Chatri Sityodtong hands out five US $50,000 bonuses at ONE: Lights Out

Thanh Le (Left) and John Lineker (Right) gave justice to the card with spectacular finishes at ONE: Lights Out. | [Photos: ONE Championship]
Thanh Le (Left) and John Lineker (Right) gave justice to the card with spectacular finishes at ONE: Lights Out. | [Photos: ONE Championship]

ONE: Lights Out lived up to its billing with some fantastic fights, and ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong was clearly impressed with the performances of his athletes.

Five fighters were awarded the US $50,000 prize, reaching the maximum of US $250,000 for the first time since the promotion announced the awarding of performance bonuses.

Thanh Le, John Lineker, Zhang Peimian, Iman Barlow, and Liam Nolan were all rewarded for their spectacular performances at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday night.

Nolan earned his bonus with a barrage of knees that led to a first-round TKO win over promotional newcomer Kim Kyung Lock.

Barlow followed it up with a first-round TKO in her ONE Championship debut. The multi-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion landed a cracking downward elbow on Daniela Lopez's nose that caused the TKO at the 1:39 mark of the first round.

Later, Peimian opened the main card with a striking clinic against Josh Tonna to introduce himself to fans of ONE Championship in a big way. 'The Fighting Rooster' pushed the pace and ultimately knocked Tonna out with a left hook to the body in the second round.

In the co-main event, Lineker shocked the world with a stunning knockout of Bibiano Fernandes in the second round of their heated encounter. 'Hands of Stone' justified his nickname and was crowned the new ONE bantamweight world champion.

Finally, Thanh Le capped off the night of stoppages with a first-round knockout in the main event of ONE: Lights Out. Le masterfully avoided any danger from Garry Tonon's leg locks and turned the lights out on his opponent with beautifully placed punches.


ONE: Lights Out sees 9 out of 10 bouts ending before the final bell

There has perhaps been no fight card more appropriately named than ONE: Lights Out, where 9 out of 10 bouts did not reach the judges' scorecards.

While the five winners of the performance bonus deserved every bit of it, four other fighters scored impressive finishes that were arguably bonus-worthy.

Eko Roni Saputra took his first-round stoppage win to six as he forced Chan Rothana to tap in just 94 seconds to close out the lead card on a high note.

Later, Adrian Mattheis got a win over his idol, Alex Silva, after the referee stopped the contest just five seconds into the second round of their encounter.

Kickboxing heavyweight Iraj Azizpour followed up that performance with a come-from-behind knockout of promotional newcomer Ismael Londt in the second round of their match.

Finally, Martin Nguyen returned to his winning ways with a sensational performance against another debuting fighter in Ukraine's Kirill Gorobets.

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