Three of Amir Khan’s best finishes
A proud son of Singapore, Amir Khan already holds the record for most knockouts (8) in ONE Championship history, but his greatest feat could see him become the city’s first-ever homegrown mixed martial arts World Champion.
The 24-year-old intends to get closer towards that goal on Friday, 22 February.
He will enter the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix when he faces Ariel “Tarzan” Sexton in a quarter-final match-up at ONE: Call To Greatness, live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
With three weeks to go, we take a look at three of his best finishes.
#1 Khan Breaks “The Rock”
https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship/videos/1872092879564921/In the first round of their encounter at ONE: Beyond The Horizon in Shanghai, China last September, Khan wasted little time in trying to bring former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario” to the mat.
After the initial exchanges, he grabbed the Filipino’s back and used his strength to wrestle “The Rock" down to the canvas.
Once there, Khan got an arm underneath the neck of Banario and locked in a tight rear-naked choke.
Even as he struggled, there was little that the Filipino could do to prevent Khan’s vice-like grip around his neck. He was forced to tap just before the end of the first round.
#2 The Two-Strike KO
Khan always seems to have good luck in the Chinese metropolis.
In September 2017, he dazzled the crowd with a brilliant first-round knockout of Czech striker Jaroslav Jartim at ONE Championship: Shanghai.
With both contestants jostling for position, the Singaporean decided to test his bigger and taller opponent’s defense by going for a takedown. The two returned to their feet and, with a minute left in the opening round, Khan authored a jaw-dropping finish.
The Evolve product struck the Czech’s face with a left kick, and then floored him with a devastating follow-up right hook to knock him out.
#3 Khan’s Hometown Thriller
The Singaporean faithful were treated to a classic match-up of grappler versus striker in this contest between the local hero and South Korea’s Sung Jong Lee at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams in May.
Doing well to avoid the South Korean’s takedown attempts, Khan began to trade blows with Lee on his feet.
As the rounds went on, however, Lee would finally succeed in taking down Khan. At one point, he nearly trapped the Singaporean’s ankle in a painful calf slicer.
This advantage would be short-lived, as the South Korean’s apparent fatigue allowed the young lion to quickly escape and get on top of his rival’s back.
Now in the dominant position, Khan rained down powerful punches until the referee stopped the bout in the second stanza, giving the Singaporean his record-setting eighth knockout.
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