ONE Championship will narrow down their lightweight grand prix field to two fighters on Friday night, hosting their semi-final matchups as part of “Only The Brave.”
The event has 11 bouts in total and is scheduled to take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. Along with kickboxing, the card will also include numerous MMA bouts, featuring rising names like Tang Kai, Jarred Brooks, Ruslan Emilbek Uulu, and more.
Here’s a full preview of the show.
Click here to skip to a preview of the main card.
Lead Card (5:30AM EST / 6:30PM SGT) (Youtube / Bleacher Report App)
Bout 1: Purev Otgonjargal (7-1) vs. Micael de Jesus (9-5) (145 lbs) (MMA Bout)
In the first fight of the card, Purev Otgonjargal will fight Micael de Jesus.
Otgonjargal had a memorable ONE debut in August, finishing Ben Royle in under a minute due to strikes. This moved his winning streak to seven consecutive victories, maintaining momentum he has carried since his second pro appearance.
De Jesus will be making his ONE flagship debut in this fight. He appeared on their “Warrior Series” in 2019, losing a bout to Lee Chang Ho. He has fought once since then, defeating Lucas Padilha on a show in Brazil.
Bout 2: Anderson Braddock Silva (3-2) vs. Paul Elliott (3-0) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Undefeated heavyweight prospect Paul Elliott will make his ONE Championship debut early on the card, facing Anderson Braddock Silva under MMA rules.
Elliott enters the weekend with an undefeated record of three wins. He is making somewhat of a comeback in this fight, as he has been out of the cage since July 2019.
Braddock Silva will be searching for his first victory since 2019. Between kickboxing and MMA, he has lost four bouts in ONE Championship as of late.
Bout 3: Hiroyuki Tetsuka (10-4) vs. Edson Marques (9-1) (185 lbs) (MMA Bout)
A middleweight fight between Hiroyuki Tetsuka and Edson Marques will go next on the card.
Tetsuka scored his first win on a ONE flagship card late last year, scoring a stoppage victory over Agilan Thani.
Marques lost his ONE Championship debut in 2020, as Raimond Magomedaliev earned a first-round finish win over him. He held an undefeated record before then, earning nine wins on the regional scene.
Bout 4: Tatsumitsu Wada (23-11-2) vs. Wang Shuo (15-5) (135 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Coming off a strong ONE debut, Wang Shuo will meet promotional vet Tatsumitsu Wada.
Wada has flipped between winning and losing fights since joining the ONE Championship roster in 2018. His last fight came on a low-profile collaborative card between ONE Championship and Shooto Japan in October. In this performance, he scored a split decision victory against Daichi Takenaka.
Wang won his ONE Championship debut last year, defeating Kim Kyu Sung with strikes in the third round. That continued a winning streak he had previously developed outside of the promotion, moving it to five consecutive wins.
Bout 5: Ivan Kondratev vs. Dovydas Rimkus (155 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
The “Lead Card” will wrap up with a kickboxing fight between Ivan Kondratev and Dovydas Rimkus.
Rimkus was originally set to face Smokin’ Jo Nattawut, but he was given a new opponent after Nattawut was called up to the co-main event.
Rimkus won his promotional debut late last year, working to a majority decision vicotry over Zhang Chunyu.
Kondratiev will be fighting for his first ONE win. He lost his promotional debut in late 2020, getting stopped in a fight against Marat Grigorian.
Main Card (7:30AM EST / 8:30PM SGT) (Youtube / Bleacher Report)
Bout 6: Hiroba Minowa (13-2) vs. Jarred Brooks (17-2) (125 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Winning streaks will collide at flyweight when Hiroba Minowa and Jarred Brooks meet in the opening fight of the main card.
Brooks, a former UFC fighter, won his ONE debut last year with a submission victory over Lito Adiwang. This was his first fight since late 2019, but it conitnued an undefeated run he has carried since the end of his UFC run.
Minowa has yet to lose in ONE. The former Shooto Japan fighter earned his second victory with the promotion last year, defeating Alex Silva via split decision.
Bout 7: Rade Opacic vs. Francesko Xhaja (265 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Heavyweight kickboxers Rade Opacic and Francesko Xhaja will collide in the next fight.
Opacic has had an impact since joining the ONE roster. He has earned three wins for the promotion, with all of them coming via stoppage. His last fight was quite recently, defeatign Patrick Schmid in October.
This fight will be Xhaja’s first appearance in ONE.
Bout 8: Zhang Lipeng (31-11-2) vs. Ruslan Emilbek Uulu (16-2) (170 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Veteran Zhang Lipeng will look for his second ONE win when facing Ruslan Emilbek Uulu on the main card.
Zhang made his ONE debut in August 2021, defeating Eduard Folayang via unanimous decision in the main event of a card. The extensive career of Zhang includes numerous appearances in Kunlun Fight and a four-fight run in the UFC.
Emilbek earned his first ONE victory in November, going the distance against Pieter Buist for a decision win. This came after he lost his ONE debut earlier in the year, getting stopped within a round by Yoshiki Nakahara.
Bout 9: Kim Jae Woong (12-4) vs. Tang Kai (13-2) (155 lbs) (MMA Bout)
In the final MMA fight on the card, Kim Jae Woong will meet Tang Kai at lightweight.
Tang is on a successful run in ONE currently that will bring him to a title shot if he can maintain positive results. He has picked up five wins since joining the promotion in 2019, with three of them coming via stoppage.
Tang’s last fight was a first-round finish win, defeating Yoon Chang Min in November.
Kim is on a shorter two-fight winning streak but is also certainly one of the names to watch in the division. He beat a former champ last time around, stopping Martin Nguyen within a round in September.
Bout 10: Smokin’ Jo Nattawut vs. Chingiz Allazov (ONE Kickboxing 155-Pound Grand Prix Semi-Finals)
ONE will continue their kickboxing grand prix in the co-main and main event. The first of two fights sees Smokin’ Jo Nattawut face Chingiz Allazov.
This tournament kicked off in October when ONE hosted kickboxing-only card “First Strike.”
Nattawut was called up to this fight quite recently, stepping in to replace Marat Grigorian. It was announced by the promotion that Grigorian was removed from the card due to COVID-19 protocols.
Allazov had a fast win in the opening round of this tournament, stopping Samy Sana in just 39 seconds due to strikes. This was the quickest fight of all matchups in the quarter-finals.
Nattawut wasn’t in the earlier stage of the tournament. However, he is also coming off a win, having stopping Yurik Davtyan in a fight late last year.
Bout 11: Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong vs. Davit Kiria (ONE Kickboxing 155-Pound Grand Prix Semi-Finals)
The main event of the show will see Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong and Davit Kiria fight for a spot in the finals of the promotion’s kickboxing tournament.
Sitthichai opened his tournament run in October with a split decision win over Tayfun Ozcan. This was his second win in the year, coming just two months after he defeated Tawanchai P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym in a main event.
Kiria, a former GLORY Kickboxing Champion, picked up his first ONE victory in the opening round of the bracket. His win came against Enriko Kehl, with the fight ending after he scored three knockdowns in one round.
Kiria’s ONE debut earlier in 2021 came agianst a tough opponent in Giorgio Petrosyan.
Knockdown News 