'ONE FC 9: Rise to Power' results: Koji Oishi KOs Honorio Banario in upset

It was a happy birthday indeed for Koji Oishi.

The Japanese fighter upset home country favorite Honorio Banario to win ONE FC’s featherweight title with a big second-round knockout that left Banario’s Filipino faithful stunned in the seats at the 1:45 mark of the second round.

ONE FC 9 took place at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines. The main card aired via online pay-per-view.

“It’s great – it’s a great night; I’m so happy,” Oishi said through his interpreter – on his 36th birthday. “I planned to do more wrestling, but when (Banario) landed some shots, my plans changed.”

And he’s probably glad they did.

Banario looked solid early, landing more punches and a big kick to the head. But with 45 seconds left, Oishi landed a perfectly placed right hand that had Banario on the ground, stunned. He moved in trying to finish, but Banario survived, got back to his feet and started landing punches at will. He dropped Oishi and moved in with his opponent covering up. Oishi was able to barely survive the first round as Banario stole back the momentum.

But in the second, with Banario coming forward to set up more striking, Oishi landed a perfect right hand to Banario’s chin. Banario crumpled to the canvas, and Oishi was right there to take final advantage. He drilled the heavy favorite with a right hand on the ground, and that was it.

Banario was a favorite of more than 3-to-1 in the fight.

Banario (8-2) had his two-fight win streak snapped after winning the ONE FC featherweight title against Eric Kelly in February. Oishi (24-9-10), a longtime Pancrase fighter and two-time UFC veteran, stayed unbeaten in his past four fights, improving to 3-0-1. The fight was his ONE FC debut.

Fernandes dominates Okazaki to take interim bantamweight title

Bibiano Fernandes couldn’t finish Koetsu Okazaki, and Okazaki had moments where he mounted challenges. But Fernandes was mostly dominant throughout, and has a belt to show for it.

Fernandes (14-3) took a unanimous decision from Okazaki (8-3-1) in the co-main event on Friday, having little difficulty controlling his opponent on the ground to win ONE FC’s interim bantamweight belt.

Fernandes had a deep rear-naked choke in the first round, but Okazaki managed to survive it. And that set the pace for the next four rounds – Fernandes getting Okazaki in position to finish him, but never quite getting it done. Still, though, Okazaki never mounted much of a challenge to the highly ranked Brazilian.

Fernandes’ dominance on the ground continued into the second and third rounds, and in the third he took Okazaki’s back and locked up a body triangle. From there, he rained down elbows to soften Okazaki up while continuing to work for the rear-naked choke. But Okazaki managed to slip out tried to land ground-and-pound on top with Fernandes on his back in guard.

It was more of the same for Okazaki in the fourth. His submission defense was just good enough to fend Fernandes off, and again he was able to reverse out and wind up on top with a minute to go in the round. But even from his back, Fernandes remained offensive in guard and Okazaki wasn’t able to mount much offense of his own. Back standing late in the frame, Fernandes landed several big punches and gestured Okazaki to come forward. But that was about as close as Okazaki would get.

Fernandes won for the sixth straight time and now is 2-0 for ONE FC. Okazaki, who has fought just once a year from 2007 through 2013, lost his second straight.

Ueda wins bantamweight grand prix in thriller

Kevin Belingon and Masakatsu Ueda saved the best for last. In a spectacular back-and-forth fight, Ueda did enough to win ONE FC’s bantamweight grand prix tournament.

The two traded throughout the fight, taking turns landing highlight-reel head kicks, body kicks and heavy combinations. The bout already had reached “Fight of the Night”-type status after 10 minutes, but the third round continued the torrid pace.

Midway through the final frame, Belignon landed barrage after barrage of punches and kicks, and somehow Ueda (18-2) survived. Ueda was bloodied up with a cut over his eye. Belignon (11-3) went after a choke on the ground and couldn’t finish as the crowd cheered him on, but Ueda reversed as the two traded positions on the ground, then traded momentum back on the feet. Ueda finished the fight on top in mount after transitioning from side control. He landed some big punches there and may have shifted the momentum one final time in his direction. He got the unanimous nod from the judges, then received a giant grand prix tournament trophy for his efforts.

Ueda won for the third straight time and improved to 3-0 under the ONE FC banner. Belignon had a two-fight streak snapped and fell to 2-3 for ONE FC.

Urushitani takes controversial split call from Docyogen

It was a close fight with momentum swings and a lot of action, and it looked like Rey Docyogen (11-1) had done enough to get past Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-7-6). But when the decision was read, it was UFC veteran Urushitani who had his hand raised, and Docyogen wondering just what went wrong.

