Edward Kelly (Photo : ONE Championship)
Three pinoy MMA bets took to the ONE Championship cage Friday night, March 18 at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar. The fight card dubbed "ONE: Union of Warriors" featured a headline bout between Burmese fighter Aung La N Sang -- who is returning to Myanmar after seeking asylum in the United States for over 13 years -- and Egyptian Wushu Sanda champion Mohamed Ali.
Featherweight contender Edward "The Ferocious" Kelly (7-3-0) of the famed Team Lakay of Baguio City, Philippines emerged victorious in his undercard bout against debuting Australian fighter Jordan "Showtime" Lucas (8-1-0).
After a couple of successful takedowns from Lucas, Kelly was able to sneak in a rear naked choke, forcing the previously unbeaten Australian to tap out.
With the victory, Kelly was able to get back in the winner's circle after losing his previous ONE Championship bout to Martin Nguyen last November.
The end came officially at 3:47 of the first round, with Kelly winning by rear naked choke submission.
Robin "The Ilonggo" Catalan (5-2-0) of Manila, Philippines fell short of victory against Evolve-MMA's Alex "Little Rock" Silva (4-1-0), tapping out to an arm triangle choke at 4:32 of round one.
Catalan is the third straight opponent for Silva to bear the Catalan surname, as Silva previously edged out Robin's older siblings Ruel and Rene.
Catalan turned in a workmanlike performance however, finding some success trading blows with Silva at the center of the cage. But Silva, whose strength lies in grappling, constantly looked for the takedown and was finally able to get it deep in the first round.
The arm triangle choke came shortly after.
In the evening's co-main event, former flyweight champion Adriano "Mikinho" Moraes of Brazil successfully returned to the ONE Cage after losing the title in his last bout, defeating charismatic opponent Eugene Toquero of the Philippines.
Midway into the fight, Toquero rocked Moraes with a flying knee and follow up strikes. This caused Moraes to rely on his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills to carry him to victory.
Once on the mat, Moraes sunk in a D'Arce Choke officially at 4:53 of round one to seal the deal.
