ONE Championship: Mark Abelardo reveals relief after tomahawk elbow KO of the year contender vs Emilio Urrutia
- Filipino-Kiwi knocks out ‘The Honey Badger’ at Fists of Fury II in Singapore with spectacular finish
- ‘I could see him reaching with his hooks, he was kind of overextending … I just timed it and landed,’ adds ‘Elbow-lardo’
Mark Fairtex Abelardo put in an early front runner for knockout of the year with a spectacular tomahawk elbow KO of Emilio Urrutia at ONE Championship’s Fists of Fury II card in Singapore on Friday night.
But the 29-year-old Filipino-Kiwi fighter revealed he was just relieved to get the victory after back-to-back losses in 2020.
“Really tough fight to come into, especially after two losses,” Abelardo told ONE analyst Mitch Chilson during a post-fight interview inside the cage at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“It’s something I don’t ever want to go through again, so I gave everything I had in this camp to prevent that. I’m very happy I came away with the win tonight, especially with a tough guy like Emilio.”
Chilson had previously coined the nickname “Elbow-lardo” for Abelardo (20-8) during his commentary duties, and it was never more fitting than against 34-year-old American Urrutia (11-8).
Abelardo was close to ending the fight in the first round after catching “The Honey Badger” with several elbows against the fence of the Circle.