Listed here are 5 causes it’s worthwhile to tune in.
A rating to settle on the prime of the invoice
It was lower than a 12 months in the past when Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks stepped into the cage on the Lusail Sports activities Area in Qatar. That evening Brooks went into the bout as ONE Strawweight MMA world champion, however with solely two minutes on the clock he was disqualified for an unlawful spike on his opponent. Pacio ended up the brand new champion however, in an unrelated harm, has discovered himself on the shelf since. Now the pair get to run issues again. Brooks has been busy since their final bout and finds himself with interim gold – but it surely’s not the title he desires. It’s time to unify one in every of ONE Championship’s most hotly contested divisions.
An enormous evening for bantamweight kickboxing
Whereas eyes is likely to be drawn to the division’s world title battle on the prime of the invoice, look simply a few fights down the record and there may be one other with virtually equal significance. Morocco’s Ilias Ennahachi takes on Petchtanong Petchfergus in what may transform a title battle eliminator. Ennahachi has what it takes to be a famous person and lays declare to being probably the greatest strikers on the planet as we speak. A former flyweight champion, he now seeks out gold at the next weight class. Petchtanong nonetheless has dominated over the bantamweights earlier than and is probably going to provide Ennahachi his hardest problem so far.
The title battle in questions locations champion Jonathan Haggerty towards China’s Wei Rui. This will likely be Britain’s Haggerty’s first title defence and the check couldn’t be extra stern towards a person using a 21-fight unbeaten streak. Whoever wins will probably not have too lengthy to take pleasure in title glory with one other enormous check across the nook.
UAE world champion makes his debut
The UAE’s Zayed Alketheeri is likely to be making his ONE Championship debut, however brings a wealth of expertise and accomplishment to the desk. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt turned the primary Emirati to win a gold medal on the Worldwide Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan American Championship on the grownup black belt degree.
The 24-year-old took simply 5 years to achieve black belt beneath Ribamar Santiago and has since gone on to win the AJP Abu Dhabi World Professional.
Now he will get to check his abilities within the flyweight submission grappling division of the world’s largest martial arts organisation.
Turkish pair look to push for title pictures
10-0 Shamil Erdogan will wish to additional improve his middleweight MMA credentials when he takes on former two-weight world champion Aung La N Sang. Erdogan already has a win over the Myanmar legend, however a second will surely put him in rivalry for a shot at present divisional king Anatoly Malyakhin. In the meantime Dagi Arslanaliev will tackle Germany’s Roberto Soldic within the light-weight MMA division. Soldic has dropped down a division for the battle towards a person who seems to be to be a mainstay for years to come back. Arslanliev has a 9-2 MMA document as a professional, with a type of losses coming towards present light-weight champion Christian Lee. A win in Qatar may give him the chance to avenge that loss.
A midcard sleeper
With the whole lot else happening elsewhere on the cardboard, the conflict between Shamil Gasanov and Martin Nguyen feels prefer it has gone beneath the radar considerably. This featherweight MMA conflict sees Russia’s Gasanov look to increase his present three-fight win streak and in doing so additional improve his title credentials. However standing reverse him will likely be one of many legends of ONE Championship. Nguyen debuted in 2014 and 6 beautiful finishes later stood because the first-ever two-division titleholder in ONE Championship historical past. If Gasanov desires a title shot, a win over a person with greater than a decade within the higher echelons of the organisation is an efficient place to begin.
You’ll be able to watch ONE 171: Qatar, which takes place on Thursday February twentieth at 5pm Mecca on the Lusail Sports activities Area in Qatar. For ticket data, click on right here. Alternatively, you possibly can watch the occasion reside on BeIn Sports activities or at watch.onefc.com.