Vietnam's MMA ace knocked out in ONE Championship

ONE Fight Night 17 was the final event of the Asia’s largest martial arts series this year: ONE Championship.

Nhat made his return to the competition after a four-year absence. Prior to that, the Vietnamese fighter, known as "No. 1," after his Vietnamese name, had two victories at the 2019 ONE Championship but couldn't continue due to Covid-19 and personal reasons.

Nhat’s opponent, Puric, is a 38-year-old fighter with both Bosnian and Canadian nationality. The fighter, nicknamed "The Bosnian Menace," had previously competed in major tournaments such as Bellator, Kunlun Fight, Wu Ling Feng, K-1, and had three appearances in ONE Championship with one win and two losses.

Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat (L) takes a punch from Denis Puric at the ONE Fight Night 17 event in Thailand on Dec. 9, 2023. Photo by ONE Championship

Puric took no time moving into "beast mode," delivering powerful strikes and closing in on Nhat at the very start of the fight. In the first round, the Bosnian fighter landed more accurate kicks and punches than Nhat.

In the second round, both fighters engaged in fierce exchanges of strikes. Nhat attempted a high kick, but Puric countered with a powerful punch to the face, which made the Vietnamese fighter stumble and fall to the canvas. The referee immediately started the countdown and awarded the knockout victory to Puric.

Denis Puric (R) is declared the winner after knocking out Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat at the ONE Fight Night 17 event in Thailand on Dec. 9, 2023. Photo by ONE Championship

With this result, Nhat suffered his first defeat in the ONE Championship arena after three fights, while Puric increased his number of wins to two.