ONE Championship 2020: 'King of the Jungle' Results and Highlights

Janet Todd dethroned Stamp Fairtex in stunning fashion to become the new women's atomweight kickboxing champion when the 2020 ONE Championship returned in King of the Jungle on Friday.

Fairtex came into the clash as the heavy favourite but succumbed in her second fight against Todd, who survived a brutal five-round war to emerge victorious via split decision.

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao got the better of Rocky Ogden in the inaugural muay thai title match to be held at strawweight, when it was the defending ONE FC kickboxing champion who added another accolade to his list of achievements.  

Japan's Kimihiro Eto stunned Amir Khan with a first-round submission just prior to the main events, beating the favourite and a former training partner of his with a well-orchestrated rear naked choke.

That was the second of two back-to-back first-round finishes after 44-year-old Yoshihiro Akiyama stopped Sherif Mohamed via TKO.

Every fight—including the preliminary bouts and the main card—was broadcast live via the official ONE Championship YouTube account:

ONE FC confirmed on February 18 that King of the Jungle would be a closed-door event at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang because of the ongoing threat of coronavirus in Singapore.

King of the Jungle Results

Janet Todd bt. Stamp Fairtex via split decision

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao bt. Rocky Ogden via unanimous decision

Kimihiro Eto bt. Amir Khan via R1 submission

Yoshihiro Akiyama bt. Sherif Mohamed via R1 KO/TKO

Tiffany Teo bt. Ayaka Miura via R3 KO/TKO

Denice Zamboanga bt. Mei Yamaguchi via unanimous decision

Troy Worthen bt. Mark Fairtex Abelardo via unanimous decision

Honorio Banario bt. Shannon Wiratchai via split decision

Ritu Phogat bt. Wu Chiao Chen via unanimous decision

Murad Ramazanov bt. Bae Myung-Ho via R1 KO/TKO

Jeff Chan bt. Radeem Rahman via R2 submission

Recap, Highlights

Stamp defeated Todd via unanimous decision when these two met at ONE Championship: Call to Greatness in February 2019, but the American looked a lot more settled at the start of this Super Series rematch. 

Todd's fast movement in particular seemed a problem for her opponent, who looked calm enough when making a colourful entrance:

The Thai sensation found more success transitioning to the legs to slow Todd's lateral movement, and judges might have understandably had the fight scored equally after four rounds. Both fighters had danced their way down to the cage, but there was no love lost between the two punching their way to a frantic finish.

Todd looked in disbelief after edging the split decision to become the first American ONE Super Series champion, per writer James Goyder:

The inaugural muay thai strawweight title clash between Gaiyanghadao and Ogden was a close competition, though the former and favourite did appear to be one step ahead of his Australian foe for the most part:

Ogden was on the receiving end of most of the significant sweeps and knockdowns as the pair completed all five rounds, with the judges scoring unanimously in favour of the reigning champ.

Few might have expected Khan's meeting with Japan's Eto would be over quite so quickly, with the former losing for the fourth time in five fights and in less than two minutes:

At 44 years of age, "Sexyama" notched arguably the best finish of the event in his bout opposite Mohamed, who stormed out of the blocks but lacked the tactical nous to stand with his opponent.

Mohamed caught his opponent with several blows of note, but Akiyama looked almost nonchalant when he backed up and finished the Egyptian with an expertly timed right hook:

Jeff Chan submitted Radeem Rahman in the first fixture of the night, a second-round rear naked choke to give the Canadian his third successive professional win.

Murad Ramazanov improved his unbeaten record to 9-0 after finishing Bae Myung-Ho with punches in the first round, having still gone the distance only once in his professional career:

Ritu Phogat put her wrestling chops to good use in a unanimous-decision win over Wu Chiao Chen and was a deserved victor after taking matters to the ground. 

Honorio Banario made a successful return to featherweight and edged Shannon Wiratchai via split decision, one of six fights to go the distance on the evening.

Troy Worthen eked out another of those in his clash with Mark Fairtex Abelardo, and the only male American fighter competing on the card had a message of positivity for fans outside the empty stadium:

Referee Olivier Coste called an end to Tiffany Teo's bout with Ayaka Miura in the third round after the latter showed no signs of intelligently defending despite her takedown attempt:

Teo's reward will be a title shot against women's strawweight champion Xiong Jing Nan (14-2), who lost to Angela Lee via fifth-round submission when they fought for the atomweight belt in October 2019.