Thirty one year-old Robert Lisita started strongly against his Filipino opponent Eric Kelly last night but got caught in a submission in the second round in what was an action packed and bloody fight.
The two clashed in the main event of One Fighting Championships 18: War of Dragons, which was held at the National Taiwan University Sports Centre in Taipei, Taiwan on Friday night.
Lisita landed an early knee, before Kelly put the Australian fighter on his back. In an attempt to get back up, Lisita ate a knee. In the scramble that followed, Lisita was able to land a pair of soccer kicks which were partially blocked by Kelly. Lisita followed his opponent to the ground where he looked to lock up a submission from north-south position. Kelly was able to scramble back to his feet. Lisita got the better of the exchanges on their feet, before a low-blow to Lisita brought a small halt to the action. Kelly was taken down late in the round and close with a rear-naked choke submission before Lisita escaped.
An early shot from Lisita in the second-round opened up the flood-gates as blood started pouring from what appeared to be a broken nose for Kelly. The Filipino 32-year old stayed in the contest, first escaping a rear-naked choke, then escaping out of Lisita’s side-control to lock up a no-hook rear-naked choke submission that forced Lisita to tap. The end came 3:40 into the second-round.
A disappointing ending for Lisita who looked in control for majority of the bout. Kelly reportedly made his way to hospital however the trip will feel a bit nicer, knowing that he also walked away with the promotions inaugural US$50,000 performance bonus which will go a long way in his native Philippines. Through social media, Lisita also wasted no time in asking for a rematch, saying he will fight anyone to get another opportunity to face Kelly.
The loss was Lisita’s first in his last five outings and stops his impressive run where he has defeated the likes of Rodolfo Marques, Takeshi Inoue, and Yusuke Kawanago. He drops his professional record to 14-6.
With the win, Kelly (11-1) moves a step-closer at a potential title shot against Japanese fighter Koji Oishi. His lone loss has come to fellow Filipino fighter Honorio Banario.
Also on the card, Japanese fighter Koji Ando had a first-round rear-naked choke submission win over Rafael Nunes, while Koetsu Okazaki stopped Yusup Saadulaev with punches to score a second-round TKO victory.
*Images via One FC
Full Results:
- Eric Kelly def Robert Lisita via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 3:43
- Koji Ando def Rafael Nunes via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:43
- Koetsu Okazaki def Yusup Saadulaev via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 4:21
- Jake Butler def Mohamed Ali def TKO (Punches), Rd 3, 1:21
- Paul Cheng def Mahmoud Hassan via TKO (Corner Stoppage), Rd 2, 5:00
- Chi Lewis Parry def Alain Ngalani via KO (Elbow), Rd 1, 4:11
- Sung Ming Yen def Nicholas Lee via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 1, 1:10
- Jeff Huang def Bala Shetty via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 3:20
- Eliot Corley def Rayner Kinsiong via KO (Elbow), Rd 1, 1:36
- Nathan Ng def Florian Garel via Submission (North-South Choke), Rd 1, 1:23
Gif via the ever reliable Zombie Prophet
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