ONE: REIGN OF KINGS highlights: Kevin Belingon, Shinya Aoki, Renzo Gracie and Garry Tonon win big

On Friday morning (Friday night in Manila), ONE Championship returned to our screens with ONE: REIGN OF KINGS — undoubtedly one of the promotion’s biggest cards to date.

This ONE: REIGN OF KINGS card was headlined by an interim bantamweight title fight between ONE lightweight and featherweight titleholder Martin Nguyen and fearsome Team Lakay star Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon.

It was a close fight, as Belingon was the far more aggressive party, but Nguyen was the more successful striker. In the end, however, the judges gave this one to Belingon, who can now look forward to a showdown with undisputed champ Bibiano Fernandes in the future.

Kevin "The Silencer" Belingon def. 2-division champ Martin Nguyen via unanimous decision, taking the interim ONE Bantamweight title. Rematch with Bibiano Fernandes next. #ReignOfKings pic.twitter.com/sQk9jdub4E

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) July 27, 2018

This is how you punch someone in the nuts. #onechampionship #reignofkings pic.twitter.com/PgI1ymMhXh

— Kevin Thang (@Skip2MyJays) July 27, 2018

The co-main event of this action-packed card, meanwhile, saw Japanese legend Shinya Aoki take on fearsome Muay Thai specialist Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai.

In this fight, Aoki promptly landed a takedown, climbed into full mount, and unleashed a meteor shower of ground-and-pound, slicing his foe open and covering the canvas in Rorschach blots of blood. Once the blood was spilling, the referee promptly intervened, giving Aoki the TKO win — and very possibly the next crack at Martin Nguyen’s ONE lightweight belt.

https://twitter.com/Jolassanda/status/1022857881031458816

Elsewhere on the card, 51-year-old MMA legend Renzo Gracie returned to the cage opposite Japanese legend Yuki Kondo. After a dreadfully slow round that gave Ngannou vs. Lewis a run for its money, Gracie authored a decisive end in the second, submitting his foe with rear-naked choke.

In the battle of legends, Renzo Gracie submits Yuki Kondo with a sweet RNC at 1:40 of Round 2! @RenzoGracieBJJ #WeAreONE #ReignOfKings #Manila #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/REoYT94jNC

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 27, 2018

ONE: REIGN OF KINGS also featured the second MMA effort of grappling star Garry Tonon, who took on Indian’s Rahul “The Kerala Krusher” Raju. While Raju certainly didn’t make it easy, defending a procession of leg locks and even an omoplata, Tonon ultimately got the W, tapping his foe with a rear-naked choke in the third round.

Garry Tonon submits ultra-tough Rahul Raju with a TIGHT RNC at 3:27 of Round 3! #WeAreONE #ReignOfKings #Manila #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/dEJ40tecAw

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 27, 2018

Here are the full ONE: REIGN OF KINGS results, for those who missed the action (via MMASucka).

MAIN CARD

Kevin Belingon def. Martin Nguyen via Unanimous Decision – ONE Interim Bantamweight World Champion
Shinya Aoki def. Shannon Wiratchai via TKO (Strikes) at 2:16 of Round 1
Renzo Gracie def. Yuki Kondo via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:40 of Round 2
Eduard Folayang def. Aziz Pakhrudinov via Unanimous Decision
Garry Tonon def. Rahul Raju via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 3:27 of Round 3
Chris Ngimbi def. Armen Petrosyan via Split Decision
Panicos Yusuf def. Han Zi Hao via Unanimous Decision

PRELIMINARY CARD

Joshua Pacio def. Pongsiri Mitsatit via Submission (Kimura) 3:48 of Round 1
Rene Catalan def. Stefer Rahardian via Unanimous Decision
Xie Bin def. Sor Sey via Submission (D’arce choke) at 1:55 of Round 1

What was your favorite moment from this ONE: REIGN OF KINGS card?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/27/2018.