Docyogen landed a solid kick to the head in the first round, but Urushitani managed to survive it and stay active, though he had to block a few more big kicks from Docyogen in the frame.

Urushitani in the third seemed to be trying to chase Docyogen down, and that may have held some sway with two of the judges. Docyogen still was doing work when he was inside, but he did spend significant time backing up with Urushitani trying to catch up to him to land.

And midway through the round, Urushitani put his hands down and shrugged at his opponent, wondering if he was going to step in and engage. At that point, the referee halted the fight to have Docyogen’s nose looked at, which was bleeding and may have been broken by an earlier Urushitani kick.

But with Urushitani going after the finish after the restart, he never could fully catch up to Docyogen to do enough damage – even though he got his hand raised.

Urushitani (20-6) had a two-fight losing skid snapped. Both of those fights came in the UFC. Docyogen (10-2) dropped his second straight fight, both in ONE FC.

Baroni injures leg, is stopped by Suzuki

Phil Baroni (15-17) was more than game for his fight against Nobutatsu Suzuki (10-1-2), and he came out slugging. He even was able to land a few punches that were close to having Suzuki in trouble. But Baroni, a UFC, Strikeforce and PRIDE veteran, ate a few, too. And when Suzuki backed “The New York Bad Ass” to the cage with a few heavy hands four minutes into the first round, Baroni was in trouble. He took several punches while covering up, and when he finally fell to the canvas, his right ankle twisted awkwardly underneath him. Suzuki took advantage and got the stoppage at the 4:17 mark, but immediately after the fight the concern was on what appeared to be a fairly gruesome injury to Baroni’s lower right leg.

Suzuki is back in the win column after a December loss. Prior to that, he had a six-fight win streak in his native Japan. Baroni fell to 1-2 under the ONE FC banner and has lost four of his past five and seven of his past nine.

Shalorus, Leone pick up decision wins to open main card

Kamal Shalorus (8-3-2) got off the schneid, snapping a three-fight skid that had him sent packing from the UFC. More than a year since his last UFC fight, a submission loss to Rafael dos Anjos, Shalorus got back on track with a unanimous decision win over home country fan favorite Eduard Folayang (12-4). Shalorus used his wrestling to control the pace of the fight, and the loss dropped Folayang to 2-2 under the ONE FC banner.

In the main card’s opening bout, Andrew Leone (6-2) engaged in an exciting and back-and-forth fight against Geje Eustaquio (4-2) that featured a little bit of everything. But it was Leone who walked away with his hand raised in a unanimous decision, getting back in the win column in his ONE FC debut after a loss nearly a year ago under the Road FC banner. Eustaquio had a two-fight win streak snapped.

Johnson stops Sylvia on preliminary card

As part of a three-fight preliminary card that streamed free prior to Friday’s pay-per-view, heavyweight Tony Johnson (7-1) stopped former UFC champion Tim Sylvia (31-9) in the third round. Sylvia couldn’t seem to get much going early, though he did put together a third-round rally. He spent much of the first two frames on his back with Johnson outwrestling him. In the third round, after Johnson landed a big elbow, the fight was stopped to check on Slyvia’s cut. The cageside doctor determined it was too big to go on, and Johnson had his victory.

In other action, Lowen Tynanes (5-0) stopped Felipe Enomoto (6-6) with elbows in the first round. The Hawaiian stayed unbeaten and moved to 3-0 in 2013. And Yusup Saadulaev (10-3-1) looked impressive in submitting Ryan Diaz (13-14) with a second-round D’Arce choke in a bakc-and-forth fight.

ONE FC 9 results:

MAIN CARD

• Koji Oishi def. Honorio Banario via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:45 to win featherweight title
• Bibiano Fernandes def. Koetsu Okazaki via unanimous decision to win interim bantamweight title
• Masakatsu Ueda def. Kevin Belingon via unanimous decision to win bantamweight grand-prix
• Yasuhiro Urushitani def. Rey Docyogen via split decision
• Nobutatsu Suzuki def. Phil Baroni via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:17
• Kamal Shalorus def. Eduard Folayang via unanimous decision
• Andrew Leone def. Geje Eustaquio via unanimous decision

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Yusup Saadulaev def. Ryan Diaz via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 2:57
• Lowen Tynanes def. Felipe Enomoto via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 2:41
• Tony Johnson def. Tim Sylvia via TKO (doctor stoppage – cut) – Round 3, 3:25

For complete coverage of “ONE FC 9: Rise to Power,” stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Koji Oishi)