ONE on Prime Video 4: Kim Jae Woong stuns Kevin Belingon to win by first-round TKO

Kim Jae Woong foiled the highly anticipated return of former ONE bantamweight world champion Kevin ‘The Silencer’ Belingon, winning via spectacular first-round technical knockout victory.

Kim and Belingon locked horns on the main card of ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs. Lee, which took place Friday night, November 18 in the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Both men met at the center of the circle as soon as the first bell rang. Belingon was very aggressive, pushing the pace, while Kim opted to pick his shots and counter. An ill-advised flurry from Belingon had the Filipino leaving himself wide open on the inside, where ‘The Fighting God’ sniped him coming in.

Countering a missed right hook from ‘The Silencer’, Kim connected with a crisp clean left hook that dropped the Filipino firecracker. The South Korean then followed Belingon to the mat, where he went to work with his ground-and-pound.

Belingon was unable to deal with the pressure and could not recover as he turtled up and failed to defend himself. Kim Jae Woong rained down punches until the referee had no choice but to call a halt to the contest.

The official finish came at the 2:33 mark of the first round.

With the victory, Kim added yet another knockout victory to his record, the fifth straight in his victories. He also bounced back from back-to-back losses to reigning ONE featherweight world champion Tang Kai and newcomer Shamil ‘Cobra’ Gasanov.

Kim Jae Woong looked phenomenal at bantamweight, and should he decide to remain in this division, he does have a few interesting matchups ahead of him.

What’s next for Kim Jae Woong?

Flattening out a former world champion like Belingon – especially in the manner that he did – certainly raises Kim’s stock in the 145-pound ranks.

The division is wide-open right now with Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker set to settle their score for the vacant bantamweight world title. It would be wise for the South Korean to stay at bantamweight and try to get a crack at someone in the top five.

It is worth noting that the ‘The Fighting God’ is teammates with fourth-ranked Kwon Won Il, so a clash between them might be unlikely. However, he’ll match up nicely with the loser of the pivotal Bibiano Fernandes versus Stephen Loman match-up happening on the same card.

If that’s not on the cards, Kim Jae Woong could go up against Kwon’s ONE 163 opponent Mark Abelardo, or the winner of the upcoming match between Jeremy Pacatiw and Tial Thang at ONE 164.

Nevertheless, the future looks bright for ‘The Fighting God’.