Welterweight champion Ben Askren has continued his stranglehold on the division with a comprehensive second round TKO triumph over Zebaztian Kadestam at ONE Championship: Shanghai overnight (NZT).
The American delivered on his pre-fight predictions that he would smother his Swedish opponent with his elite wrestling, taking "The Bandit" down at will before securing mount and raining down a flurry of blows to force the referee to put a halt to proceedings.
The victory is the former NCAA wrestling champion's 17th straight in a professional career dating back to 2009, further cementing his status as one of the planet's premier welterweights across any promotion.
"I am ready for anyone in the world who wants to step up to the plate and challenge me for my title," the Olympian told the 15,000-strong crowd post-fight.
In other developments on the evening, it appears as though Kiwi-Malaysian lightweight sensation Ev Ting may have found his next opponent.
Singaporean prospect Amir Khan laid down a challenge to the Auckland MMA fighter following his fifth straight win, on this occasion a thunderous first-round TKO of Jaroslav Jartim.
Ting, fresh off an emphatic TKO win of his own over Nobutatsu Suzuki in Kuala Lumpur last month, wasted no time accepting.
"Just got called out on ONE Championship: Shanghai. Careful what you wish for youngbuck," he posted to his Faceboook page.
"Since Eduard [Folayang] and Manny don’t want these hands, Amir Khan can get some," Ting added, referring to current lightweight champion Eduard Folayang who is yet to respond to his invitation for a rematch.
ONE Championship has a scheduled event in Khan's native Singapore later this year, which the 28-year-old proceeded to pinpoint as the ideal date for an in-cage rendezvous.
"Looks like E.T is going to ONE's home-turf of Singapore this November."
While Khan is much less experienced he'd undoubtedly prove a formidable adversary, currently riding a streak of five first-round finishes. A convincing win for Ting would make it difficult to deny him another shot at Folayang and his belt.
In the night's co-main event, Chinese flyweight Ma Hao Bin delighted his compatriots with a sensational second round submission of fellow countryman Hexigetu.
The promotion now shifts to Indonesia for ONE Championship: Total Victory in Jakarta on September 16.
Newshub.
