#Cambodian MMA fighters

[topsportsasia]

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Cambodia and Cuba were represented at “ONE: Dreams of Gold.” ONE Championship held the combat sports event at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on August 16, 2019.

Featured on the “ONE: Dreams of Gold” card were seven mixed martial arts fights and seven ONE Super Series contests, which were three kickboxing matches and four Muay Thai contests. The fifth bout of the evening was between Chan Rothana, 33, of Cambodia and Gustavo “El Gladiador” Balart, 32, of Cuba.

Including Cambodia and Cuba, 19 countries were represented at “ONE: Dreams of Gold.” The others were Brazil, China, Cyprus, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Rothana solely represented Cambodia. Balart was the only representative of Cuba.

Blue Corner

Born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba on February 10, 1987, Balart stands 4’11.” As an amateur Greco-Roman wrestler, he won gold in his division at the Pan American Games in Mexico in 2011.

“ONE: Dreams of Gold” marked Balart’s second ONE Championship bout. In his promotional debut at “ONE: Roots of Honor” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, he lost via unanimous decision to Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada, 30, of Japan.

Red Corner

Rothana started competing in Kun Khmer when he was 17 years old. As an MMA fighter, he has been competing professionally since 2014.

“ONE: Dreams of Gold” marked Rothana’s ninth ONE Championship bout. He is training out of Selapak and Fight for Good MMA in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Results

Rothana and Balart competed in an MMA contest in the flyweight division. Yoshinori Umeki served as the referee.

After three three-minute rounds, the flyweight contest was left in the hands of the judges. In the end,

Umeki raised the hand of Bangpleenoi, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

Winning at “ONE: Dreams of Gold” improved the professional MMA record of Rothana to 7 wins and 3 losses. On the other hand, Balart now has 8 wins and 3 losses.

Check the complete list of “ONE: Dreams of Gold” results on Conan Daily. Here is a recap:

For more Asian sports news, follow the Facebook page of Top Sports Asia. 

[PHOTOS] Cambodia vs Cuba: Chan Rothana, Gustavo Balart fight at ‘ONE: Dreams of Gold’ in Bangkok, Thailand Cambodia and Cuba were represented at "ONE: Dreams of Gold." ONE Championship held the combat sports event at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on August 16, 2019.

[southeastasianists]

There is blood soaking through the wraps around his hands, and blood staining the white canvas of the ring and blood sluicing from the swollen gash that splits his brow. The unseen orchestra picks up the slap of fist against flesh and whips it to a droning frenzy as the stadium trembles with the fury of the crowd. A full head and shoulders shorter than his opponent, local Lethwei fighter Saw Darwait is struggling to stay on his feet. He locks arms with his foe, his eyes far away, before wrenching his head to the side in a vicious headbutt that tears a groan from the eager audience.

This is the World Lethwei Championship (WLC) Knockout War, and the gloves are off.

WLC, backed by a local property conglomerate and drawing talent from Singapore-based combat sports titan ONE Championship, is on a mission to launch the traditional Myanmar martial art of Lethwei to the fame – or infamy – of Southeast Asian sports such as neighbouring Muay Thai.

And with mixed martial arts fighters from as far afield as Poland and Portugal eager to bloody their knuckles against the best warriors Myanmar has to offer, it’s little surprise that the once-unknown sport is going from strength to strength.

Australian fighter and former kickboxing champion Michael Badato is here in the empty city of Naypyidaw, he says,  for a good time, not a long time. Speaking to Southeast Asia Globe before his match in the sparsely populated capital’s Wunna Theikdi Stadium, the Muay Thai master grins ruefully as he twists tape around his fingers.

“It’s definitely different when you’re fighting bareknuckle,” he said. “The sting of a punch is more shocking, so probably more distance, more combos, more timing – it doesn’t need to be a hard punch, it just has to be a snappy punch.”

Carved into the murals of the ancient temples of Bagan more than a millennium ago, Lethwei – known as the art of nine limbs for allowing its athletes to lash out with their head as well as the elbows, knees, feet and fists that fill out the arsenal of most Southeast Asian martial arts – has long been relegated to Myanmar’s rural hinterlands as the people’s favoured bloodsport. Now, draped in the trappings of a professional martial arts championship, the sport has found its way beneath the unflinching eyes of international audiences around the world.

