ONE 169 - Early results from Bangkok
ONE Championship returned to the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand for a loaded ONE 169 card punctuated by three massive ONE world title tilts.
But before we got to the evening's championship bouts, we had three epic early card fights featuring two Muay Thai battles and a high-stakes scrap in the atomweight MMA division.
Kicking things off was a strawweight Muay Thai showdown between Malaysian-Thai standout Aliff Sor Dechapan and Brazil’s Walter Goncalves.
Goncalves was seeking his first win since May 2022 while Aliff was looking to score his second straight victory and sixth overall under the ONE Championship banner.
With 90 seconds left to go in the fight, Goncalves appeared to land a blow that partially caught Aliff in the back of the head, knocking the Thai off balance and sending him to the mat. Goncalves then threw a knee while Aliff was done, prompting a pause in the action.
Fortunately, the knee only made contact with Aliff’s shoulder, ensuring the fight would continue. The rest of the fight saw both competitors slug it out in hopes of nudging the scorecards in their favor. After three solid rounds of action, it was Aliff who was awarded the victory via unanimous decision.
Next up was an atomweight MMA showdown between division standouts Ayaka ‘Zombie’ Miura and promotional newcomer Macarena Aragon.
Miura didn’t need all three rounds to secure a win in her return to Lumpinee Stadium. In fact, she didn’t even need one. ‘Zombie’ scored her third-straight win under the ONE Championship banner after putting her world-classic grappling skills on display and forcing the Argentinian to tap out via her patented Ayaka Lock.
It was a big win for Miura, who not only extended her unbeaten streak but also took home a $50,000 performance bonus courtesy of ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
Rounding out the early card was a featherweight Muay Thai clash between American standout Eddie Abasolo and Algerian knockout artist Mohamed Younes Rabah.
Rabah nearly gave us our first knockout of the night in the opening round, landing a big left hand that sent Abasolo crashing to the canvas with 40 seconds left in the round. Abasolo answered the referee’s count and Rabah tried to make him pay with an onslaught of strikes.
Abasolo survived the round and made the second stanza much more competitive—until he got blasted with a left elbow in the corner that knocked him down for the second time in as many rounds.
Despite clearly being down on the scorecards, Abasolo never gave up and turned it up in the third, scoring a knockdown of his own. Unfortunately for the American, it was too little too late. Rabah’s dominance in the first two rounds earned him a unanimous decision victory, moving him to 2-1 in ONE.
Full early results from ONE 169 in Bangkok, Thailand
Aliff defeated Walter Goncalves via unanimous decision (Muay Thai - strawweight)
Ayaka Miura defeated Macarena Aragon via submission (Ayaka Lock) at 2:20 of round one (MMA - atomweight)
Mohamed Younes Rabah defeated Eddie Abasolo via unanimous decision (Muay Thai - featherweight)