Oishi cracks Banario to snatch ONE FC featherweight crown
Challenger Koji Oishi of Japan knocks down Honorio Banario in their ONE FC world featherweight title match on Friday. (FCF / Ken Koo)
The champ was knocked out in his own game. In front of his home crowd.
Challenger Koji Oishi (24 wins, 9 losses,10 draws) delivered a cracking right straight on the jaw of erstwhile world champion Honorio Banario (8 wins, 2 losses), leaving the Igorot defenseless in a four-hit ground-and-pound to grab the ONE FC world featherweight title in Friday night’s ONE FC 9: Rise to Power at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Tokyo native, known in Asia as a veteran wrestler, tried to play Banario’s striking game despite being staggered by the Baguio native in the first round.
Oishi capitalized on an opening in the second round, landing his one-time cross squarely on Banario’s jaw. Banario was declared out by the referee at the 1 minute, 45 second mark of the round.
“I surprised him… he relaxed so I got him,” the Pancrase veteran and two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter said via a translator. “He was trying to avoid the ground and I just tried my best to win by striking.”
Oishi is one of five Japanese to win in last night’s card. Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Bibiano Fernandes (14-3), though, showed his dominant grappling skills against Shooto veteran Koetsu Okazaki (8-3-1) via unanimouse decision to win the ONE FC interim bantamweight crown.
Fernandes fought mano-a-mano with fellow grappler Okazaki on the ground and almost forced the Japanese to submit with at least three rear-naked chokes but the sturdy Okazaki held on to finish the match.
With the win, Fernandes will next face another Japanese, Masakatsu Ueda (18-2-2), who won the bantamweight grand prix final versus Lakay Wushu’s Kevin Belingon (11-3) via unanimous decision.
Ueda, though bloodied by a knee from Belingon in the fourth round, employed his jiu-jitsu skills versus Belingon’s striking game, catching the Igorot with two arm bars and finally finished the fight on top of his foe with a ground-and-pound that fell short as the final bell rang.
Banario’s and Belingon’s defeats marked a zero-win performance by Filipino fighters in last night’s billing.
In the undercards, Yasuhiro Urishitami escaped a split decision win over Rey Docyogen; Nobutatsu Suzuki with a knockout win over New York’s Phil Baroni; Iran’s Kamal Shalorus with a unanimous decision win against Asian Games veteran Eduard Folayang; American Andrew Leone with a unanimous decision win over Geje Eustaquio; Russia’s Yusov Saadulaev winning via submission over Filipino-Canadian Ryan Diaz; Hawaiian Lowen Tynanes with a ground-and-pound knockout over Swiss-Japanese Felipe Enomoto; and Tony Johnson with a doctor-stopped technical knockout over ex-UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia.
Universal Reality Combat Championship president and ONE FC co-organizer Alvin Aguilar told FullCourtFresh.com that most Filipino MMA fighters have to develop a better ground game to be more competitive in future international tournaments.
“The wushu guys in particular need to work on their ground game then they will be OK, but if not, they won’t win in big fights,” he commented. “After they make the necessary adjustments, this will never happen again.”