“The entertainment is different, more bloody,” Badato said. “The sport is very unforgiving. People love to see that. People love to see raw emotions, nothing edited. Fair enough – you’ve got MMA and your kickboxing and Muay Thai, but when you’re up there, when someone makes a mistake, whether it comes from a counterpunch or a kick or just tiredness, they really do feel the pain and suffer. People love to see contact, knockouts. And it sells. UFC and MMA are the biggest and fastest-growing sports in the world… It’s a really bloody sport, and people like to see that.”

Brooklyn-born Chan Reach, now based in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, moved to his parents’ homeland seven years ago with 13 professional MMA fights under his belt to train a new generation of Cambodian champions. Speaking behind the scenes at last month’s championship, he described how Lethwei’s notorious violence had drawn in crowds looking for some primal quality that more polished sports such as kickboxing are lacking.

“Lethwei is in its rawest form,” he said. “It’s like a street fight but with rules and with professional fighters. Before, Lethwei was known only in Myanmar – but now they have WLC; it gives a chance to the local Lethwei fighters to have international competitions and show the world their culture.”

Nou Srey Pov, 22, a Cambodian fighter schooled in the traditional martial art of Kun Khmer and a pupil of Reach’s, became the first woman to win a WLC match, in February. Speaking with Southeast Asia Globe hours before her fight against Shwe Nadi – the daughter of a local Lethwei legend – she said that adapting to the Myanmar fighters’ unorthodox style was a challenge.

“The first time, I wasn’t used to it yet,” she said. “I heard about it, but I didn’t expect it to go the way it went. I won, but I didn’t expect the headbutts and all that stuff. I just pretty much used Cambodian martial arts to negate Lethwei: a lot of elbows, a lot of knees and a lot of punches. And kicks also. So I just used elbows to negate the headbutts.”

That evening, after three rounds of vicious back-and-forth, Srey Pov was again crowned the victor in a unanimous decision from the judges. This, too, is a legacy of WLC’s programme to professionalise the sport: for millennia, Lethwei athletes have been expected to fight to the last man standing.

“In the local show, there’s no point system,” Reach said. “You have the knockout or it’s a draw. But  with the WLC, they do the points system here. For some Myanmar fighters, it’s new to them, but for foreign fighters, it’s what we need. But in terms of it being dangerous – it’s just as dangerous as Muay Thai or Kun Khmer, it’s just the same. The only difference is the headbutts. The headbutts can do a lot of damage – not only to the opponent but to yourself. In terms of long-term damage, I think Lethwei is up there.”

Artur Saladiak, a Polish Muay Thai practitioner living in London, has fought against some of the fiercest fighters Southeast Asia has to offer. That night, he would be fighting for the title of world champion in his weight range – and not without some trepidation.

“I was shocked by how strong they are, how tough they are, and I’ve been preparing to fight all five rounds because I knew that to stop them before the time [runs out, at which point the judges deliver the winner], it would be very hard,” he said. “You have more weapons, and that makes Lethwei a little bit more dangerous.”

Saladiak’s opponent would never see the fifth round. After ten minutes of a match that at times seemed more dance than dogfight, the Polish fighter flung the Kachin-born Saw Ba Oo against the ring ropes and kept him there with a vicious kick to the chest that left Ba Oo winded on the canvas. Keen to observe the ancient protocols of his adopted sport, the newly crowned light-middleweight Lethwei world champion prostrated himself before his fallen foe before launching into a traditional dance of triumph.  

Saw Nga Man, who’s known as “Saw Shark” and hails from a Kachin village famous for its Lethwei lineage, said that fighters such as Saladiak and Badato were bringing much-needed attention to his country’s culture.

“International fighters can fight in Lethwei, so we are very glad to see the kind of fighters that come and fight here,” he said. “Lethwei is now developing and developing, so later we hope that Lethwei can overcome Muay Thai.”

For Saladiak, the ferocity and intensity of Myanmar’s bareknuckle boxing has proven a winning combination.

“This sport is something new, but something that people will like,” he said. “People like violence and people like when blood is coming out of the face of another fighter, and that’s why people will prefer to watch Lethwei in the future.”

[longbeachpost]

Long before she was schooled in the art of knocking someone out, Sovannahry Em was taught to take life as it comes; bullying, domestic conflict, didn’t matter. She was to handle situations, to never be sad or angry, never be anything but well-mannered.

But not now. Not when she’s home in California and certainly not recently when she found herself in a cage in Singapore. Now, Sovannahry Em fights.

