ONE Championship: Mongolia’s Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg sorry for soccer kick DQ after red card
- Zoltsetseg gets disqualified with seconds left in second round for kick to the jaw while Yoshiki Nakahara is grounded at ONE on TNT 2 in Singapore
- ‘I tried to spin around and it was accidental,’ Mongolian says – ‘I need to spin fast otherwise I cannot get out of that position’
For the second time in its first two prime time TNT events, ONE Championship saw a red card disqualification after Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg landed an illegal grounded soccer kick against Yoshiki Nakahara in Singapore.
Nakahara (15-5) was declared the winner when the 24-year-old Mongolian (6-3) struck him in the head in their featherweight bout at ONE on TNT 2, which was recorded last week in Singapore and broadcast on Thursday morning.
The 28-year-old Japanese fighter was looking for a heel-hook submission late in the second round when Zoltsetseg tried to scramble out, and hit him full on in the face with his right foot, a move which is illegal under the Global Rules set to which ONE subscribes.
“I feel really sorry for my opponent, I apologise to him,” Zoltsetseg said via a translator in his post-fight interview.
Nakahara’s wrestling and constant takedown threat was paying dividends in the first round.
But after stuffing a late double leg attempt, Zoltsetseg looked close to finishing things in the final 10 seconds of the opening stanza, wobbling his opponent with a barrage of shots against the fence, only for Nakahara to be saved by the bell.