ONE FC will make its first trip to Dubai in August, and the card will feature four championship fights.
Lightweight champion Shinya Aoki will put his title on the line against Kamal Shalorus, while welterweight champion Nobutatsu Suzuki takes on former Bellator kingpin Ben Askren in a five-round bout, ONE FC announced Thursday.
ONE FC 19 takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, UAE, on Aug. 29. Featherweight champion Koji Oishi defends his title at the event, against a yet-to-be-announced opponent, and One FC will crown a new middleweight champion in Dubai.
Aoki (35-6, 1 no-contest) puts his title on the line for the first time since winning the gold with a submission victory over Kotetsu Boku in 2013. After this bout, Aoki made his successful featherweight debut in October, defeating Cody Stevens via decision, and then choked out Toshikatsu Harada at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013.
Shalorus (9-3-2), a UFC and WEC veteran, earned a shot at the 155-pound title with a pair of wins over Eduard Folayang and Ariel Sexton under the ONE FC banner.
Suzuki (11-1-2), who won the vacant welterweight title in March, enters the championship fight coming off back-to-back victories over UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Brock Larson. The Japanese fighter went the distance for the first time in his last bout after scoring ten knockout finishes in his MMA wins.
Askren (13-0) looks to add another major title on his resume against Suzuki. A former Bellator welterweight champion, who still holds the record of most title defenses in Bellator history with four, Askren submitted Bakhtiyar Abbasov in his ONE FC debut in May.