Angela Lee suffered her second straight loss in the co-main event of ONE Championship: Masters of Destiny on Friday at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this time to eight-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Michelle Nicolini in a flyweight contest.
Nicolini dictated the pace of the fight with her superior grappling, affording the former atomweight champion little time to use her striking advantage en route to a unanimous decision win.
Nicolini wasted not time taking the fight to the ground and achieved full mount within the first minute. However, Lee then swept the eight-time world champion, ending up in the Brazilian’s guard. Lee landed shots from top position as Nicolini attempted sweeps and, at one stage, a triangle choke, before the round ended.
After eating a crisp leg kick, Nicolini dived for a takedown to begin the second round. After initially being stuffed, she caught Lee with a sweep and ended up in top position. Achieving mount for the second time in the fight with two minutes gone in the round, Nicolini landed short punches as Lee attempted to regain half-guard. With a minute left on the clock, Lee executed another sweep that saw her finish the round top position.
When Nicolini looked for a takedown a minute into the third, Lee landed crisp punches to stop her advances. The Brazilian wasn’t dissuaded and eventually forced the former atomweight champion to her back. After Lee got back to her feet, the Brazilian ate several more punches when she looked to land an ankle. Lee finished the round on Nicolini’s back, attempting to submit the decorated jiu-jitsu champion with a rear-naked choke.
In the main event, Georgio Petrosyan overcame Petchmorakot Sangprapai in their highly publicized kickboxing rematch, earning a unanimous decision nod, which puts him through the Grand Prix semifinal.
ONE overturned the decision of their initial bout to a no contest from when Petchmorakot was deemed the winner on the judges’ scorecards.
Petrosyan looked a far more aggressive fighter in the rematch, landing with superior volume over the first five minutes. “The Doctor” put on an exclamation point on the second round by landing a crisp uppercut as he was moving backwards. Petchmorakot, on the other hand, had far more success with his knees over the second stanza. Petrosyan continued to land crisp leg kicks and march forward in the final round, despite Petchmorakot kneeing him in the body each time they achieved a clinch.
In the penultimate MMA bout of the evening, Ev Ting got back to winning ways after avoiding an early storm from UFC veteran and former Pancrase champion Daichi Abe.
Abe dropped Ting in the first minute of the opening round dropped him again with a right hand before the end of the round. Tng regained momentum in the second round, dropping the Japanese fighter with an overhand right before taking his back and submitting him with a rear-naked choke with 15 seconds left in the round.