov’s Wicked Power

Many believed that Azerbaijan’s Chingiz Allazov drew the short straw when he was booked to face French-Algerian Samy Sana in the opening round of the ONE Kickboxing Featherweight World Grand Prix.

However, all those concerns would go down the drain as he finished Sana with a stinging uppercut to the body, forcing him to not respond to the referee’s count 30 seconds into round one.

Sana was entranced by Allazov’s speedy strikes and was caught with a switch left head kick from the orthodox fighter, leading into the knockout sequence--not noticing that the Azerbaijani had been telegraphing the move prior.

With this victory, Allazov drew the distinction as the very first fighter to ever knock Sana out.

The powerful Azerbaijan will now face Marat Grigorian in the semifinals, one step closer to winning the entire Grand Prix.

Superbon Walks The Talk

Prior to meeting at ONE: First Strike, Thailand superstar Superbon Banchamek and kickboxing icon Giorgio Petrosyan traded barbs online.

Despite Petrosyan being lauded as the “Michael Jordan of kickboxing,” Superbon claimed that he had better technique and was quick to fire off the bat.

The Thai fighter confirmed all of these and more when he was able to catch Petrosyan off his guard, knocking him out clean with a meteoric head kick thirty seconds into the second round--breaking the Italian’s jaw in the process.

To the Italian’s credit, he started the fight quickly and fired off combinations that forced Superbon to keep on his backfoot and cautious to trade.

Now reigning as the inaugural king of the ONE featherweight kickboxing division, Superbon awaits who his first challenger will be.