Two undefeated welterweights walked into Lumpinee Stadium on April 11 knowing the winner would be knocking on Christian Lee's door. Only one left with that right.
ONE Fight Night 42 broadcast live on Amazon Prime Video in U.S. primetime from Bangkok, Thailand — and Dzhabir Dzhabrailov made sure the night belonged entirely to him.
For two minutes, it looked like Chase Mann's night. The Arkansas powerhouse shot a clean takedown, pinned Dzhabrailov against the ropes, dropped him with a right hand, and swarmed with knees.
The 21-year-old Turkish-born Russian had no script for this, and so he wrote a new one. He clawed upright, reset behind push kicks, absorbed Mann's pressure with eerie calm, and when the American came surging forward one final time, Dzhabrailov's left hand was already on its way.
It landed flush and Mann crumpled. Two hammerfists and a referee stoppage at 2:31 confirmed what the welterweight division now knows: Dzhabrailov, 7-0, is coming for the belt.
The co-main event belonged to a man who has been writing legendary chapters for over two decades. Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, 42 years old and utterly ageless, produced one of the night's most spellbinding moments — a walk-off head kick KO of Elmehdi "The Sniper" El Jamari at 2:43 of round two in their strawweight Muay Thai clash.
The fight was a war. El Jamari dropped Sam-A with a ferocious second-round flurry that shook the stadium.
Any lesser competitor would have been finished. Sam-A backed away, collected himself, and waited — patient as ever — for El Jamari to commit.
When the Moroccan came charging in for the finish, Sam-A's head kick was immaculate. The Lumpinee crowd erupted. A US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong followed as did one more reminder that retirement can wait.
ONE Fight Night 42 – 10 April Results:
- Dzhabir Dzhabrailov def. Chase Mann via KO (MMA – welterweight)
- Sam-A Gaiyanghadao def. Elmehdi El Jamari via KO (Muay Thai – strawweight)
- Suakim Pongsuphan PK def. Vladimir Kuzmin via unanimous decision (Muay Thai – bantamweight)
- Hiroba Minowa def. Karen Ghazaryan via submission (MMA – strawweight)
- Black Panther def. Diego Paez via split decision (Muay Thai – flyweight)
- Dante Leon def. Kenta Iwamoto via unanimous decision (Submission Grappling – welterweight)
- Joshua Perreira def. Gilbert Nakatani via KO (MMA – flyweight)
- Dmitrii Kovtun def. Mohanad Battbootti via unanimous decision (Muay Thai – bantamweight)
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