Lasike beat Hastings fighter Dan ''The Grave Digger'' Digby to claim the Undisputed NZ professional middleweight title in Auckland on Saturday.
Undisputed NZ was set up last year as an alliance between Auckland's Shuriken NZ, the Supremacy Fighting Championship, and the International Sport Karate Association-sanctioned Hammerhead Productions Dunedin.
Lasike (three wins, no losses) went into the fight as the ISKA amateur middleweight champion but very much the underdog.
SFC professional title holder Digby (18 wins, five losses) had dominated the New Zealand middleweight scene for nearly four years, including wins over two Dunedin men, Peter Clinch (in 2012) and ISKA professional champion Robert Dean (last year).
But the form book counted for little as Lasike (Shurikin MMA) ended Digby's (Orphans MMA) stranglehold on the 84kg weight class with a strong second-round display.
About halfway through the round, Lasike used his brute strength to throw Digby to the canvas.
He worked himself into a controlling position and landed some solid blows, before manoeuvring Digby into a face-down position, and unloading several left and right hands to the side of Digby's head before the referee rang the bell.
It was a quite remarkable win for Lasike considering he has a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Digby is a black belt.
Jason Vorster, Lasike's trainer and a Shuriken promoter, was ''incredibly pleased'' with the win, describing Lasike as an ''athletic freak''.
He said Lasike's game plan was to avoid going to the ground with Digby.
Lasike was able to defend Digby's numerous takedown attempts against the cage, and throw elbows at Digby to keep him off.
Digby said after the fight that Lasike was too strong, Vorster said.
''He also has the added advantage of Pacific Island genetics so he is immensely strong for 84kg.''
A rematch had not yet been considered, Vorster said.
Dunedin's Brogan Anderson, the SFC New Zealand light-heavyweight champion, had dropped to middleweight, and there had been talk of Lasike defending the belt against Anderson next year.
Hammerhead promoter and coach Matt Toa said to have a fight of that quality on a local show would be massive for MMA in Dunedin.
The lightweight Undisputed NZ title may be more difficult to determine as all three national titles are owned by StrikeForce Christchurch and Auckland-based fighters.
The talented Kieran Joblin defended his Shuriken lightweight title on Saturday.
SFC promoter and StrikeForce Christchurch coach Karl Webber light-heartedly suggested they might need an in-house Christmas party fight night to determine the undisputed lightweight champion.
Jokes aside, the man who holds that status is SFC title holder and Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Dan Hooker.
