NEW CHAMP | Roger Gracie defeats Michal Pasternak to win ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship May 6, Singapore (Photo : ONE Championship)
For Roger Gracie, his co-main event with Michal Pasternak at ONE: ASCENT TO POWER turned into a very routine contest.
Gracie locked up a first-round submission - the fifth of his career - against the previously-unbeaten Pasternak, securing the inaugural ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship in the process.
Coming into his second bout with the top promotion in Asia, Gracie (8-2) was expecting it to go a little bit longer - like his debut in 2014 that resulted in a third-round TKO over UFC veteran James McSweeney.
"No I didn't think the fight would be that quick," he said. "I was expecting it to be (finished) in the second round. The plan was to build the speed up because I didn't want to start too fast because it was five rounds. It's hard to last five rounds if you start too fast."
Originally, the two were to meet in a three-round battle, but officials instead made it a five-round title fight with a belt up for grabs.
Gracie, who has fought for the UFC and Strikeforce before against the likes of Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, Keith Jardine, and Tim Kennedy, re-focused his attention on ending the fight as soon as possible once Pasternak gave him an opening.
"As soon as he tried to jump in and knock me out, I knew he would try to avoid the takedown," Gracie said. "I pushed him and clinched, got the underhook, and took him down.
"Instead of trying to get a good position, he was desperate to stand up. That made it easy for me to get a good position (and eventually the arm-triangle choke submission)."
The 34-year-old Gracie has fought previously at middleweight before making the move to the light heavyweight division for a second time with his new employers. He believes a run as a two-division champion-which would be the first for ONE Championship-is possible.
"I would try to hold both belts, defend both belts," he added. "Just see what would happen."
The ONE title is his first-as well as the Gracie family's-in MMA, adding to the gold medals Gracie captured at World Championship grappling events from 2004-2010, and a pair of ADCC 2005 championships.
