ONE Championship will kick off the new year with a pair of MMA title fights.
Matchups at the 155 and 115-pound limits will have title stipulations attached to them at ONE Fight Night 27 on January 10th from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, as recently announced by the promotion.
The main event will see lightweight champ Tang Kai look to get past undefeated Akbar Abdullaev.
Tang has held ONE’s 155-pound title since 2022 when he went the distance against Thanh Le for a unanimous decision win. The duo met once again in a long-awaited rematch earlier this year, a fight which was delayed significantly due to the champ suffering a knee injury.
The rivalry between Tang and Le came to an end when they fought in March, as the Chinese champ scored a third-round stoppage to retain his title for the first time.
Attempting to extend his flawless ONE record past nine fights, Tang will take on a Kyrgyzstan-based fighter who has gone unbeaten through 11 pro appearances.
27-year-old Abdullaev has proven to be an explosive fighter thus far in his career, having won all of his fights either by TKO or submission. He turned heads upon his entry into ONE, beating Oh Ho Taek and Aaron Canarte within a minute each.
Abdullaev set himself up for a title fight after snatching the 10-fight undefeated record of Halil Amir in May, stopping him in the second round with a left hook.
Zamboanga vs. Rassohyna Re-Booked For January
A fight between Denice Zamboanga and Alyona Rassohyna for the promotion’s vacant interim 115-pound title has been re-booked for the co-main event slot of the upcoming show.
Zamboanga and Rassohyna were originally expected to meet last month as part of a card in Thailand, although the bout ended up not happening.
The upcoming fight gives Zamboanga yet another chance to fight for a title after three different championship matchups have fallen through for her over the past year.
Prior to her last interim fight against Rassohyna being cancelled, matchups against current main champ Stamp Fairtex were attempted for March and June. The latter of the fights was called off after Stamp suffered a significant knee injury, taking her out of action for months and causing the promotion to start focusing on installing an interim title into the division.
Zamboanga enters the upcoming title booking on a three-fight winning streak, with previous wins over names like Chinese vet Lin Heqin and Thailand’s Noelle Grandjean. She notably had a pair of losses to Ham Seo Hee before then, a contender who has been vocal about her exclusion from the current title picture.
“It’s a fake champion no matter who wins,” Ham wrote on Instagram after the fight was announced.
The upcoming matchup will be a return for Rassohyna, who has been inactive since losing in 2021. The Ukrainian talent handed now-champ Stamp her first loss three years ago, submitting the Thai star in the final moments of a three-round clash. The duo met in a rematch months later, with Stamp avenging the loss via split decision.
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