Subba stuns Singapore with KO win

By Marcus Chhan

In a match which was highlighted for the sporting rivalry that exists between Malaysia and Singapore, Subba made sure the home crowd was not a factor in the fight with the early first round stoppage.

Subba, who fights out of Monarchy MMA \ Phuket Top Team, picked Loh off on the counter with a swift left hook which floored the Singaporean. The 19-year-old Malaysian then went in for the kill with a football-kick to the head of the grounded Loh. The kick did not land completely square but there was certainly enough contact and damaged done to Loh for the referee to award the KO victory to Subba on his Mixed Martial Arts debut.

"I feel great man, I feel great," Subba told ESPNSTAR.com shortly after the fight.

"It was good to get the first win out of the way."

Both fighters emerged from the opening bell quite aggresively and that's where it very quickly went wrong for Loh. The 36-year-old Singaporean, Impact's chief Muay Thai and MMA instructor, caught Subba with a strong kick to his opponent's backside but couldn't recover in time to block the left hook which just about won the match for the Malaysian.

"I was trying to catch him [Loh] but he has good kicks, my ass hurts," Subba said.

"I didn't realise [I had won]. He was on the ground and I just kicked his face."

After the fight, an emotional Subba dedicated his win to a cousin who passed away two months ago from bone cancer.

"He always wanted to see me fight, unfortunately he never saw me fight. This one is for him."

For the Singaporean fighter Loh, he was left to reflect on a disappointing end to a match which he only found out about ten days prior. Loh agreed to be a last-minute replacement for compatriot Radeem Rahman, who withdrew from Rise of Kings due to an injury.

"I've been teaching full-time and I only had 10 days notice," Loh said.

He added: "He's [Gianni] a really nice boy. We basically spent one hour in the sauna room and we talked about a lot of things and it is quite difficult fighting a nice guy."

Official results for One FC Rise of Kings:

Shinya Aoki def. Arnaud Lepont by triangle choke submission at 1:25 minutes of round 1.

Kotetsu Boku def. Zorobabel Moreira by TKO at 1:02 minutes of round 3.

Soo Chul Kim def. Leandro Issa by KO at 15 seconds of round 2.

Melvin Manhoef def. Ryo Kawamura by KO at 4:40 minutes of round 1.

Jens Pulver def. Zhao Ya Fei by unanimous decision of round 3.

Masakatsu Ueda def. Min Jung Song by unanimous decision at 3:00 minutes of round 3.

Kevin Belingon def.Yusup Saadulaev by TKO at 3:18 minutes of round 1.

Gianni Subba def. Bruce Loh by KO at 33 seconds of round 1.

Mitch Chilson def. Ngabdi Mulyadi by TKO at 3:57 minutes of round 2