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ONE Bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes cruised to victory in his seventh consecutive title defence since 2013 when he dispatched of challenger Andrew Leone with a rear-naked choke inside the opening minutes of their main event contest at ONE Championship 58.

ONE Championship 58, also known ONE Championship: Kings and Conquerors, took place on Saturday, August 5 at the Cotai Arena in Macau, China. The event featured two championship clashes with bantamweight kingpin Fernandes taking on Bali MMA’s Leone and flyweight champion Adriano Moraes would defend his 125lb title against Kazakh former champion Kairat Akhmetov.

During the evening’s main event, “The Flash” rushed his American challenger from the offset and landed a heavy knee against the fence that dropped Leone. From there, BJJ black belt Fernandes (21-3) put his expertise on show, hammering Leone (8-3) with relentless ground and pound and then securing a rear-naked choke for the win at 1:47 of the first round.

The 37-year-old Brazilian veteran is now undefeated since 2010 and has won his last 13 consecutive fights, finishing seven of those inside the distance. Meanwhile, Leone fell to his first loss under the ONE Championship banner after wins over Koetsu Okazaki and Shinichi Kojima put him in title contention although injuries mean the 27-year-old has only fought four times since 2012.

Moraes becomes undisputed flyweight champion with decision win

In the co-main event, Brazilian interim flyweight champion Adriano Moraes claimed the undisputed 125lb crown with a unanimous decision win over the previously undefeated Kairat Akhmetov.

After Akhmetov had won their previous bout in 2015, Moraes was much improved this time around and dominated the fight on the feet and on the ground. The Brazilian picked apart his opponent in the stand-up and took advantage of the better positions during the grappling exchanges, and despite suffering a flash knockdown in round three, Moraes coasted to a comfortable unanimous decision victory.

The win sees former Shooto Brazil star Moraes (16-2) reclaim the title he lost to Akhmetov at ONE Championship: Dynasty of Champions in November 2015 whilst Akhmetov (23-1) fell to the first defeat of his pro career.

Elsewhere on the card, undefeated Japanese flyweight Hayato Suzuki (17-0) captured his 17th win on the bounce as he defeated Filipino prospect Joshua Pacio (12-2) with a rear-naked choke for the first round submission win.

Also, former UFC bantamweight Leandro Issa (14-6) enjoyed a successful return to the promotion, where he made his name, with a second round TKO win over Finnish veteran Toni Tauru (11-6).

ONE Championship 58: Kings and Conquerors – Fernandes vs. Leone Results

Bantamweight Title Main Event: Bibiano Fernandes def. Andrew Leone via Submission (Rear-naked Choke) (Round 1 – 1:47)

Flyweight Title Bout: Adriano Moraes def. Kairat Akhmetov via Decision (Unanimous)

Featherweight Bout: Timofey Nastyukhin def. Koji Ando via Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Bout: Shannon Wiratchai def. Rajinder Singh Meena via KO (Knee) (Round 1 – 0:29)

Flyweight Bout: Hiyato Suzuki def. Joshua Pacio via Submission (Rear-naked Choke) (Round 1 – 3:17)

Featherweight Bout: Kotetsu Boku def. Eric Kelly via TKO (Punches) (Round 3 – 3:27)

Flyweight Bout: Lei Chen def. Saiful Merican via Submission (Armbar) (Round 3 – 3:58)

Women’s Atomweight Bout: Jomary Torres def. Rika Ishige via Submission (Rear-naked Choke) (Round 2 – 1:58)

Bantamweight Bout: Leandro Issa def. Toni Tauru via TKO (Punches) (Round 2 – 1:36)

Featherweight Bout: Magomed Idrisov def. Herbert Burns via Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Bout: Marcin Prachnio def. Gilberto Galvão via KO (Punch) (Round 1 – 1:23)

Middleweight Bout: Leandro Ataides def. Michal Pasternak via Decision (Unanimous)