Shamil Erdogan stayed unbeaten and took away Paul Elliott’s clearest path to a vacant heavyweight title shot, submitting Elliott with a rear-naked choke at 2:28 of round two in the main event of ONE Fight Night 48.
The card aired Friday night U.S. time from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok. Erdogan moved to 14-0. Elliott came in at 8-2 with one no contest. A win would have put the Middlesbrough heavyweight in line for the vacant ONE Heavyweight MMA World Championship.
Quick Results
Heavyweight MMA: Shamil Erdogan def. Paul Elliott by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:28 of round two.
Bantamweight Muay Thai: Parham Gheirati def. Nakrob Fairtex by unanimous decision.
Featherweight Muay Thai: Luke Lessei def. Charlie Guest by unanimous decision.
Flyweight MMA: Antonio Cesar def. Joshua Perreira by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round one.
Bantamweight kickboxing: Elbrus Osmanov def. Yi Yuxuan by split decision.
Featherweight submission grappling: Ruan Alvarenga def. Shoya Ishiguro by split decision.
Atomweight Muay Thai: Yu Yau Pui def. Marie McManamon by unanimous decision.
Featherweight Muay Thai: Arian Esparza def. Sam Fitzgerald by knockout at 2:35 of round one.
The planned strawweight MMA bout between Lee Seung Cheol and Karen Ghazaryan did not happen, pulled because of visa delays for Ghazaryan.
Heavyweight MMA: Erdogan def. Elliott
Erdogan, a former member of the Russian and Turkish national wrestling teams, had stopped his previous eight opponents. Elliott had said beforehand that Erdogan would try to put the fight on the mat. That is what happened from the opening bell.
Erdogan took Elliott down early and spent most of round one grinding from top position. Elliott kept working back to his feet. Erdogan kept returning him to the canvas. Elliott got through the round.
Round two opened on the feet. Elliott landed low kicks, a right hand and a spinning back kick that missed the head and hit the shoulder. Erdogan did not stay there. He backed Elliott into a corner, landed a body shot, scored another takedown, moved to mount, dropped elbows, shifted to side control and landed knees to the head.
Elliott gave up his back trying to escape. As he tried to stand, he exposed his neck. Erdogan locked the rear-naked choke and Elliott tapped at 2:28. Elliott’s power made Erdogan reconsider standing with him for a short stretch, but the finish still ran through wrestling.
Rest of the card
Gheirati beat Nakrob Fairtex by unanimous decision in bantamweight Muay Thai. Lessei beat Guest by unanimous decision in featherweight Muay Thai. Cesar stopped Perreira by doctor stoppage at the end of round one in flyweight MMA.
Osmanov beat Yi Yuxuan by split decision in bantamweight kickboxing. Alvarenga beat Ishiguro by split decision in featherweight submission grappling. Yu Yau Pui beat McManamon by unanimous decision in atomweight Muay Thai. Esparza knocked out Fitzgerald at 2:35 of round one in the other featherweight Muay Thai bout.
The show was on the weekend slate with UFC 332 and PFL MENA 11. Prime Video carried it in the U.S. and Canada.
What’s Next
The heavyweight MMA title is still vacant. Erdogan’s win keeps him at 14-0 and in the conversation for that shot. Elliott’s title argument took the loss, not a promised rematch. Joshua Pacio’s already booked strawweight defense against Keito Yamakita is a different division and is set for Nov. 18.
