Tial Thang Stays Unbeaten With TKO Of Paul Lumihi

Tial “The Dragon Leg” Thang earned his third ONE Championship win by putting away a five-time Indonesian Mixed Martial Arts Champion.

The Myanmar athlete scored a second-round TKO finish of Paul “The Great King” Lumihi at ONE: UNBREAKABLE III, which aired from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 5 February.

In round one, both men threw themselves into the clinch and began trading knee-for-knee. On the break, though, Tial Thang threw a fiery right hand down the middle that sent sparks through his foe, and the Indonesian answered with a spinning back kick that came up just short of its target.

After the close call, Tial Thang closed the distance and wrapped up his rival with a body lock, dragged him to the ground, and began hammering punches into the forearms of the defending Lumihi. After some time, “The Great King” rose back to his feet and launched another spinning karate kick that again missed its mark.

Both men then engaged in a dizzying striking battle, but it was Tial Thang who came out on top as he blasted Lumihi with a straight right and a right body kick that nearly lifted the Indonesian off the canvas.

Lumihi swung wildly at the man from Myanmar but failed to connect, and Tial Thang then shot for a takedown that forced his rival to the canvas. “The Dragon Leg” landed in mount, where he fired off a series of punches into Lumihi’s ribs to end the opening frame.

The second stanza opened up just like the first one, with both fighters throwing knees at each other. But just a minute into the action, Tial Thang shot for a takedown, lifted and dumped his opponent to the canvas, and landed in his rival’s full guard.

From that position, Tial Thang let rip with guard-splitting elbows and short thudding hooks that reverberated off his adversary’s rib cage. The sound could be heard from just outside of the Circle, where Tial Thang’s teammate, ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang, was standing and directing his friend’s every movement.

Whatever he said must’ve worked, because every time the Indonesian tried to snake away by pushing off his rival’s hips with his feet, Tial Thang was right back on top of him, smothering his foe like a wet blanket.

With his opponent pinned against the Circle Wall, the Myanmar star unleashed furious ground-and-pound strikes from inside Lumihi’s guard, and the referee was forced to wave off the action at the 2:25 mark of the second round.

The win kept Thang undefeated in mixed martial arts and showed that he’s steadily becoming a force in ONE’s bantamweight division.

Read more: ONE: UNBREAKABLE III – Full Results And Highlights For Stamp Vs. Rassohyna