Marat Gafurov Defends Belt With Sixth-Straight Rear-Naked Choke

Former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov

ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov successfully defended his title against challenger and former champion Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa of Mongolia in the co-main event of ONE: DEFENDING HONOR. The bout took place Friday night, 11 November, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The champion gave the performance of a lifetime, beating Jadambaa with ease to win via rear-naked choke at 4:50 of the first round, delighting the crowd with an exciting finish.

It was the champion’s second title defense after taking the belt from Jadambaa a year ago.

Jadambaa, who was well aware of Gafurov’s string of rear-naked choke victories, tried his best to keep Gafurov from taking the fight to the ground.

After a brief exchange of strikes however, action quickly went to the mat when Jadambaa missed a kick and fell to the canvas. Gafurov followed the Mongolian down and that’s where he worked his Brazilian jiu-jitsu magic.

marat-gafurov-adux4493

Jadambaa was able to defend for a few moments, but once Gafurov re-established himself, the choke came easier. The end came swiftly as Jadambaa was caught in a precarious situation with no choice but to fall asleep, having refused to tap out.

It was a huge difference from their first encounter, when Gafurov had to dig deep after getting rocked by Jadambaa’s power shots. This time, Gafurov played right into his strengths, wasting no time foolishly trying to test his striking against a tough challenger.

The rematch showcased once again Gafurov’s technical grappling brilliance. At this stage in his career, Gafurov is finding it more and more difficult to find a good challenge. The Russian champion then expressed his interest to make a run at the ONE Lightweight World Championship in the post-fight interview.

With the victory, Gafurov improves his overall record to a perfect 15-0, notching his sixth straight rear-naked choke victory for a probable world record, while Jadambaa falls to 12-5.

More in News

Kongsuk Fairtex faces off with Dedduanglek Tded99
Stamp Fairtex Alyse Anderson ONE Fight Night 10 56
Stamp Fairtex Alyse Anderson ONE Fight Night 10 59
Stamp Fairtex vs. Ham Seo Hee
Danielle Kelly stands in the ring at ONE Fight Night 7
Tawanchai PK Saenchai Davit Kiria ONE Fight Night 13 90
Martin Nguyen’s reactions after his win against Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7
John Lineker Kim Jae Woong ONE Fight Night 13 57
Stephen Loman celebrates his win
Eduard Folayang makes his way to the Circle at ONE on Prime Video 5
Superlek Kiatmoo9 Rodtang Jitmuangnon ONE Friday Fights 34 30
Seksan Or Kwanmuang Amir Naseri ONE Friday Fights 34 3