Ben Royle made his return to ONE Championship with a unanimous decision victory against Ivan Parshikov, in a thrilling MMA battle at ONE Friday Fights 40.
In what was the first time two OG sponsored athletes have faced each other in a ONE bout, expectations were high for an exciting contest, as both fighters brought a wealth of grappling and striking experience to Lumpinee Stadium.
Training out of Phuket Fight Club, Parshikov was hunting for a fourth victory at ONE for the year, after a three-win streak in four months which included securing a ฿350k bonus for his TKO win against Lianyang Xia at ONE Friday Fights 17.
However, the up-and-coming Russian was denied by Royle, who trains out of his own gym Phuket Grappling Academy as well as Tiger Muay Thai. The grappling specialist from England displayed his technical prowess and impressive standup, with an electrifying flying kick and rear-naked choke in the final seconds of the final round.
After a great show from both fighters in one of the most entertaining fights of the night, we can definitely expect to see more from these two athletes soon.
Check out our highlights of Ben's performance:
