ONE Championship 36 results: Bibiano Fernandes gets 4th title defense, wins by submission

Ma Hao Bin

Ma Hao Bin had a memorable opening to his career when he won two fights at a single event to claim the ONE Championship Changsha bantamweight tournament crown.

Bin (2-0) closed out his tournament run with a first-round submission of Bu Huo You Ga (1-1) in the finals during Saturday’s ONE Championship 36 headliner at Helong Stadium in Changsha, Hunan, China. The event streamed via online pay-per-view.

Although he had to compete twice, Bin still had a light night of work because it took him just a combined 95 seconds to score a pair of quick submission victories at the expense of Ga and opening-round foe Wu Ting Shen.

Both fights went eerily similar for Bin. His opponents opted to shoot for early takedowns and he made them pay. In specific, Ga attempted to win the finals matchup by dragging the fight to the mat early. Bin countered perfectly, though, and locked in a guillotine that he squeezed until Ga went unconscious.

Early submission leads to Fernandes title defense

Bibiano Fernandes

Bibiano Fernandes (19-3) further solidified his place as the most dominant ONE Championship titleholder when he recorded the fourth consecutive defense of his bantamweight belt with a first-round submission of challenger Kevin Belingon (13-5).

Fernandes made it clear he was going for the submission finish early in the fight, and that’s the exact strategy he implemented. “Flash” put the action on the ground early in the opening frame and advanced into side control. Belingon was more focused on surviving than escaping, which led him into a trap for Fernandes to lock in a kimura.

Once the opening for the fight-ending technique was presented, Fernandes wrenched Belingon’s arm behind his back and forced him to tap out for the submission victory.

Not only did Fernandes add another successful title defense to his resume, but he also pushed his winning streak to 11 fights and remains undefeated going back to December 2010. Fernandes took his latest victory in stride and said he’ll be ready to put his belt up for grabs again against whomever ONE Championship officials deem worthy.

“I feel great; I want to thank everybody for coming, it was awesome,” Fernandes said in his post-fight interview. “I feel great. I don’t know what’s next. I will fight and do my best and try to be the best in the world. That’s it.”

Gafurov keeps super-prospect status with late stoppage

It took the most cage time of his career, but lightweight prospect Muin Gafurov (10-0) remained undefeated when he topped a tough Toni Tauru (10-3-1) by third-round TKO for his 10th consecutive victory.

Gafurov had stopped his previous seven opponents inside the first round and he looked to continue that trend in his latest bout. Tauru had other plans, though, because he landed a big punch that led to a knockdown in early in the contest.

Despite the adversity, the 19-year-old Gafurov showed the instincts of a true veteran when he patiently waited to recover and right the ship. He did just that, taking his time to attack from top and bottom positions with strikes and submissions until he found the opening for the finish.

Gafurov had never seen a third round his career, but he showed no signs of fatigue when he went after Tauru in the final frame and got into mount to force a stoppage due to strikes.

ONE Championship 36 results:

• Ma Hao Bin def. Bu Huo You Ga via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:08 – Changsha bantamweight tournament final
• Bibiano Fernandes def. Kevin Belingon via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 4:04 – to defend bantamweight title
• Li Kai Wen def. Yang Sen via unanimous decision
• Muin Gafurov def. Toni Tauru via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:17
• Riku Shibuya def. Roy Doliguez via unanimous decision
• Ming Yen Sung def. Su Noto via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:31
• Wu Ze def. Zhang You Liang via knockout (soccer kicks, punches) – Round 1, 4:17
• Tang De Fen def. Zhou Biao via knockout (slam) – Round 1, 0:59 – Changsha bantamweight tournament reserve bout
• Ma Hao Bin def. Wu Ting Shen via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:27 – Changsha bantamweight tournament semifinal
• Bu Huo You Ga def. Cai Chang Bo via submission (bulldog choke) – Round 1, 2:26 – Changsha bantamweight tournament semifinal

For more on ONE Championship 36, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.