ZORO! I had the Moreira vs. Huerta bout pegged as my unofficial main-event, and boy did I get more than what I bargained for, as it ended with a crazy highlight reel knockout.
The #7 ranked lightweight at the World MMA Scouting Report, Zorobabel Moreira just graduated from top prospect to legit contender. It didn’t matter that he stepped in on about two and a half week’s notice against a much more experienced fighter in Roger Huerta. Zoro still completely dominated the former UFC and Bellator star, looking more like a seasoned Muay Thai fighter rather than a BJJ World Champion.
Zoro out-struck a very game Huerta and had the veteran hurt on several occasions, eventually finishing with a BRUTAL soccer kick KO. It’s a technique that is legal in the hybrid ruleset of ONE Fighting Championship, and the Evolve MMA product becomes first fighter in the promotion to actually finish the fight with it.
More immediate post-fight thoughts after the jump along with a gif of the crazy kick. — Follow me on twitter, @antontabuena
- I want to see a gif of this (UPDATE: The gif is in the comments), but here’s a screen grab of the soccer kick courtesy of MMA Japan:
- Zorobabel improves to 7-1 with wins over Roger Huerta, Andy Wang, Ferrid Kheder and Felipe Enomoto. I’m definitely looking forward to who they match up against Zoro next. Either way, and I’ll say it again, his next fight should be for the inaugural ONE FC Lightweight Title.
- Renato Sobral won in less than a minute, defeating Tatsuya Mizuno with a beautiful armbar. The Japanese fighter rushed Babalu during the early portions even bloodying up the nose of the former Strikeforce champion, but with MMA, one mistake, and it was over in a blink of an eye.
When asked about how winning after that long lay off feels, Babalu said it feels like he “lost his virginity again”… hmm.
- Adam Kayoom had a great moment in his home country, winning a close decision against Gregor Gracie after losing badly in the first round. The bigger and younger fighter in Gracie looked like a beast earlier on, but midway to the second, Kayoom turned the tables and dominated Gracie, who may have punched himself out trying to finish earlier.
Following the fight, Kayoom thanked Gracie, saying “Without the Gracies, I would’ve been working for bosses that I would have gladly head kicked over a table”
- Both men were BJJ black belts, but Gracie showed better wrestling in the first two rounds. On the other hand, Kayoom, who is also a Muay Thai champion, demonstrated much better striking on the later portions. It was an excellent fight on a card filled with multiple come from behind wins.
- Another one of those excellent come from behind wins was from Malaysian-based French fighter, Arnaud Lepont. His opponent, Brian Choi was winning the fight with his wrestling, and looked to have tired out Lepont. One costly mistake though, and Lepont exploded with the remaining energy he had, taking the back, and choking out the Korean for the dramatic finish.
Lepont called out Choi’s teammate, Shinya Aoki right after.
- URCC Champion Eric Kelly remained undefeated at 7-0, earning a unanimous decision victory over Road FC’s top featherweight in Bae Young Kwon. It was an exciting back and forth bout which saw Kwon land multiple impressive Judo throws, and Kelly winning the striking exchanges and threatening with better submission attempts.
It was Kelly’s first decision, and while many were impressed by the skillset he showed, the Filipino fighter apologized to the crowd for not getting the finish.
- It may not have been the common opinion, but Leandro Issa did exactly what I predicted he would do against Masakazu Imanari. He was good enough to not even come close to being threatened by submissions, and he handily won the striking exchanges en route to a comfortable decision.
- For prelim action, Malaysian Model and Actor turned Mixed Martial Artist, Peter Davis, impressed with a 55 second TKO finish over, Kim Hock Quek. Davis was much more aggressive compared to his ONE FC debut. He landed several unorthodox kicks that hurt and staggered the Singaporean national champion boxer, eventually forcing the referee to stop the fight.
- Popular Singapore-based American, Mitch Chilson outclassed his Malaysian opponent, winning with a quick rear naked choke in the first.
- Check out the full results for ONE FC 4 here.
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