ONE Championship 52 results: Ting gets split call over Shalorus in main-event slugfest

Ev Ting overcame a significant weight disadvantage and one dissenting judge to score a split-decision win over Kamal Shalorus in today’s “ONE Championship 52: Throne of Tigers” headliner.

Ting (13-3), who’s spent most of his time fighting at featherweight before recently moving up to lightweight, decided to compete in the online-streamed pay-per-view main event at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, despite Shalorus (9-5-2) missing weight by eight pounds.

It wasn’t easy when Ting stepped in the cage, but he showed grit and determination by trading heavy strikes with Shalorus for all three rounds before edging out the win on the scorecards.

Given Shalorus’ decorated grappling background, at least some grappling was expected. Neither fighter seriously dedicated his efforts to takedowns or submissions, though, and opened the door to heated striking exchanges.

The back-and-forth striking exchanges were tightly contested. Ting landed at a greater volume, but Shalorus’ blows connected with better impact. Apparently two of the three judges felt output was more meaningful than damage, and Ting was awarded the split decision.

Ting improved to 7-1 in his past eight ONE Championship appearances. Afterward, he called for a title shot against current lightweight champ Eduard Folayang (17-5)

“I didn’t get the finish, but I promise next time,” Ting said in his post-fight interview. “Eduard Folayang, you know I’m coming to your house and taking that belt. April 21, Malaysia, I’m coming.

Thani smothers, submits, calls for title shot

The next ONE Championship welterweight title contender may have emerged when 21-year-old Agilan Thani (7-0) defeated a game Jeff Huang (6-3) with a second-round submission in a dominant performance.

Thani was precise and patient with the execution of his game plan. He forced Huang to work hard and tire himself out in the first round, and the opportunity for a finish came in th second. Thani spend the majority of the contest in top position, but he didn’t overcommit himself with ground strikes or submission attempts.

Huang eventually was in a position where he needed to take a risk to escape, and when he did, Thani immediately took advantage. Huang gave up his back and opened himself up to the fight-ending rear-naked choke. Thani locked it in to move to 6-0 under the ONE Championship banner with all his wins by stoppage.

With six months still remaining until his 22nd birthday Thani continued to show why he’s one of the most promising young fighters on the Asian fight promotion’s roster. He made it clear he has no desire to be brought along slowly, though, and he called out current 170-pound champion and fellow undefeated fighter Ben Askren (15-0) during his post-fight interview.

“I want to get the title as well,” Thani said. “Ben Askren cannot be sitting down on the couch all the time. I’m ready to fight for the title. I’ll do it for free.”

Osman overwhelms for TKO victory

Ann Osman (5-3) came out of the gates fast and furious against Vy Srey Khouch (2-1), and it paid off in the form of a form of a first-round TKO victory with just two seconds remaining in the opening round.

The striking was evenly matched to begin the fight. However, once Osman decided to go for the takedown, it was a whole new world. Osman scored on her first attempt to get it to the mat, and once she had the fight where she wanted it, the result was imminent.

Osman achieved several dominant positions from top before she finally got into full mount and unleashed a flurry of punches and elbows that had Khouch covering up until the the ref stopped the catchweight fight at the 4:58 mark of Round 1.

Khaibulaev outworks Burns in battle of unbeatens

The anticipated return of Herbert Burns (6-1) was spoiled when the featherweight grappling ace was dealt his first career setback in a unanimous-decision loss to undefeated Russian Movlid Khaibulaev (11-0).

Burns waited 18 months for an opponent to accept a fight. Khaibulaev did, and it was clearly for a reason. He managed to shut down the Brazilian’s grappling game and implement his own in what was a fairly one-sided performance over 15 minutes.

Although Burns had the occasional moment of hope when he threw up one of his dangerous submissions, Khaibulaev was ready for it all. He neutralized Burns when the fight was on the mat and had his way whenever it was on the feet, and he won a decision for his 11th consecutive victory in what was his ONE Championship debut.

Complete ONE Championship 52 results included:

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