ONE Championship’s “NextGen” card set to happen later this week has undergone some major changes. The October 29th lineup has lost its kickboxing main event, and one of the two 115-pound semi-final tournament fights has changed as well.
The changes, which were confirmed in a press release Monday, affect a card that is set to take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
ONE Kickboxing champion Roman Kryklia was scheduled to face Iraj Azizpour in the main event of Friday’s card. That title fight has been removed from the card after medical issues forced Kryklia out of the lineup.
Azizpour will still fight at the event, facing Anderson “Braddock” Silva in a kickboxing bout.
ONE Championship’s ongoing 125-pound tournament has been moved up to the main event slot for the card, however, it won’t proceed with the same lineup as previously billed.
Undefeated prospect Itsuki Hirata has been pulled from her matchup against Ritu Phogat, per an announcement made by the promotion. She will be replaced by two-fight ONE vet Jenelyn Olsim.
Hirata addressed her withdrawal on social media, mentioning that a non-COVID-19 related fever has taken her off the card.
“I fought hard to be in the semifinals,” said Hirata in an Instagram post. “It is regretful that I have to pull out at this stage and disappoint many people. I will recover and be back in ONE Circle as soon as possible.”
The other Grand Prix bout, a fight between Stamp Fairtex and Julie Mezabarba, is currently set to headline “NextGen.” That fight also wasn’t an original pairing for the card, as Mezabarba recently replaced former RIZIN Super Atomweight Champion Seo Hee Ham.
Here’s the updated lineup:
Main Card (8:30AM EDT / 8:30PM SGT) (Bleacher Report App / Youtube)
Bout 6: Stamp Fairtex (6-1) vs. Julie Mezabarba (9-2-1) (ONE Atomweight Grand Prix) (115 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 5: Ritu Phogat (6-1) vs. Jenelyn Olsim (5-2) (ONE Atomweight Grand Prix) (115 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Anderson Braddock Silva vs. Iraj Azizpour (265 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 3: Kirill Grishenko (4-0) vs. Dustin Joynson (6-0) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Miao Li Tao (6-4) vs. Jeremy Miado (9-4) (125 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 1: Beybulat Isaev vs. Bogdan Stoica (265 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Knockdown News 