ONE FC 23: Warrior’s Way took place today at the Mall of Asia Arena in Maila, Philippines, and the card overall was excellent as it featured a number of high-quality, compelling matchups that entertained the crowd. Overall from a betting perspective, five favorites and one underdog won based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Bibiano Fernandes defeated Dae Hwan Kim via second-round submission (rear-naked choke) to retain the ONE FC bantamweight title. Kim was hurting him on the feet with spinning back kicks but Fernandes was eventually able to grab hold of Kim’s back and choke him out to retain his belt. Fernandes closed at -900 (bet $900 to win $100) while Kim lost at +500 (bet $100 to win $500). In the co-main event of the evening, Brandon Vera defeated Igor Subora via first-round TKO (punch and soccer kicks) in a light heavyweight bout. Vera used his muay Thai to damage Subora for nearly the full first round until nailing him with a straight left that dropped Subora to the floor, where Vera soon finished him off with soccer kicks for the win. Vera cashed at -530 while Subora lost at +350. In a light heavyweight bout, Roger Gracie defeated James McSweeney via third-round TKO (punches). Gracie was able to use his reach to his advantage to land punches on McSweeney and eventually finish him in the third round with a kick to the body followed by punches. Gracie closed at -260 while McSweeney closed at +180. In a bantamweight bout, Kevin Belingon defeated Koetsu Okazaki via unanimous decision. Belingon lit up Okazaki with kicks throughout the fight and secured a late takedown and landed some ground and pound to snatch the decision. He closed as a -140 favorite while Okazaki lost at +100. In a catchweight (146lbs) bout, Herbet Burns defeated Hononrio Banario via first-round submission (rear-naked choke). Burns was able to get the fight to the ground, take Banario’s back, and soon submit him with a beautiful choke for the victory. He closed as a -350 favorite while Banario lost as a +250 dog. Underdogs That Won In a lightweight bout, Timofey Nastyukhin defeated Eduard Folayang via first-round KO (flying knee and soccer kicks). Nastyukhin had a Knockout of the Year candidate in this one as he was able to knock Folayang down with a flying knee and then finish him with ONE FC-legal soccer kicks for an epic finish. He cashed at +120 while Folayang lost at -160.
