Yuya Wakamatsu Beats Reece McLaren in Hard-Fought Battle of Flyweight Contenders
April 22, 2021 – Singapore: ONE Championship™ (ONE), Asia’s largest global sports media property, returned with “ONE on TNT III,” a previously recorded event from the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The action-packed card featured a series of exciting mixed martial arts contests and a “dream match” between striking legends.
In the main event, #1-ranked bantamweight contender John “Hands of Stone” Lineker destroyed a game but overmatched Troy “Pretty Boy” Worthen to win by knockout in the first round.
[Official “ONE on TNT III” Photo Gallery]
Lineker came out of the gates firing powerful boxing combinations without caution. He went on to land a torrent of thudding punches to the head and body throughout the fight.
Showing tremendous conditioning and durability, Worthen somehow stayed on his feet despite absorbing Lineker’s best shots. But inside the final minute of the first round, the powerful Brazilian connected with a straight right hand that marked the end for his foe. “Hands of Stone” quickly followed up with another right hand on the ground to seal the finish.
In the co-main event, #4-ranked flyweight contender Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu took care of business against dangerous grappler and #5-ranked contender Reece “Lightning” McLaren in an entertaining three-round affair.
Wakamatsu made his intent known early on, winging wild haymakers from range while McLaren constantly threatened with submissions in intense mat exchanges. As the bout wore on, Wakamatsu began to establish his dominance, tagging McLaren with crisp boxing combinations. In the end, all three judges scored the fight in favor of the Japanese star to win by unanimous decision.
[Read: Lead Card: Ok Earns Date With Alvarez, Holzken KOs Parr]
On the Bleacher Report lead card, Ok Rae Yoon stunned former ONE Featherweight World Champion and current #5-ranked lightweight contender Marat “Cobra” Gafurov, winning by unanimous decision after three closely contested rounds of action. With his victory, Ok will face American legend Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez at “ONE on TNT IV” next week.
In a highly anticipated rematch, Miao Li Tao authored a fantastic performance against Ryuto “Dragon Boy” Sawada to come away with a unanimous decision after a grueling three-round fight.
And in a ONE Super Series Muay Thai showdown, kickboxing icon Nieky “The Natural” Holzken put together a tremendous performance to stop legendary striker John Wayne “The Gunslinger” Parr in the second round.
Official Results for “ONE on TNT III”
Mixed Martial Arts – Bantamweight: John Lineker defeats Troy Worthen via Knockout (KO) at 4:35 of Round 1
Mixed Martial Arts – Flyweight: Yuya Wakamatsu defeats Reece McLaren via Unanimous Decision
Mixed Martial Arts – Lightweight: Ok Rae Yoon defeats Marat Gafurov via Unanimous Decision
Mixed Martial Arts – Strawweight: Miao Li Tao defeats Ryuto Sawada via Unanimous Decision
Muay Thai – Catchweight (80.8 KG): Nieky Holzken defeats John Wayne Parr via Technical Knockout (TKO) at 1:23 of Round 2
ONE Championship returns with “ONE on TNT IV,” which broadcasts live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, on Wednesday, April 28 (Thursday, April 29 in Asia). In the main event, reigning ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang defends his belt in a trilogy fight against rival Vitaly Bigdash. For more information, visit the “ONE on TNT IV” event page.
For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.
About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship (ONE) is the largest global sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, ONE is the world’s largest martial arts organization, hosting bouts across all styles of martial arts such as mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and more. ONE hosts the biggest sports entertainment events across Asia, featuring some of the world’s best martial artists and World Champions on the largest global media broadcast in Asia. In addition to its digital platforms, ONE Championship broadcasts across 150+ countries with some of the largest global free-to-air and digital broadcasters, including Star Sports, iQIYI, TV5, Astro, ClaroSports, Startimes, Fox Sports, Thairath TV, Turner Sports, Skynet, Mediacorp, Great Sports, Mediaset Italia, ProSiebenSat.1, Dubai Sports, and more.
