Sitthichai rises to No.3 in rankings

Sitthichai rises to No.3 in rankings

Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong celebrates his win against Mohammed Boutasaa.
Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong celebrates his win against Mohammed Boutasaa.

ONE Championship delivered another night of hard-hitting action at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur at the end of last month and the evening's results have caused a shake-up in the promotion's rankings.

ONE Fight Night 3: Lineker vs Andrade featured everything from thrilling finishes to world championship-winning outings, and three athletes in particular have benefitted greatly from their performances.

Long-time fan favourite Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong saw a small but significant improvement in the featherweight kickboxing rankings.

The Thai veteran went three rounds with rising star Mohammed Boutasaa and utilised his famous left kick and fight IQ to earn a unanimous decision victory.

As a result, "Killer Kid" moved up one spot to No.3 position. He now lies ahead of Giorgio Petrosyan and Tayfun Ozcan and is one step closer to taking on current ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Superbon Singha Mawynn.

The featherweight mixed martial arts division also saw some movement in its top five.

Promotional debutant Shamil Gasanov crashed into the rankings, thanks to his emphatic first round submission of "The Fighting God" Kim Jae-Woong.

The win improved Gasanov's professional record to 13-0.

He now sits just below former two-division king Martin Nguyen in the stacked division.

The final change to ONE's rankings may have surprised fight fans the most as surging star Fabricio Andrade jumped ahead of former divisional titleholder John Lineker in the bantamweight MMA division after their main event world title showdown.

"Wonder Boy" dominated his compatriot for the first two rounds and looked on his way to scoring an emphatic victory in the third before an accidental low blow left Lineker unable to continue.

The fight was ruled a no-contest, and the divisional throne remained vacant due to "Hands of Stone" being stripped of the belt for missing weight in the lead-up.

Andrade's performance was enough to see him make a significant move in the rankings, however, and he leapfrogged both Bibiano Fernandes and Lineker to claim the coveted top spot in the division.

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