Eddie Alvarez in comeback submission win over Eduard Folayang
Eddie Alvarez recorded his first victory under the ONE Championship banner with a rear naked choke of former ONE lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang in the ONE: Dawn of Heroes event in Manila, the Philippines, on Friday (Aug 2).
Folayang, 34, attacked Alvarez, 35, with a blitz of strikes to open the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix semi-final contest and a low kick brought his opponent to the mat in front of a packed crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Alvarez, however, was able to sweep the Filipino to wind up in mount. From there, Alvarez took Folayang’s back, fished for the submission, and forced the tap.
In the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix semi-finals, Demetrious Johnson of the United States outlasted Tatsumitsu Wada of Japan to take home a three-round unanimous decision.
After a brief exchange on the feet in the first round, Wada, 30, was able to take Johnson, 32, to the mat and secure his back.
Johnson however defended very well. Action continued in the second round with Johnson dominating the grappling exchanges.
In the third and final round, Johnson appeared to have Wada figured out and took control of the bout to cruise to a unanimous-decision victory.
In the main event, Martin Nguyen of Australia and Vietnam continued his reign over the featherweight division with a second-round technical-knockout victory over Japanese challenger Koyomi Matsushima to retain the ONE featherweight world championship.
Matsushima, 26, put the pressure on Nguyen, 30, early in the opening round with his solid ground game. The champion was able to make the necessary adjustments in the second round, however, as he picked apart a tired Matsushima with a barrage of strikes to get the stoppage win and retain his title.
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