They call her the “Sweet Savage”—every professional fighter needs a nickname—and the latter half of the moniker was definitely on display in Singapore, on Jan. 29. She cut down her taller, heavier South Korean opponent, Choi Jeung Yun, a skilled kickboxer, pinned her torso and right arm to the mat and pummeled her face with left hooks that were equal parts precise and ferocious until the referee had no choice but to declare Em, 28, the winner by technical knockout.

Surrounded by empty seats, he raised the arm of the Cambodian American from Long Beach, declaring her the winner of this ONE Championship match—ONE being the largest Asian combat sport organization in the world.

“Man,” she said, catching her breath and flashing the smile that accounts for the “Sweet” of her nickname, “that was a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be.”

She could say the same about life. Though this match marked her second victory for the organization on her journey to become a World ONE Champion, she says her main goal remains to reconnect with her Cambodian heritage while becoming a role model for girls and women, particularly those living in Cambodia, who might not feel confident enough to stand up for themselves.

“There’s too much of a culture of women being quiet,” Em said. “We live in such a society that violence toward women is not so uncommon.”

Her remedy, she says, is simple: Every woman should know how to fight.

She is not talking about marching or calling your member of Congress; she believes every woman should know how to curl up her fist and defend herself.

Tatianna Morrison, mother of Sovannahry Em, holds a frame of her daughter as a young girl at her home in Central Long Beach on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.

‘I guess I can be brave’

Since she can remember, Sovannahry Em has always avoided conflict. At home when she’d hear her mother and past boyfriends yelling at each other, Em and her younger siblings would do their best to ignore it. Now, her mother, Tatianna Morrison, said she feels remorse for exposing them to it, adding that she herself was fighting for a relationship she “shouldn’t have been fighting for.”

At school, Em also had “moments” of bullying. While she was “good at deflecting any kind of heat,” ultimately, she never stood up for herself.

“Growing up, I never had that muscle to battle that confrontation,” she said, or even to say something during her mother’s “rocky” relationships.

But one bully in middle school in Wyoming, where she partly grew up, awoke something in her. The bully, a girl, usually picked on other students daily, including Em, after gym in the locker rooms. Seeing the bully harassing another girl, Em became so upset that she was compelled to confront the bully. Em approached her, “told her off” and the bully challenged her to a fight at the park after school.

Ultimately, she didn’t fight the girl because it was impractical to ask her mom to drive her to the park, Em said, chuckling.

Regardless, that day, Em learned something about herself:

“I guess I can be brave.”

‘Little goddess warrior’

After spending her childhood living back-and-forth in SoCal and the Midwest, Em and her family finally settled down in Long Beach on Redondo Avenue and Seventh Street.

A few years after graduating from Wilson High School, Em got her first taste of combat sports at the DG Boxing gym in East Long Beach. Seeing her excel in boxing, the owner let her train there for free, which “went a long way,” Em said, who couldn’t afford to pay. Afterward she learned jiujitsu in a club at Cal State Long Beach and then joined the Long Beach Kickboxing Center near Downtown Long Beach.

Em went on to fight for Gladiator Challenge, an MMA organization, winning two KO matches, which helped jumpstart her professional career.

Em figures her first exposure to martial arts was from her mother, a Khmer Rouge survivor, who had a love for Kung Fu.

“My parents loved mixed martial arts too,” Morrison said, describing the intergenerational connection to fighting. “I watched Chinese Kung Fu movies a lot, and I would practice. I just loved it.”

She recalled Em becoming fond of martial arts when she began wrestling with her younger siblings at age 3.

“You are my little goddess warrior,” she remembers telling her daughter.

Tatianna Morrison, mother of Sovannahry Em, holds a frame of her daughter as a young girl at her home in Central Long Beach on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.

The ‘Sweet Savage’

The Sweet Savage is 5-feet-4 inches with a shy voice and squared glasses; when away from the cage, it’s no stretch to say her personality is kind and rather tender.

Fighting became an outlet to offset her gentleness and bring “balance” to her life, she said. She had avoided conflict for so long, so facing off with an opponent allowed a way to “face a fear of mine.”

It seems incredible that fear is any part of Em’s makeup. Before a fight, any emotion, whether excitement or anxiety, disappears. and, in its place, comes a “raw,” “animalistic,” and “laser focus.” During matches, she strikes heads with fury and velocity and eventually coils herself around her opponents’ bodies, like a python devouring prey.

Sovannahry Em, 28, left, grapples and punches her opponent, Choi Jeong Yun, 22, during their catchweight match for ONE Championship, which was aired from Singapore on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Photo courtesy of ONE Championship.

