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Regian Eersel weathered a rough start to bounce back against Islam Murtazaev and earn a tight split decision victory in ONE: Winter Warriors. The Dutch fighter successfully defended his lightweight championship for the third time in ONE Championship.
Murtazaev came in using his power to control the first two rounds. However, Eersel eventually found holes in the Russian's strategy and was able to land his strikes more accurately.
Murtazaev was desperate to get back in the final round back but committed a yellow card for illegal strikes, which proved to be costly in the end.
Eersel is now on an 18-fight winning streak, and his professional fighting record stands at 56-4.
In the co-main event in ONE: Winter Warriors, Stamp Fairtex is the ONE Atomweight Grand Prix Champion after submitting Ritu Phogat with an armbar in the second round.
‘The Indian Tigress’ opened the first round determined to take Fairtex down, but the Thai fighter's grappling defense was on point. Turning Phogat’s strategy against her, Stamp secured the submission victory at 2:14 of the second round.
Stamp's win sets her on a collision course with Angela Lee for the ONE Championship atomweight title.
Elsewhere in ONE: Winter Warriors
ONE: Winter Warriors was action-packed from start to finish, delighting fans with a mix of intense MMA fights and a gritty kickboxing bout.
Hiroki Akimoto earned the nods of all the fight judges against Qiu Jianliang in their bantamweight kickboxing matchup. The third round was a tiebreaker for both fighters, with Akimoto rediscovering his rhythm and finishing the bout on a high note.
The lightweight rematch between Timofey Nastyukhin and Dagi Arslanaliev in ONE: Winter Warriors promised fireworks and delivered in bunches. After two bloody rounds, 'Dagi' was able to deliver the knockout blow in the third round, giving Nastyukhin his second consecutive loss.
Marcus Almeida went to work early and brought the fight to the ground against Kang Ji Won. ‘Buchecha’ was able to take the back of the ‘Mighty Warrior’ to execute a rear-naked choke at 2:32 of the first round for a submission win. Almeida’s professional record improved to 2-0 and he gave the South Korean fighter his first professional career loss.
ONE: Winter Warriors opened the night with a flyweight matchup. Yuya Wakamatsu was too much for Hu Yong as the Japanese fighter dominated all three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Official Results for ONE: Winter Warriors
Kickboxing - Lightweight World Championship: Regian Eersel def. Islam Murtazaev via Split Decision
Mixed Martial Arts - Women’s Atomweight Grand Prix Finals: Stamp Fairtex def. Ritu Phogat via Submission (Armbar) (2:14 of Round 2)
Kickboxing - Lightweight: Hiroki Akimoto def. Qiu Jianliang via Unanimous Decision
Mixed Martial Arts - Lightweight: Dagi Arslanaliev def. Timofey Nastyukhin via TKO (0:49 of Round 3)
Mixed Martial Arts - Heavyweight: Marcus Almeida def. Kang Ji Won via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) (2:32 of Round 1)
Mixed Martial Arts - Flyweight: Yuya Wakamatsu def. Hu Yong via Unanimous Decision
