Romania and Morocco were two of the 21 countries represented at “ONE: Reign of Valor,” the first ONE Championship event in 2019 held in Myanmar. The Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion held it at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on March 8, 2019.
“ONE: Reign of Valor” featured nine MMA matches and five ONE Super Series contests, which are kickboxing bouts. In the sixth bout of the evening, Andrei “Mister KO” Stoica, 31, of Romania faced Tarik Khbabez, 26, of Morocco.
Stoica and Khbabez were the sole representatives of their respective countries at “ONE: Reign of Valor.” Their match was the last bout on the preliminary card.
Blue Corner
Khbabez started his karate training when he was 6 years old and went on to become a multiple-time Muay Thai and kickboxing World Champion. When he made his ONE Super Series debut at “ONE: Pinnacle of Power” at Studio City Event Center in Macau, China on June 23, 2019, he knocked out Alain “The Panther” Ngalani, 43, of Hong Kong.
On October 26, 2018, Khbabez knocked out his fellow Moroccan kickboxer Ibrahim “Mr. Cool” El Bouni, 25, at “ONE: Pursuit of Greatness” at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium. “ONE: Reign of Valor” marked the third ONE Super Series bout of Khbabez, who is training out of Arj Trainingen.
Red Corner
Stoica started his judo training when he was 11 years old but he eventually switched to kickboxing and wushu. In wushu, he claimed Romanian national and European championships.
In kickboxing, Stoica became the SUPERKOMBAT Super Cruiserweight World Champion. “ONE: Reign of Valor” marked his ONE Super Series debut.
Fight Result
Stoica and Khbabez competed in a kickboxing contest in the light heavyweight division at “ONE: Reign of Valor.” Atsushi Onari served as the referee.
After three three-minute rounds, the kickboxing bout was left in the hands of the judges. In the end, Onari raised the hand of Khbabez, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
Winning at “ONE: Reign of Valor” improved Khbabez’s professional kickboxing record to 45 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw. On the other hand, Kehl now has 49 wins and 12 losses.
“ONE: Reign of Valor” Main Events
Georgiy “Knight” Kichigin, 28, of Kazakhstan challenged reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam, 28, of Sweden in the main event.
Phoe “Bushido” Thaw, 34, of Myanmar faced “The Iceman” Yohan Mulia Legowo, 38, of Indonesia in the co-main event. The Burmese contender knocked out his Indonesian opponent in the second round.
Georgiy “Knight” Kichigin, 28, of Kazakhstan challenged reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam, 28, of Sweden in the main event. After two five-minute rounds, the Swedish defending champion won via technical knockout via retirement.
Australia, Cambodia, China, Finland, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom were also represented at “ONE: Reign of Valor.” Check the complete results on Conan Daily.
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