Training during COVID and redemption

When Morrison and her husband separated, Em took on the shared role of caring for her siblings. Through caregiving, Em learned patience something that actually shows up in her fighting style.

In her match with Choi, for example,  Em grappled her opponent for two rounds–even though Choi repeatedly escaped her grasp. Unrelenting, she chased and chopped at Choi until she ultimately tapped out.

Justen Hamilton, Em’s trainer, said he thinks it’s “still a bit of a mystery” as to how Em won the fight, given that COVID-19 restrictions impeded Em’s training regime, meaning she could only practice with him.

Hamilton became Em’s trainer about three years ago after using her as a test subject for a dissertation on women MMA athletes. To thank her, he gave Em free private fighting lessons at his martial arts academy. After that, she asked him to become her trainer. He found that Em was an already talented fighter, primarily as a striker. To make her more well-rounded, he focused her to grapple, to “blend” the combat moves and strike while on the ground.

“She can really exceed in any area of the sport,” he said.

Another vital skill learned was being tactical and strategic when fighting. Choi, who was a skilled kickboxer with longer limbs, endangered Em’s chances of winning if she stayed in the upright position. Em saw that she didn’t.

Em won her debut match at ONE Championship against Ukrainian opponent Iryna Kyselova within the first round. But Em said that her over-confidence got in the way for her second match against Brazilian opponent, Rayane Basto, who made Em tap out with a guillotine headlock in the first round.

“My ego, it got too big,” she said.

That swift loss had Em doubt her vigor as a fighter. But she bounced back with the victory over Choi, fueling her goal of becoming a world champion.

“You don’t get better without some sort of challenge,” she said.

ONE Championship spokesperson Tammy Chan said via email that they have not yet decided Em’s next opponent.

Long Beach native Sovannahry Em, 28, left, wins a mixed martial arts catchweight match against her opponent, Choi Jeong Yun, 22, far right, for ONE Championship, which was aired from Singapore on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Photo courtesy of ONE Championship.

Cambodia: ‘in memory of those people’

After joining the organization, she’s been able to travel the world, offering her the potential to fight in Cambodia and learn more about her heritage. Her achievements have also helped her reconnect with her father and his family, who’ve congratulated her on her wins.

Em, who currently lives in Ventura County with her boyfriend, studies with a Khmer tutor as she hopes to become a public figure for women in Cambodia.

Tharoth Sam, a “badass” fighter and actress from Cambodia who has been a role model for Cambodian women to jump out of traditional gender roles, inspired this idea in Em.

Thus far, Em informally taught two of her younger siblings some combat moves such as boxing, grappling, jiujitsu and bokator, an ancient Cambodian martial art. Em also helps with the video lessons for Hamilton’s martial arts academy. She said she would especially like if her younger sister, Tania, learns.

Bokator was one of the many arts that nearly vanished after the Khmer Rouge killed millions in the 1970s along with the culture they built. While strengthening girls and women is her main goal, she fights for her Cambodian heritage.

“Everything I’m doing is in memory of those people.”

The post ‘Sweet Savage’: Long Beach MMA fighter reconnects with her Cambodian heritage appeared first on Long Beach Post.

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[gocurrentcom]

Ritu Phogat: Motivated by Khabib Nurmagomedov & inspired by Virat Kohli

Ritu Phogat: Motivated by Khabib Nurmagomedov & inspired by Virat Kohli

Ritu Phogat shifted to mixed martial arts in 2019.

India’s Ritu Phogat is set to battle at the upcoming ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX against Cambodian MMA sensation Nou Srey Pov later this month. The wrestler turned MMA fighter shares insights on the build-up to the big day, with her eyes fixed on nothing but glory for the country.

Q. How has the Covid-19 pandemic…

[sport360-one-championship]

Chan Rothana Battles For Cambodia At ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY

Every professional fighter has a motivation behind what they do. To take part in such a mentally and physically demanding sport, you have to be driven. When Chan Rothana takes to the ONE Championship cage on 21 April in Manila, he'll be heading into battle for his country, his family, and his art.

The Cambodian athlete has endured hardships that most will never know, including being born in a refugee camp during the infamous and brutal civil war in his home nation. The next generation of Cambodians, Chan included, want to prove that their country is past its troubles, and that there's more to their country than memories of war and destruction.

Though he was 6 years old by the time he finally got to make it home, Chan knew that he would never leave again.

"I realized the beauty of my culture and the horror of the civil war. Now our country is changing, war is in the past, and I want to show that Cambodia is once again a great country like it was."

