Thanh Vu was unsuccessful in his bantamweight tournament semi-final bout with Kevin Belingon at One FC 8: Kings and Champions, in Singapore last night.
After a valiant effort in the opening round, the referee called a stop to the clash — and subsequently Vu’s tournament final ambitions — in the second after Belingon rocked the Sydney fighter with a head kick before dropping him with punches.
Utilising leg kicks in the first period, Belingon looked to take the base out from under the young Aussie early. After tripping from a solid outside shot to the leg, “Aladdin” did well to return to his feet before getting muscled back to the canvas. The contest was stood up with about 15 seconds remaining in the round.
It was an early head kick in the second that began the end for the Martial Arts Development fighter. The ref waved the bout off at 1:00 into the round — much to the dismay of a protesting Vu — as the URCC flyweight champ moved in and sealed the deal with a torrent of punches.
This defeat was the first for Vu in the promotion after stopping Mohd Fouzein at ONE FC 7: Return of Warriors in February. He is expected to remain with the organisation.
Belingon will now go on to meet Masakatsu Ueda in the tournament final after Ueda submitted UFC veteran Jens Pulver to book his opportunity to challenge the champion Soo Chul Kim later this year.
In the main event, Japanese superstar Shinya Aoki submitted countryman Kotetsu Boku to claim the ONE FC lightweight strap.
Check out the fightnewsaustralia.com One FC 8 live play-by-play for a detailed recap.
Main Bouts:
- Shinya Aoki def Kotetsu Boku via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 2:01
- Brock Larson def Melvin Manhoef via Decision (Unanimous)
- Masakatsu Ueda def Jens Pulver via Submission (D’Arce Choke), Rd 2, 3:52
- Kevin Belingon def Thanh Vu via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 1:00
- Eddie Ng def Arnaud Lepont via Submission (Armbar), Rd 2, 4:45
- Leandro Issa def Yusup Saddulaev via Decision (Unanimous)
- Alex Silva def Rene Catalan via Submission (Armbar), Rd 1, 4:34
- Bashir Ahmad def Shannon Wiratchai via Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary Bouts:
- Jake Butler def Swain Cangco via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 2:52
- Chen Yun Ting def Ronald Low via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 3:58
