One on Prime Video 4 – Lead Card

The 1st match of the night was a Lightweight Muay Thai bout between Eddie “Silky Smooth” Abasolo (USA) and Liam “Lethal” Nolan. Liam took the fight to Eddie from the opening bell. Eddie landed a few counters, but nothing that put Liam in danger. Liam was teeing off at will for the first two rounds, and Eddie had no answers for it. Eddie tried to come out and go for a much-needed knockout in the third round, but never came close. Liam landed the best strike of the match with a brutal head kick and then followed it up with some damaging elbows that opened Eddie up. The fight made it to the judge’s scorecards, and it was unanimous that Liam won the fight. In the post-fight interview, Liam wouldn’t call anyone out.

The 2nd match, which was highly anticipated, was an atomweight submission grappling match between 4-time sombo champion Mariia Molchanova (RUS) and BJJ Black belt giant killer Danielle Kelly (USA). The tension was noticeable, and with all the smack talk Mariia had, you would’ve expected a better performance out of such a big mouth. She made claims that she would have Danielle crying, and her teammates and fans wouldn’t be able to help her this time. She said she would destroy Danielle and ensure she wouldn’t become a star by beating her. No one sent the memo to Mariia that her opponent, Danielle Kelly, has already defeated UFC fighters and more who have held title belts in their MMA careers in the UFC and other promotions. Danielle doesn’t back down from anyone.

She is already a megastar in her sport, and her following is immense. When asked about her opponent, Danielle said she would finish her in 2 minutes, and boy, did she ever. The referee for the match didn’t have much to do except watch the pure domination and be ready for the Russian to tap out after Danielle Kelly went right at her. She quickly took the can opener used by Mariia and took her back.

The fight was over, and Mariia had no clue what was coming. Danielle Kelly applied a deep body triangle and then took her time playing with her food. She would get Mariia to make another huge mistake and place her neck and face in the land of the Sandman, securing a lights-out Rear Naked Choke victory at 2 minutes and 15 seconds. In the post-fight interview, she was awarded the $50k bonus for the fight of the night. She also took another jab at Angela Lee, who has been running as fast as possible away from Danielle Kelly since she joined One Championship.

After this victory, it will be even tougher for the One Championships MMA champ to continue running. At some point, she will have to fight Danielle Kelly and suffer as previous champions have at her hands. I’m eager for these two to face off in the octagon together, and although I’m unsure how, I’ll do everything I can to make the trip to watch it live.

The 3rd match was a Welterweight MMA bout between Isi “Doxz” Fitikefu and Ruslan “Snow Leopard” Emilbek Uulu. The fight started slowly as both fighters used round 1 to feel each other out. With 3 minutes left in the first round, Doxz dealt some damage to Uulu and pressed him against the cage. It was a tough round to judge, but I gave it to Doxz for the damage done. The second round saw both fighters exchange punishing blows. Doxz got a knockdown during the round. I have two rounds for Doxz in a tough close fight. The last round saw Uulu get multiple takedowns and control.

This fight definitely should have been fought before the Danielle Kelly bout, as it’s been pretty unimpressive and very forgettable. While it takes a lot to step into the octagon and requires skill, this match couldn’t hold the hype that Danielle Kelly built in the arena and stream. The two fighters traded punches in the dying minutes of the round. I scored the fight for Doxz; however, the judges gave it to Uulu in a split decision, raising questions about the judges’ ability to score fights like this. Honestly, it should have been a draw or a victory for Doxz. Dominating 1 round of a 3 round fight shouldn’t give you the win. The post-fight interview was nothing to write home about, very low-key, and nothing worth reporting.

The final fight of the prelims saw a catchweight Muay Thai bout between Jonathan “The General” Haggerty (UK), who missed weight despite fighting up in weight class, and Vladimir Kuzmin (RUS). A noticeable trend so far has been the amount of trash-talking coming from the Russian fighters.

Let’s see if Vladimir can back himself up, unlike his fellow Russian Mariia, who got obliterated. The first round was pretty even. Vlad had the more brutal strikes, but that was the only noticeable difference between the two fighters. In the second round, Haggerty delivered a vicious head kick but never took advantage of it, allowing Vlad to recover. Vlad would go on to dominate the octagon and fight. Haggerty had a better round, but he is trailing in the fight.

In the final round, Round 3 saw Vlad come out aggressively and land blow after blow at will. Haggerty is trying to fight back, but can only muster a lot of missed strikes. Haggerty goes down, but the referee calls it a slip. Haggerty would end the round with a strong finish. Was it enough in the pretty close fight? I give the advantage to Vlad, but it could also go the other way. Honestly, it doesn’t matter because the fights are muted due to Haggerty missing weight.

The judges give a Majority to Johnathan “The General” Haggerty. I disagree with the decision, but I can’t argue with it, as neither fighter was impressive.

In the post-fight interview, Haggerty thanked everyone for attending the fights, thanked the promotion, and didn’t call anyone out for his next match, except to say he would take on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-ranked fighter. Odd request after such a meh performance and not making weight. He mentioned that he doesn’t believe many know he has trained for 16 years, but I’m not sure how it was relevant to the match.