Edward Kelly wins on ONE FC Myanmar card; two Pinoys lose

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino fighter Edward Kelly made sure that he is flying back home with his hand raised in triumph as he rallied back in the opening salvo to submit Australian featherweight Jordan Lucas on ONE Championship’s “Union of Warriors” undercard at the Thuwanna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on Friday, March 18.

Emulating his older brother Eric Kelly’s never-say-die attitude against Rob Lisita in July 2014, Edward Kelly forced Lucas to wave the white flag at 3:47 of the first round with a rear-naked choke.

Edward Kelly submitted Jordan Lucas with a first-round rear-naked choke. #ONEFightNight pic.twitter.com/PKd68gvIi1

— NISSI ICASIANO (@Nissi_Icasiano) March 18, 2016

The 32-year-old native of Baguio City, Benguet was overwhelmed by the excellently-executed grappling onslaught of his Australian foe as Lucas easily took Kelly to the mat and immediately fished for submission. 

With Lucas failing to sustain his top control, Kelly returned to his feet and clobbered an ear-cracking kick to the head.

Knowing his leverage on the canvas, Lucas scooped Kelly back to the ground with a double-leg takedown and pursued a triangle choke after the Pinoy standout found the escape door from the vulnerable position. 

As Lucas naively rolled to his belly, Kelly jumped on his back and then sneakily slipped his arm under the chin for the fight-ending submission.

With the come-from-behind victory over Lucas, Kelly improves his professional record to 7-3 and claims his second win inside the ONE Championship cage. 

Meanwhile, the disappointing defeat to Kelly spoiled the promotional debut of Lucas, who tastes his first career loss and downgrades to an 8-1 win-loss slate.

Two other Filipino fighters on the card weren’t so lucky. 

Eugene Toquero (8-3) yielded to Adriano Moraes (14-2) as the Pinoy crowd favorite was coerced to tap at the 4:53 mark of the first round with a reeling brabo choke.

Adriano Moraes submitted Filipino fighter Eugene Toquero with a brabo choke in the first round. #ONEFightNight pic.twitter.com/9ynsg9DP0J

— NISSI ICASIANO (@Nissi_Icasiano) March 18, 2016

Toquero was able to hurt the former ONE flyweight titleholder with a flying knee and created a gory gash around his opponent’s right eye, but Moraes weathered the storm with a big slam on the mat and then positioned himself into side control to easily latch on the choke.

Eugene Toquero was able to wobble Adriano Moraes in the first round. #ONEFightNight pic.twitter.com/kxDBchLhIV

— NISSI ICASIANO (@Nissi_Icasiano) March 18, 2016

Meanwhile, Robin Catalan (5-2) suffered a first-round submission setback at the hands of Alex Silva (4-2) as the bloody Brazilian compelled his Filipino counterpart to tap at 4:25 of the first round with an arm-triangle choke.

Alex Silva submitted Filipino fighter Robin Catalan with an arm-triangle choke in the first round. #ONEFightNight pic.twitter.com/fQbPtZqRZj

— NISSI ICASIANO (@Nissi_Icasiano) March 18, 2016

– Rappler.com