Petchmorakot Petchyindee retained his ONE featherweight Muay Thai world title in the main event of ONE 157, but the result certainly did not come easily to the Thai striker.

Petchmorakot had to pick himself off the canvas on countless occasions as he was repeatedly dumped to the mat during the bout by the bigger, stronger Jimmy Vienot. But a big knockdown in Round 3 proved decisive as he edged a split decision to cling on to his title.

Vienot started strongly to assert his height, reach and strength advantage over the champion, then doubled down on that superiority in a strong second round that saw him dump the Thai to the canvas on five separate occasions.

Vienot’s ability to catch and dump Petchmorakot effectively nullified the Thai’s body-kick attack, and gave him the platform to land strikes of his own. The Frenchman’s strength in the clinch also helped prevent Petchmorakot from landing elbows from close range.

Undeterred, the champion continued to press forward and found much more success in a more evenly-contested third round.

Then, after being dumped to the mat again at the start of Round 4, Petchmorakot struck with the biggest moment of the fight. A perfectly-timed counter right dropped Vienot for the first knockdown of the fight. It gave the Thai a guaranteed 10-8 round and put him in the driving seat heading into the final round.

Vienot pushed forward looking to secure the final frame, while Petchmorakot, seemingly thinking he had the fight in the bag, was less willing to engage and was warned a few times by referee Elias Dolaptsis that he needed more action.

But no point deduction was issued, and Petchmorakot and Vienot went all the way to the final bell.

There was plenty of uncertainty as the judges’ verdicts were read, with Petchmorakot eventually earning the victory via split decision to retain his title.

Lasiri stuns Prajanchai to capture strawweight gold

In the co-main event, there was a big shock, as ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion Prajanchai PK.Saenchai was dethroned in stunning fashion by number-one contender Joseph Lasiri.

After an evenly-contested opening round, Lasiri made the big breakthrough in the second as he pushed the pace on the champion and landed a huge elbow that left the champion busted up and in trouble.

Lasiri continued his high-pressure gameplan through Round 3 as he continued to punish the champion who was a bloody mess as he returned to his corner.

It quickly became apparent that the Thai was unable to continue, and the fight was subsequently waved off with Prajanchai on his stool. It meant that Lasiri was crowned champion, as he and his team celebrated wildly in the cage following his huge upset victory.

Rodtang shows his class

The event also saw the return of ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, who defeated England’s Jacob Smith over three punishing, one-sided rounds to advance to the semi-finals of the ONE flyweight Muay Thai grand prix.

Rodtang looked at his very best as he picked his shots and landed with power to bust up the Brit, who showed remarkable durability to take the bout all the way to the judges’ scorecards.

But there was no suspense as the fighters waited for the verdict, as Rodtang claimed a unanimous decision to progress to the final four of the tournament.

Grappling siblings claim double win

The night also featured the ONE Championship debuts of the Ruotolo brothers, who faced establish ONE stars in lightweight submission grappling matchups.

Younger brother Kade was taken the distance by former ONE lightweight champion Shinya Aoki, while older brother Tye needed just 97 seconds to finish fellow grappler and former featherweight title challenger Garry Tonon with a D’Arce choke.

After Tye’s win, the two brothers joined forces to issue callouts of each other’s opponents, with Kade saying he wants to face Tonon, and Tye looking to take on Aoki.

The main card opened with a quickfire KO, as Walter Goncalves punched his ticket to the semi-finals of the flyweight Muay Thai grand prix with a thumping 35-second demolition of Josue Cruz.

ONE 157: Official Results

MAIN CARD

  • Petchmorakot Petchyindee def. Jimmy Vienot via split decision – for featherweight Muay Thai title
  • Joseph Lasiri def. Prajanchai PK.Saenchai via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 3, 3:00 – for strawweight Muay Thai title
  • Rodtang Jitmuangnon def. Jacob Smithvia unanimous decision – flyweight Muay Thai grand prix quarter-final
  • Tye Ruotolo def. Garry Tonon via submission (D’Arce choke) – 1:37 – lightweight submission grappling
  • Kade Ruotolo def. Shinya Aoki via unanimous decision – lightweight submission grappling
  • Walter Goncalves def. Josue Cruz via knockout – Round 1, 0:35 – flyweight Muay Thai grand prix quarter-final

PRELIMS

  • Superlek Kiatmoo9 def. Taiki Naito via unanimous decision – flyweight Muay Thai grand prix quarter-final
  • Savvas Michael def. Amer Naseri via unanimous decision – flyweight Muay Thai grand prix quarter-final
  • Alyse Anderson def. Asher Roka via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:04
  • Mohammed Boutasaa def. Davit Kiria via unanimous decision – kickboxing
  • Nat Jaroonsak def. Zeba Bano via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:22
  • Sherzod Kabutov def. Denis Puric via unanimous decision – flyweight Muay Thai grand prix alternate bout
  • Elipitua Siregar def. Robin Catalan via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 2:58