A smothering performance from Shinya Aoki earned him a main event win on Thursday over Kimihiro Eto at ONE Championship’s “3rd Tokyo Fight Night” show. Aoki’s 15-minute performance gave him the nod on scorecards.
The win, Aoki’s 45th as a pro, came at the Shibuya Tsutaya O-East in Tokyo, Japan.
The fight saw Eto on his back for a large portion of the fight, with Aoki trying for chokes and landing punches from the back to stay active in the position.
The win saw Aoki’s return to MMA after just under a year since his last fight. He had previously competed in October of 2019, defeating Honorio Banario in the first minute via d’arce choke at ONE Championship’s “Century” card.
Eto’s previous fight was also a win, having defeated Amir Khan with a rear naked choke last February. The fight was Eto’s seventh under the ONE banner.
The co-main event saw flyweight fighter Yosuke Saruta pick up a decision victory over Yoshitaka Naito. The former ONE Flyweight Champion has now picked up two wins since losing his belt to Joshua Pacio in April of 2019.
A stunning performance came in the fourth bout of the evening, which saw Hiroyuki Tetsuka drop Gunther Kalunda in the second minute with a left hook. The win stopped extended the Welterweight King of Pancrase’s winning streak to five-in-a-row.
The ONE Championship event is a precursor to a flagship event held by the promotion on Friday, “A New Breed 2.” The six-fight card from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand is set to begin at 8:30AM EDT on Friday (7:30PM local time).
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