The incredible debut of ONE Championship in Vietnam impressed martial arts fans on Friday, 6 September.

For the first time ever, fans inside the Phu Tho Indoor Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City got a taste of the world-class striking that ONE Super Series delivers with the promotion’s first show in the country, ONE: IMMORTAL TRIUMPH.

The night’s spectacular action included a World Title bout, young ascending Vietnamese talents, and even light heavyweight movers and shakers.

Now, we look back at the three most thrilling moments from this fantastic event.

Santino Verbeek Survives Thriller To Put Away Juan Cervantes

Santino Verbeek had to give everything to pull out the win against a tested veteran like Juan Cervantes.

In the early rounds, the Dutchman showed little fear of his opponent. He moved forward and consistently unloaded punches.

At one point, Verbeek’s right hand connected with the Englishman’s temple and raised caution in Cervantes.

Verbeek then caught his 32-year-old adversary with a quick one-two combination and sent him to the ground. But the Northern Kings Gym representative answered the referee’s count and shrugged it off.

The Dutchman went back to his corner after the first round feeling confident, but the complexity of the match soon changed.

Verbeek could no longer evade the punches of Cervantes, and the length and reach of the Newcastle native began to seriously trouble the Dutchman. He found himself on the defense against punches, kicks, and even some brilliant flying knees.

Both men went for the finish in round three. Cervantes unleashed more spectacular flying knees, but Verbeek’s sturdy chin held up. In return, the WKTA Muay Thai World Champion threw his trademark rights.

In the end, it went to the judges’ scorecards, and Verbeek triumphed with the majority decision win.

Bi “Killer Bee” Nguyen Blows Away Puja “The Cyclone” Tomar

Bi “Killer Bee” Nguyen entered the ring to rapturous applause in Ho Chi Minh City.

She parlayed her hometown favorite status to push past Indian wushu champion Puja “The Cyclone” Tomar in their atomweight Muay Thai clash.

Tomar kept things close in the first round with her southpaw stance and swung strikes at the Vietnamese-American.

Tactical in her approach, Nguyen wisely stayed outside of the wushu specialist’s range. She only stepped forward to land shots when she saw an opening, and the first round ended with neither woman holding a decisive lead.

Tomar started the second stanza with renewed aggression, but Nguyen again evaded her attacks, and an overhand left from “Killer Bee” stung the Muzaffarnagar native.

Confidence grew for Nguyen as she scored more consistently and caught the Indian hero several times with crisp combinations.

In the driver’s seat, “Killer Bee” took full control of the match. The Heritage Muay Thai athlete pressed forward and locked Tomar up in the clinch. Then she delivered punishing knees to her opponent.

The contest came to a close, and Nguyen’s relentless offense earned her the split-decision win.

Nong-O Successfully Defends World Title

Nong-O Gaiyanghadao’s legendary status is now bigger following his win at ONE: IMMORTAL TRIUMPH.

The Singapore-stationed Thai successfully retained his ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title against Brice “The Truck” Delval.

The Algerian phenom looked fearless as he lunged forward and tested the World Champion with his ranged kicks and sharp jabs in the opening rounds.

Several times it looked as if Delval built up a steady rhythm and would use that to assert control.

Nong-O, however, reminded everyone of his Muay Thai mastery. As the battle continued into the later rounds, the Thai legend expertly evaded Delval’s strikes on the outside and peppered him with right hooks.

The sudden change of pace - along with getting stung by a few hard hits - shook Delval’s confidence. Nong-O could taste the victory and his conviction only grew from there.

The Evolve representative pressed forward and delivered bruising kicks to his opponent’s abdomen. Tired and drained of his stamina, “The Truck” used his range and some spinning back fists to fend off the Thai’s onslaught.

It mattered little as the contest ended and the outcome went to the hands of the ringside judges.

Nong-O finished the bout with a split-decision win and kept the gold around his waist. This victory pushed the Thai’s professional record to an astonishing 260-54-1.

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