ONE on TNT IV results, new champ champ and Alvarez beaten

ONE on TNT IV results; all the stories and best action from an entertaining night of fights from Singapore.

History made

The main event at the fourth ONE Championship event on TNT in the USA saw history as a new man added his name to the champ-champ list. Reinier de Ridder extended his unbeaten record to 14-0 as he dominated former double-champion Aung La Nsang (26-12) to take the light-heavyweight title. BJJ black-belt de Ridder had already taken Aung La’s middleweight title back in October via first-round submission.

De Ridder took the fight on short notice after Vitaly Bigdash contracted COVID-19. Despite his lack of preparation time, the Dutchman dominated the fight from start to finish. Aung La couldn’t to keep the fight upright and was taken down numerous times. The Myanmar fighter fought off many submission attempts but could never get himself into the fight.

Now, a third title is in sight as de Ridder looks to move up and fight for the heavyweight crown. Former UFC fighter Brandon Vera is the current champion and Aung La believes it is a bad matchup for de Ridder. He said ¨he’s got great takedown defence… wrestling at almost Olympic level. So stylistically I don’t think it’s a good match-up for Reinier¨. The Dutchman isn’t concerned. ¨That’s what they always say man.¨ Could de Ridder become a triple champ?

Underground King struggles continue

In the co-main event, former UFC and Bellator champion took on Ok Rae Yoon. Ok took the spoils after an absolute barn-burner in which the Underground King was nearly finished in the first. After a solid right hand dropped Alvarez, the ref started waving his arms. He let it continue as the American had his head bounced off the canvas multiple times. Despite that, Alvarez got up and finished the round strongly.

The rest of the fight was a back-and-forth affair as Alvarez struggled to take down the rangy South Korean. Ok was striking with pinpoint accuracy and nearly had Alvarez down again in the third. In the end it went to the judges who gave it to Ok via unanimous decision. The ONE Championship struggles continue for the Underground King. Will he ever reach the gold in his third major promotion?

An action-packed undercard and “eat sh*t”

Viral sensation Reug Reug continued his ONE Championship campaign for gold against Kirill Grishenko. Those hoping for another brutal KO from the Senegalese were disappointed as the fight ended in an odd way. Reug Reug appeared to go down from a strike coming as the bell went to end the second round. Going down clutching his throat he claimed Grishenko had thrown an illegal strike after the bell. After some confusion, referee Coste awarded a TKO victory to Grishenko after 5:00 of round 2.

MMA and BJJ legend Shinya Aoki returned to the ONE cage to face Eduard Folayang. In a trilogy battle between former ONE lightweight champions, Aoki made it 2-1 with a first round armbar. Aoki was originally meant to fight former UFC star Sage Northcutt who was injured in the lead-up to the event. Northcutt took to Twitter to congratulate Aoki on another submission win. Aoki responded in his usual manner, telling the American to “eat sh*t”.

Elsewhere, in an entertaining Muay Thai bout, Jackie Buntan took a knife-edge decision victory over Ekaterina Vandaryeva. Colbey Northcutt, sister of Sage, moved to 2-1 in MMA by defeating Courtney Martin (0-1) via first-round armbar.

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Full One on TNT IV results

Reiner de Ridder def. Aung La N Sang via decision (Light-Heavyweight championship)

Ok Rae Yoon def. Eddie Alvarez via decision (Lightweight bout)

Kirill Grishenko def. Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane via TKO, 5:00 r2 (Heavyweight bout)

Shinya Aoki def. Eduard Folayand via submission (armbar), 4:20 r1 (Lightweight bout)

Jackie Buntan def. Ekaterina Vandaryeva via decision (ONE Super Series Muay Thai bout)

Colbey Northcutt def. Courtney Martin via submission (armbar), 2:28 r1 (Flyweight bout)