ONE Championship recently confirmed a number of fights for their upcoming “ONE on TNT” events that are scheduled to happen in April. While no changes have been reported for the top three bouts on ONE’s April 7th card, the promotions has underwent numerous changes for their three following episodes in the month.
The new matchups were announced during ONE’s “Fists of Fury” event on Friday.
Former Champ Nguyen To Fight Kim on April 14th Card
Returning for his first fight losing his ONE belt, Martin Nguyen will fight Kim Jae Woong as part of the promotion’s April 14th card.
Nguyen lost his belt in October, where he was stopped in the third round of a fight against Thanh Le. The ONE veteran has competed under the promotion since 2014.
Kim will look for his third ONE victory in the bout. The South Korean talent was successful in his last fight, defeating Tetsuya Yamada in late 2020.
A Muay Thai bout between Wondergirl Fairtex and Amber Kitchen was also confirmed for the card on Friday. The announcement of the bout came just moments after Wondergirl suffered a scorecard loss to Jackie Buntan at “Fists of Fury.” The bout saw Wondergirl get floored by a punch in the first round. Wondergirl had two wins under the ONE banner before her loss.
Kitchen will be returning to ONE after more than a year out of action. Her last fight was in 2019, where she lost a decision to Viktoria Lipianska.
The current plan is still to have ONE champion Christian Lee compete in the main event of the card against Timofey Nastyukhin.
Heavyweights Aliakbari and Malykhin To Clash, Kickboxing Veteran Parr Faces Holzken
ONE’s April 21st card has been given three new bouts. The sole previous fight on the card, a middleweight bout between Aung La N Sang and Vitaly Bigdash, has been moved to the week after with a weight class change.
The current main event for “ONE on TNT 3” will see heavyweights Amir Aliakbari and Anatoly Malykhin face off. While neither fighter has been seen on ONE programming yet, the bout will be the second appearance for both. As it currently stands, both heavyweight competitors have pre-taped fights that will air on ONE programming in March before their April fight.
Kickboxing veterans Nieky Holzken and John Wayne Parr will face off as part of the card. Holzken, a former GLORY Kickboxing Welterweight Champion, will be competing for the the sixth time since joining ONE in 2018. His last fight was in late 2020, where he defeated Elliott Compton in a quick stoppage.
Parr will be making his ONE debut. The well recognized kickboxer will be in the hunt for his 100th kickboxing win, something he has been searching for since 2018.
Former UFC fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama will fight Mohammad Karaki on the card. Akiyama earned his first ONE win in early 2020, defeating Sherif Mohamed. Karaki will be making his return to action after over two years outside of the cage. He lost his ONE debut in his last bout, getting stopped by Aung La N Sang.
N Sang vs. Bigdash Moved To April 28th Event, Promoted To Title Status
Aung La N Sang will look to defend his 225-pound belt at ONE’s April 28th event, fighting Vitaly Bigdash. The bout was first scheduled to happen on ONE’s April 21st card and was targeted as a non-championship 205-pound bout, although plans later changed.
La N Sang will be returning to the division after a year-long absence. He last defended his belt in 2019, where he defeated Brandon Vera. La N Sang lost his 205-pound belt in October, getting submitted within a round by Reinier de Ridder.
Former Brave CF Bantamweight Champion Stephen Loman will make his ONE debut on the card against former UFC fighter John Lineker. Loman enters the promotion on a hot eight-fight win streak. He was Brave CF’s 135-pound champ for a long time, earning the belt in 2017 then defending it four times before vacating it.
Lineker enters the fight with the goal of continuing his momentum in ONE. He has been successful in his promotional run thus far, defeating Muin Gafurov and Kevin Belingon.
A previously reported bout between Sage Northcutt and Shinya Aoki is also part of the lineup.
Current Lineup For April ‘ONE on TNT’ Cards
Here are all of the confirmed fights for ONE Championship’s
ONE on TNT 1 – 4/7/21
Bout 3: Adriano Moraes (18-3) vs. Demetrious Johnson (30-3-1) (135 lbs) (ONE MMA Flyweight Championship)
Bout 2: Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Jacob Smith (135 lbs) (Muay Thai Bout)
Bout 1: Eddie Alvarez (30-7) vs. Iuri Lapicus (14-1) (170 lbs) (MMA Bout)
ONE on TNT 2 – 4/14/21
Bout 3: Christian Lee (14-3) vs. Timofey Nastyukhin (14-4) (170 lbs) (ONE MMA Lightweight Championship)
Bout 2: Martin Nguyen (13-4) vs. Kim Jae Woong (11-4) (155 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 1: Wondergirl Fairtex vs. Amber Kitchen (125 lbs) (Muay Thai Bout)
ONE on TNT 3 – 4/21/21
Bout 3: Amir Aliakbari (10-1) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (8-0) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Nieky Holzken vs. John Wayne Parr (170 lbs) (Muay Thai Bout)
Bout 1: Yoshihiro Akiyama (15-7) vs. Mohammad Karaki (9-1) (185 lbs) (MMA Bout)
ONE on TNT 4 – 4/28/21
Bout 3: Aung La N Sang (26-11) vs. Vitaly Bigdash (10-2) (225 lbs) (ONE MMA Light Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 2: Sage Northcutt (11-3) vs. Shinya Aoki (46-9) (170 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 1: John Lineker (33-9) vs. Stephen Loman (14-2) (145 lbs) (MMA Bout)
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