‘Would Love To Make History Here’ – Antonio Cesar Outlines Path To World Title After TKO Win At ONE Fight Night 48
Antonio “The Flash” Cesar is two fights into his ONE Championship journey and already looking toward the top of the division.
The 22-year-old Brazilian stopped Joshua “Flyin Hawaiian” Perreira via first-round TKO in their flyweight MMA contest at ONE Fight Night 48 on Friday, October 2, live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, extending his winning streak to 10 and moving his ONE record to 2-0 in the process.
From the opening bell, both men exchanged kicks before Cesar took control. He weathered a crisp elbow from Perreira, answered with a heavy overhand right, and secured a takedown just over two minutes in.
After Perreira regained his feet, Cesar caught a kick, put him back on the canvas, and unleashed a stretch of ground-and-pound capped by a grounded knee in the dying seconds that left the American hurt.
When the round ended, Perreira struggled to rise from the canvas and wobbled to his corner. Referee Olivier Coste immediately summoned the doctor, and after the medical evaluation, waved off the contest. Cesar won via TKO due to doctor stoppage, handing Perreira the first defeat of his professional career.
Cesar reflected on what the result meant at this stage of his journey:
“So I’m very happy. First of all, I’d like to thank God for everything and also ONE for having us here, for the opportunity to be here. And this is another good fight, and I would love to make history here with ONE.”
Perreira arrived at this contest with a perfect record and a reputation as one of the most promising flyweights in the promotion. Cesar had studied him thoroughly and walked in with a game plan that accounted for the American’s tendency to engage on the feet and work with his hands.
Nothing that happened inside the ring caught the Brazilian off guard. The final result was exactly the kind of outcome that emerges when preparation meets execution at the highest level.
Cesar said:
“Basically, the game plan was to get there and to feel the fight and do it in my own Brazilian way. The game plan was also to do a bit more of a striking game, and it was a bit of everything, but finally I got to win by the striking game.
“I knew that Joshua would do the striking game. He would do a lot of hands and all that. So it was something that I had been training for. So there was no surprise, and I managed to do what I planned.”
Asked to rate his own performance, Cesar landed on a number that reflects both satisfaction and the relentless drive for improvement that has pushed him to a 10-fight winning streak at 22 years old.
He also offered a reminder that the fighter delivering these performances is still barely into his professional prime.
Cesar said:
“This one is better than the previous one, so I would give myself nine out of 10. But I know that there’s still room for improvement, and I’m just a guy who is [22] years old. There’s still more things coming, more room for improvement. So that’s nine out of 10. The one thing I’m still missing, I would just improve myself and show what I can do in the future.”
Cesar Believes He’s Nearing ONE World Title Shot
Antonio Cesar is not thinking about consolidation. He is thinking about gold, and he already has a clear idea of the path that leads him there.
Reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Avazbek “Ninzya” Kholmirzaev sits at the top of the Brazilian’s ambitions, but Cesar is measured about the timeline. One more fight, he says, is all he needs before the championship conversation becomes unavoidable, and he wants to use that fight to sharpen the tools that will be required when he finally steps in against the divisional king.
He said:
“I would say that it’s not that far. As I mentioned on the stage in the ring as well, I would like to get one more fight with anyone here in ONE and to test [myself] a bit. And then after that I would call for the championship, for the champion.
“And so I would say that it would be around next year that I would be very ready to fight for the belt.”
The name Cesar has in mind for that next outing is a significant one — former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu.
It is the kind of fight that would sharpen every edge and prepare him for whatever comes after.
He said:
“Yeah, of course it would be interesting. I would be ready to fight with Yuya.”