Throughout the war, and with the terrible genocide that accompanied it, the regime sought to erase certain people and their heritage from Cambodia's history books. Part of that involved eradicating the martial arts they practiced. Most were outlawed, with their practitioners killed or jailed. 

Chan's father, one of only two grand masters, survived, and made it his aim to revive the Khmer martial art of Yutakhun Khom, and that's another factor that fuels his son's journey. 

It was Chan’s enthusiasm for this mission which led him to ONE Championship, after being on the brink of retirement to focus on teaching. When he heard the promotion was heading to his homeland, he saw it as a huge opportunity to use the platform to raise awareness for his martial heritage.

That was in 2014, and now Chan has five bouts to his credit in the ONE cage. With three knockout wins and his only losses coming via disqualification and decision, he has shown that his skills can contend with opponents at an elite level. Now, with the awareness and money he generates from his bouts, he seeks to improve the lives of less fortunate youths at home.

"We identify young fighters with high potential and support them, because they generally come from poor backgrounds,” revealed the Selapak coach, of the organization FightforCambodia.org.

The more success he has, and the more he can entertain the ONE Championship crowds, the more exposure and revenue he can garner to help this most noble of causes. 

"MMA is a great sport, and ONE Championship a great organization that changed my life conditions," Chan stresses, and his continued success would only make things better.

On 21 April at ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY, he will be more motivated than ever for victory when he meets China's Xie Bin, and it will take something special to stop him.

[littlelotusvintageclothing]

✨🇰🇭 I was honored to meet the first Khmer female MMA fighter @tharothoum_sam aka "Little Frog" 🐸 She is an inspiration for girls around the world to push forward and try your best, even when obstacles appear too difficult...we must always persevere! I'm so proud of you Khmer Warrior Princess!! 💥🙌🏾💪🏾🙌🏾💪🏾🙌🏾💪🏾🙌🏾💪🏾🙌🏾💪🏾💥@laydeec4p I see you back there! 😂😂#survivingbokator #tharothsam #littlefrog #cambodiatownfilmfestival #cambodiatown #longbeach #longbeachunitedboxingclub #bokator #mma #mmafighter #fighter #actress #warrior #princess #badass #inspiration #cambodia #cambodian #cambo #khmer #khmergirl #feminism #feminist #girlpower #fashion #fashionista #style #stylist #repcambodia (at Long Beach United Boxing Club)

[astro-onechampionship]

Cambodian-American Sovannahry Em Excited For ONE Championship Bout

Sovannahry Em is excited to represent Cambodia in her ONE Championship debut on Friday, 7 December.

She is scheduled to meet Ukraine’s Iryna “Delsa” Kyselova in a flyweight mixed martial arts bout at ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS, which emanates from the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The 26-year-old Cambodian-American is finishing up her training camp, and she plans to put on a show for the fans.

"I feel so ready,” she says. “I can't wait to get out there.”

Together with her trainers, Em has worked on a strategy that aims to see her maintain her undefeated record. She currently holds two victories — the first being an 18-second knockout, and the second being a 79-second TKO.

A lot of her confidence comes from training with her head coach Justin Hamilton, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt at Fight Science MMA in Los Angeles, California, USA.

"We connect very well, and the good thing about him is that he doesn't have another female fighter, so he's able to focus on me and my skills," she shares.

"I've grown so much in just this past month or two. This [bout] is a big opportunity — not for just me, but also for him. We're both super excited."

Em believes her most significant advantage will be in the striking department, but she has been training hard to challenge her Ukrainian adversary both on the feet and on the mat.

Although she would love another quick finish, the Cambodian-American knows Kyselova — a Europe West Fight Champion — is a well-rounded competitor with submission victories as well as knockout finishes.

If she needs to, Em is ready to go all three rounds.

"My coaches are so good at studying [Kyselova's] videos, and seeing her habits and what she likes to do," she explains.

"When we get together on the weekends, that's what we are focusing on — working on a strategy to go against Iryna.”

Em is taking a huge step in her mixed martial arts career, and this weekend, the journey to Kuala Lumpur begins.

On Saturday, she flies to the Malaysian capital, and will spend the following couple of days doing some light training to shake off the jet lag and relax before the thrilling 13-bout card.

Then finally, on 7 December, she will officially write a new chapter in her martial arts story when she enters the cage as a member of the ONE roster.

For Em, martial arts is more than stepping into the cage and competing; it is a lifestyle that touches on both philosophy and deep-rooted values.

