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Morocco’s Ilias Ennahachi has made a triumphant return to ONE Championship, picking up a much-deserved win at ONE Friday Fights 81.
Ennahachi put in a solid performance in a bantamweight kickboxing bout to defeat second-ranked Hiroki Akimoto at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.
Over three rounds, Ennahachi dominated his Japanese counterpart, scoring a knockdown of his opponent with a huge left hook in the first round.
Akimoto made a comeback in the second round and unleashed kicks and body shots, but the 28-year-old Moroccan used quick movements to evade the Japanese fighter’s attacks.
In the third round, the two men traded attacks, but Ennahachi was more on point, showing technical superiority with his slick movements and precise punches and high kicks.
After three rounds of action, the judges gave Ennahachi a unanimous decision win on his return to the global martial arts organization.
The win solidifies the former ONE Flyweight Kickboxing world champion’s status as a credible title contender at bantamweight.
Ennahachi moved up to bantamweight last year and picked up his first victory in his new weight class via knockout against Iran’s Aliasghar Ghodratisaraskan.
The win raises Ennahachi’s overall professional record to 40-3 and improves his ONE clean record to 5-0.
The victory also means that Ennahachi, who is the only ONE athlete to beat current two-sport world champion and Thai megastar Superlek Kiatmoo, inches closer towards earning a shot at the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing world championship which is currently held by Britain’s Jonathan Haggerty.
