PETALING JAYA: One Championship welterweight champion Ben Askren has defeated Malaysian Agilan Thani (pic) by submission in the first round of their mixed martial arts (MMA) bout in Singapore Friday night.

The defending champion took the match to the ground from the start, and managed to pin down Agilan briefly.

Agilan managed to break free and got to his feet, before he was pinned down again.

However, Askren managed to pin down Agilan again, who tapped out at two minutes and 22 seconds into the round.

Little is known of Agilan, 21, until he faced Askren, the undefeated world champion.

It is learnt that the Sentul boy took up martial arts and self defence training when he was young and became a professional in MMA.

He has been competing in the ONE Championship for the past two years.

With the win, Askren remains undefeated in his fourth consecutive match since singing with One Championship.

Askren, a former US Olympic wrestler, is now 16-0 in his career, with five of his opponents submitting.