"That’s what appealed to me about ONE — the focusing on how [athletes] are good people, how we can help others, and becoming the best version of ourselves,” she says.

The Cambodian-American martial artist plans to showcase the best version of herself at ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS and remain unbeaten.

[yahoo-sports-en-my-mmainsid-blog]

Fight Preview: Ann Osman Vs Vy Srey Khouch At ONE: THRONE OF TIGERS

ONE Championship lead commentator and Fox Sports Presenter Steve Dawson analyzes this women’s MMA showdown.

Ann Osman returns to Kuala Lumpur for ONE: THRONE OF TIGERS against Vy Srey Khouch on Friday, 10 February, with a very different set of challenges from the ones she’s faced at any other time in her career.

At one time, Osman was in the conversation for South-East Asia’s best female athlete. She’d won three fights in a row, had scalped world champion boxer Ana Julaton, and was a veritable media darling of the region.

Then 15 months ago, she walked into a stunning left hook from Russian flyweight Irina Mazepa.

As hard as that hit was for the Malaysian (both figuratively and metaphorically), it was forgivable. Mixed martial arts isn’t like boxing, where records need to be feather-bedded. A fighter can remain marketable and still get a title shot with recent losses on their record, purely based on current form.

More than sending Osman’s career into a dip, that fight promoted Mazepa into a fighter whom we are still clamouring to see more of. Osman can afford to climb again, and with her pedigree and popularity, it looked unlikely to be an arduous ascent. An impressive display of strength and technique saw her overcome Eygyptian Haiat Farag last July. But then Osman’s career took another turn.

April Osenio surfed the unprecedented wave of Team Lakay’s success to stun Osman by guillotine choke in September, and set herself up for a fight with Jenny Huang. That contest effectively became a title eliminator for the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship against the globally-renowned Angela Lee.

A win on Friday would put Osman back in the mix, but a loss would see her fall several steps away from where she wants to be. That pressure could be as tough for Osman to deal with as her opponent.

In her Cambodian adversary, Osman faces a 26-year-old, who started her career in ONE Championship’s December 2015 event in Phnom Penh. In that debut bout, she fought a tough battle to win via split decision. The story behind the bout is that she took the fight at only 24 hours notice, replacing her sister who was unable to compete.

She won her second fight a year ago by second-round KO. Although less experienced than Osman in the cage, Vy Srey Khouch has an impressive amateur boxing record, tallying an estimated 25-2.

Osman carries her weight very well. She has strong legs and impressive upper body strength. If Vy Srey Khouch can match her in terms of weight, then her boxer’s punch will be a significant weapon. Osman took Julaton’s best punches well, but clearly can be hit and hurt, as Mazepa showed us.

The most likely outcome, however, is that Osman commands the fight with takedowns, and as the more experienced grappler, wins by submission or on points.

Steve Dawson is ONE Championship’s lead commentator, a Fox Sports presenter and an author of sporting biographies. He can be found on Twitter & Instagram as @Gulasahi and on Facebook as Steve Dawson.

[conanaltatis]

India's Ritu Phogat earns 3rd ONE Championship win, knocks out Nou Srey Pov in Singapore

India’s Ritu Phogat earns 3rd ONE Championship win, knocks out Nou Srey Pov in Singapore

Ritu Phogat

Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat, 26, of India has earned her third victory in ONE Championship. She has been competing in the Singapore-based martial arts organization since 2019.

Phogat fought Nou Srey Pov, 25, of Cambodia at “ONE: Inside the Matrix.” ONE Championship held the mixed martial arts event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on October 30, 2020.

Phogat…

[conanaltatis]

Evolve MMA's Eko Roni Saputra earns 2nd ONE Championship win, submits Cambodia's Khon Sichan at 'ONE: Warrior's Code' in Indonesia

Evolve MMA’s Eko Roni Saputra earns 2nd ONE Championship win, submits Cambodia’s Khon Sichan at ‘ONE: Warrior’s Code’ in Indonesia

Eko Roni Saputra, Khon Sichan (©ONE Championship)

Training out of Evolve MMA in Singapore, Eko Roni Saputra, 28, of Indonesia has earned his third victory in ONE Championship. He was one of the winners at “ONE: Warrior’s Code.”

