Mite Yine showed his home-country crowd in Myanmar that he can be as dangerous in the cage as he is in the Lethwei ring with an impressive ONE Championship debut.

On Friday, June 29, the two-time Gold Belt Champion ignited the crowd at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon with a technical knockout victory over fellow countryman, Saw Darwait. The stoppage came at 2:48 of round one in their mixed martial arts encounter.

While Mite Yine is the more seasoned competitor in their native martial art, Saw Darwait already had a mixed martial arts victory under his belt. The 27-year-old defeated Sit Mhan last November at ONE: HERO’S DREAM with a first-round rear-naked choke.

Saw Darwait looked to capitalize on his cage advantage by attempting to take the match to the ground early. However, his opponent showed impressive skills on the mat, taking the dominant position while they were on the canvas.

Despite a valiant effort by the Hpa-An, Myanmar native to neutralize his opponent, Mite Yine’s offence was relentless, and he unleashed bombs in a ground and pound attack. 

With his opponent failing to improve his position, the referee had no choice but to stop the contest with more than two minutes remaining in the first round.

After the bout, ONE commentator Mitch “The Dragon” Chilson asked the victor if he would prefer to continue to compete under ONE’s global rules set, now that he had tested the waters in the cage. The 28-year-old’s response was emphatic.

“I want to fight for ONE Championship,” he said.

After getting his first mixed martial arts victory, he enters a stacked ONE flyweight division as an athlete to watch. Saw Darwait’s record falls to an even 1-1.