It was a dirty night for the Australian representatives at ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas.
Both Izaak Michell and Duke Didier fell to defeat inside the distance at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 6.
Michell challenged ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo in the early exchanges of the co-main event, with the Adelaide-born standout’s physicality proving an issue for the defending champion.
Michell eventually succeeded in securing a takedown, only for Ruotolo to immediately reverse the position and take the mount.
The 21-year-old American phenom then quickly stepped over to the back and sunk in a modified rear-naked choke, mirroring the finish hit by his twin brother, Kade, earlier in the night.
Ruotolo retained his welterweight submission grappling crown with win, and also took home a US$50,000 performance bonus for his efforts, making it a lucrative night for the twins after Kade was also rewarded for his victory.
It was also a rough night at the office for Didier in the earlier heavyweight MMA contest.
“The Duke of Canberra” shocked former NCAA Division I wrestler Ben Tynan by hitting an early takedown, but it was all downhill from there.
Tynan worked his way back to his feet and hit a big left hand that caught Didier’s attention. Shortly after, the unbeaten Canadian landed a short elbow that sent Didier crashing to the canvas.
“Vanilla Thunder” quickly took the back and unloaded shots on the flattened-out Aussie, forcing the referee to mercifully wave off the contest at the 2:36 mark of the opening frame.
The quick win also netted Tynan a performance bonus and improved his professional MMA record to 6-0.
In the main event, French kickboxer Alexis Nicolas stunned two-sport ONE lightweight world champion Regian Eersel
ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel Vs. Nicolas Full Results
ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title: Alexis Nicolas defeated Regian Eersel via unanimous decision
ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Title: Tye Ruotolo defeated Izaak Michell via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:43
Catchweight (146.5lb) Muay Thai: Suablack Tor Pran49 defeated Vladimir Kuzmin via unanimous decision
Heavyweight MMA: Ben Tynan defeated Duke Didier via TKO (referee stoppage – ground and pound) R1, 2:36
Flyweight Muay Thai: Denis Puric defeated Jacob Smith via unanimous decision
Catchweight (180lb) Submission Grappling: Kade Ruotolo defeated Francisco Lo via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:48
Catchweight (136lb) Kickboxing: Dedduanglek TDed99 defeated Taiki Naito via unanimous decision
Welterweight MMA: Hiroyuki Tetsuka defeated Valmir Da Silva via submission (north-south choke) R2, 3:34
Strawweight Muay Thai: Songchainoi Kiatsongrit defeated Nicolas Leite Silva via unanimous decision
Bantamweight MMA: Jeremy Pacatiw defeated Wang Shuo via submission (rear-naked choke) R1, 2:07