Featuring three Muay Thai contests and eight mixed martial arts bouts, ONE Championship held “ONE: Warrior’s Code” at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia on February…

[conanaltatis]

Cambodia's Chan Rothana earns 5th ONE Championship win at 'ONE: For Honor' in Jakarta, Indonesia

Cambodia’s Chan Rothana earns 5th ONE Championship win at ‘ONE: For Honor’ in Jakarta, Indonesia

Chan Rothana

Training out of Selapak and FFG in Cambodia, Chan Rothana, 33, was one of the winners at ‘ONE: For Honor.” It was his fifth victory in ONE Championship.

Featuring 10 mixed martial arts matches and four ONE Super Series contests, which are four Muay Thai bouts, “ONE: For Honor” took place at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 4, 2019. In the fourth bout of the evening,…

[conanaltatis]

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Indonesia and Cambodia were among the 17 countries represented at “ONE: Call to Greatness.” It was the first ONE Championship event in 2019 to be held in Singapore.

Featuring six mixed martial arts matches, four kickboxing contests and one Muay Thai bout, “ONE: Call to Greatness” took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on February 22, 2019. In the first bout of the evening, Rudy “The Golden Boy” Agustian, 33, of Indonesia faced Khon Sichan, 21, of Cambodia.

Blue Corner

Hailing from Oddar Meanchey Province, Cambodia, Sichan started his Kun Khmer training when he was 6 years old and started competing when he was 13. He made his professional MMA debut in 2013 and joined ONE Championship in 2015.

Sichan is a KWC Flyweight Champion and is training out of PROKOUT Top Team and Team Phnom Penh MMA. “ONE: Call to Greatness” marked his fourth ONE Championship bout.

Red Corner

A former Indonesian Flyweight Champion and a Muay Thai specialist, Agustian is fighting out of Golden Camp and Pitbull Academy. He made his professional MMA debut in 2016 and joined ONE Championship in 2018.

When Agustian made his ONE Championship debut at “ONE: Pursuit of Greatness” at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on October 26, 2018, he submitted Kaji “Alpha” Ebin, 26, of the Philippines. “ONE: Call to Greatness” marked the Indonesian fighter’s third bout in the promotion.

Fight Result

Setting the tone for an action-packed evening at “ONE: Call to Greatness,” Agustian and Sichan competed in an MMA bout in the flyweight division with Olivier Coste as the referee. The Indonesian contender made a quick work of his Cambodian opponent.

Agustian was driven to claim his third consecutive victory in ONE Championship. He caught Sichan with a rear-naked choke midway through the first frame.

With Sichan in no position to escape, Agustian applied pressure on the submission and forced the tap. Coste put a stop to the contest after 3 minutes and 14 seconds in the first round.

Winning at “ONE: Call to Greatness” improved Agustian’s professional MMA record to 7 wins and 2 losses. On the other hand, Sichan now has 3 wins and 4 losses.

“ONE” Call to Greatness” Main Event

In the main event of the evening, Stamp Fairtex, 21, of Thailand and Janet Todd, 33 of the U.S. competed for the inaugural ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship title. The Thai contender won via unanimous decision.

Argentina, China, Costa Rica, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and the United States were also represented at “ONE: Call to Greatness.” Check the complete results here.

Here are Michael Schiavello and Mitch Chilson giving a “ONE: Call to Greatness” recap:

[PHOTOS] Indonesia vs Cambodia: Rudy Agustian, Khon Sichan fight at ‘ONE: Call to Greatness’ in Singapore

Indonesia and Cambodia were among the 17 countries represented at “ONE: Call to Greatness.” It was the first ONE Championship event in 2019 to be held in Singapore.

[PHOTOS] Indonesia vs Cambodia: Rudy Agustian, Khon Sichan fight at ‘ONE: Call to Greatness’ in Singapore Indonesia and Cambodia were among the 17 countries represented at “ONE: Call to Greatness.” It was the first ONE Championship event in 2019 to be held in Singapore.

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Thailand and Cambodia are among the 14 countries to be represented at “ONE: Clash of Legends.” It will be the first ONE Championship event to take place in Thailand in 2019.

Featuring five Muay Thai contests and seven mixed martial arts bouts, “ONE: Clash of Legends” will take place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on February 16, 2019. In the second bout of the evening, Rika “Tiny Doll” Ishige, 29, will face Nou Srey Pov, 24, of Cambodia.

Ishige is one of the seven hometown heroes competing at “ONE: Clash of Legends.” Nou is one of the two fighters representing Cambodia.

Blue Corner

Nou Srey Pov is training out of Cambodian Top Team in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He is a Kun Khmer World Champion with a record of 91 wins, 8 losses and 2 draws in the Cambodian martial art. 

