ONE 169 results: Kongthoranee Sor Sommai vs. Tagir Khalilov
Muay Thai standouts Kongthoranee Sor Sommai and Tagir Khalilov stepped inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok for a high-stakes showdown at ONE 169 on Friday night.
Both fighters entered the bout determined to bounce back after coming up short in their last outings.
Round 1: Kongthoranee quickly takes the center of the ring and looks to light up Khalilov with an assortment of kicks to the legs and body. Khalilov has struggled to get things going through the halfway point of the first round as Kongthoranee unleashed yet another body kick followed by a stiff straight left.
Kongthoranee appears to have found his rhythm while the Russian struggled to accomplish much of anything. Kongthoranee throws another stiff leg kick that Khalilov attempted to check, but it still takes him off balance. As the round comes to a close, Kongthoranee uncorks another nasty body kick that thuds off the midsection of Khalilov.
Round 2: Khalilov comes out desperately looking to pick up the pace and control the action, landing a big kick to the arm of Kongthoranee. The Thai fires back with a body kick followed by a left hand over the top. Kongthoranee continues to keep Khalilov at bay with kicks to both the body and the legs of his opponent.
Kongthoranee lands a straight left that backs up Khalilov. Kongthoranee throws a kick that Khalilov catches and attempts to land a shot but ends up eating a left from Kongthoranee. The action is briefly paused as Kongthoranee appears to have landed a glancing blow to the back of the head, but the fight resumes without issue.
Kongthoranee ramps up his aggression towards the end of the second but is unable to land a knockout shot before the bell.
Round 3: Going into the third round, Kongthoranee remains in complete control, firing off a bevy of kicks high and low to Khalilov. Kongthoranee briefly moves in, but Kongthoranee beats him to the punch and lands a nice left in the corner before being separated.
Kongthoranee lands back-to-back body kicks, and Khalilov encourages him to bring more. Kongthoranee puts everything he has into a calf kick that ends up knocking him off his own feet. Khalilov throws a high kick, but Kongthoranee catches it and dumps him with 30 seconds left in the fight. Despite being down on the scorecards, Khalilov is not attempting to push the pace and eats one more kick from the Thai before the final bell sounds.
ONE 169 - Kongthoranee vs. Tagir Khalilov Official Result:
After three rounds of domination, Kongthoranee Sor Sommai was declared the winner, sweeping the scorecards and moving himself to 9-2 under the ONE Championship banner.
The victory gets Kongthoranee back into the win column after coming up short against two-sport king Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE Friday Fights 68 in June. Before that, he was sitting on a seven-fight win streak.
With the loss, Tagir Khalilov falls to 3-5 in ONE and has now come up short in back-to-back bouts.
Official Result: Kongthoranee defeated Tagir Khalilov via unanimous decision (Muay Thai - catchweight 139.25 lbs)