5 Takeaways From ONE: Inside The Matrix 3

Hiroba Minowa Finds Success In ONE Debut, Moves Into The Rankings

Yuri Simoes Falls Short In MMA Debut

Grappling legend and ADCC champ Yuri Simoes showed off his MMA debut at Inside the Matrix 3, but unfortunately, his striking was not up to par. The Brazilian found some success in round one with great ground and pound and top pressure, but Fan Rong had the speed, power, and experience to turn the tide in round two. The trouble may have been the all too clear gameplan of Simoes, and the clear path to counter this for Fan, but I wouldn’t write off the BJJ superstar. Far from it. He definitely displayed heart, being dropped a couple of times by the Chinese athlete, and never giving up despite some obvious frustration. He needs some work on the shoot boxing side and blending together strikes with takedowns, but this being his first time in an MMA bout I’m interested to see what he brings to the table next.

Murad Ramazanov Dominates Dagestani Style – Potential Title Shot Next?

I think every time a Dagestani fighter steps onto the canvas we kind of know what to expect at this point, and Murad Ramazanov was no exception. Excellent takedowns, nice cage work, and great top pressure won the day against the previously undefeated Hiroyuki Tetsuka. That brings Murad to 10-0, and in a fairly shallow division that puts him potentially on track for a title shot. The welterweight champion is Kiamiran Abbazov who recently won a razor-close match against James Nakashima. He won by KO, but it could have gone so differently considering the minutes leading up to that finish. It’ll be a toss-up now, between the perfect record of the Russian and the question mark over who wins the rematch, but Ramazanov has clearly put himself into the mix.

Beautiful Striking From Geje Eustaquio In A Potential Fight Of The Night

Geje Eustaquio put on a clinic against the very game opponent of Song Min Jong. Displaying beautiful catch and sweeps and excellent evasiveness, Geje just wasn’t there to hit. Personally, I loved the display of skill from Eustaquio, staying inches out of harm’s way and landing excellent strikes, forcing his opponent to change it up drastically in round three. Knowing he was a few steps behind, Jong attempted to use his grappling abilities to change up the pace and submit his opponent. He found some success but it was too little too late, he did not find the finish, and Geje took the win. Those first two rounds were so good to watch I’d give it a potential fight of the night.

John Lineker Punches His Way To A Title Shot

This is Lineker’s second bout in ONE, and he was up against #1 contender Kevin Belingon. John’s nickname is ‘hands of stone’ and boy did he earn this title. From the offset, the two were swinging for the fences, trying to knock each other into next week. Exploiting Kevin’s tendency to move back in straight lines and to dip his head forward and low, John caught his opponent with a nasty uppercut to begin his finishing sequence. He was setting it up from much earlier in the fight though – take a look from 1:20 in round one and you’ll see the uppercuts coming quick and fast. With Belingon at the #1 spot before this match, John should be catapulted into title contention, so expect to see about versus Joshua Pacio on the horizon.

How did we do predicting this bout? Check out Jude’s pre-fight breakdown here.

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