“ONE: Clash of Legends” marks Nou’s ONE Championship debut. It is also her first MMA bout.

Red Corner

Ishige was born in Thailand to a Japanese father and Thai mother. When she was 9 years old, she started her martial arts training with aikido and taekwondo.

The Thai-Japanese MMA fighter has been competing professionally since 2017.

Fight Result

Ishige and Nou will compete in an MMA bout in the women’s atomweight division. “ONE: Clash of Legends” marks her seventh ONE Championship outing.

[Result to be added here]

Ishige: 4-2

Nou: 0-0

“ONE: Clash of Legends” Main Events

In the co-main event of the evening, Kongsak P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym, 28, of Thailand will face Alaverdi “Dagger” Ramazanov, 24, of Russia in a Muay Thai bout in the bantamweight division.

[Result to be added here]

In the main event, Nong-o Gaiyanghadao, 32, of Thailand and Han Zi Hao, 23, of China will compete for the inaugural ONE Super Series Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship.

[Result to be added here]

China, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States will also be represented at “ONE: Clash of Legends.” Check all the results here.

*More photos to be added after the bout.

Thailand vs Cambodia: Rika Ishige, Nou Srey Pov fight at ‘ONE: Clash of Legends’ in Bangkok

Thailand and Cambodia are among the 14 countries to be represented at “ONE: Clash of Legends.” It will be the first ONE Championship event to take place in Thailand in 2019.

Thailand vs Cambodia: Rika Ishige, Nou Srey Pov fight at ‘ONE: Clash of Legends’ in Bangkok Thailand and Cambodia are among the 14 countries to be represented at “ONE: Clash of Legends.” It will be the first ONE Championship event to take place in Thailand in 2019.

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Fight Science MMA's Sovannahry Em makes successful ONE Championship debut, represents Cambodia in Malaysia

Fight Science MMA’s Sovannahry Em makes successful ONE Championship debut, represents Cambodia in Malaysia

Sovannahry Em, Mitch Chilson

Representing Fight Science MMA, Cambodian-American mixed martial artist Sovannahry Em, 26, of Long Beach, California, United States made a successful ONE Championship debut at “ONE: Destiny of Champions” on December 7, 2018 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was the last event of the Singapore-based martial arts organization in 2018.

“ONE: Destiny of…

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Cambodia vs Ukraine: Sovannahry Em, Iryna Kyselova fight at 'ONE: Destiny of Champions' in Malaysia

Cambodia vs Ukraine: Sovannahry Em, Iryna Kyselova fight at ‘ONE: Destiny of Champions’ in Malaysia

Sovannahry Em

Iryna Kyselova (© ONE Championship)

Cambodia, the United States and Ukraine will be among the 17 countries that will be represented at “ONE: Destiny of Champions” on December 7, 2018. The fight card will feature eight mixed martial arts matches and four Muay Thai contests.

ONE Championship will hold “ONE: Destiny of Champions” at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In the…

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Priscila Hertati Lumban Gaol (© ONE Championship)

Nou Srey Pov (© ONE Championship)

*More photos to be added after the bout

Indonesia and Cambodia were among the 14 countries represented at “ONE: For Honor.” It was the second ONE Championship event in 2019 that took place in Indonesia.

Featuring 10 mixed martial arts matches and four ONE Super Series contests, which are four Muay Thai bouts, “ONE: For Honor” took place at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 4, 2019. The 10th bout of the evening was between Priscilla “Thathi” Hertati Lumban Gaol of Indonesia and Nou Srey Pov of Cambodia.

Gaol was among the seven hometown heroes who competed at “ONE: For Honor” while Nou was one of the two representatives of Cambodia. China, England, India, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Thailand and the United States were also represented.

Blue Corner

Nou

Red Corner

Gaol

Fight Results

Gaol and Nou competed in an MMA match in the women’s atomweight division.

[RESULT TO BE ADDED HERE]

“ONE: For Honor” Main Event

Jonathan “The General” Haggerty, 21, of Walworth, London, United Kingdom will challenge reigning ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, 34, of Buriram, Thailand in the main event. [RESULT TO BE ADDED HERE]

Check the official results for “ONE: For Honor” on Conan Daily.

[PHOTOS] Indonesia vs Cambodia: Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol vs Nou Srey Pov fight at ‘ONE: For Honor’ in Jakarta *More photos to be added after the bout Indonesia and Cambodia were among the 14 countries represented at "ONE: For Honor." It was the second ONE Championship event in 2019 that took place in Indonesia.