Banario TKOs Kelly in ONE FC

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino Honorio Banario stunned a fancied Eric Kelly via TKO to crown himself the new featherweight champion in the ONE Fighting Championship: Return of Warriors at the Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Saturday night.

Fighting stand-up most of the way, the 23-year-old Banario, from Baguio City’s Team Lakay, found an opening early in the fourth and sneaked in a crisp, crushing left hook to Kelly’s right eye, sending the latter to the canvas.

Referee Yuji Shimada of Japan waved and signaled the fight was over, giving Banario the TKO victory after 61 seconds in the fourth round of the scheduled five-round duel.

Banario, who hails from Mankayan, Benguet, thus became the first Filipino champion in ONE FC, a Singapore-based mixed martial arts outfit considered the most popular and prestigious fight organization in the Asia-Pacific.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Banario in Filipino.

It was Banario’s second straight win as the Filipino fighter also scored a third round TKO  over another Filipino, Andrew Benibe in the ONE FC: Pride of a Nation last Aug. 31 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. It was also his eighth win in nine bouts, including three KOs and five via submissions.

It was Kelly’s first ever loss after winning his first nine fights, including three on the ONE FC stage he highlighted with an impressive win over former Ultimate Fighting Championship titlist Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver, also in Manila last year.

Meanwhile, another undefeated Filipino fighter from Team Lakay – Rey Docyogen – suffered his first defeat after bowing to Shooto champion Shinichi Kojima of Japan via guillotine choke 4.47 past the second round.

Docyogen, a 29-year-old product of the Phl-based Universal Reality Combat Championship, thus dropped to 10-1 while Kojima improved to 13-4-5 (win-loss-draw).

The Baguio City native actually led the striking battle before succumbing to the superb submission skills of Kojima.

Vuyisile Colossa and Lowen Tynanes put on a show, coming through with a pulsating three-round battle that the latter won with a rear naked choke in the third and final round.

Malaysians Peter Davis and Adam Kayoom also wowed the home crowd with swift wins over Indonesians Leo Krishna and Zuli Silawanto, respectively.