ONE Championship is putting on two cards in the space of seven days at the start of 2016. The second of them is set for Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur this Friday night (Jan. 29, 2016) and will be headlined by a featherweight clash between Ev Ting and Eric Kelly.
ONE: “Clash of Heroes” will be the organization’s eighth event in Malaysia and features a number of local fighters as well as the return of Filipinos Eduard Folayang and Geje Eustaquio. As is now standard, all the mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters will be competing at their normal, walk-around weight.
Here is my preview of the first five fights on the card:
108 lbs.: Amira Badr vs. Jenny Huang
This catchweight contest sees tough Taiwanese fighter Jenny Huang (2-0) return to the ONE Championship cage to face Egyptian newcomer Amira Badr. The former has been the distance in both her previous fights and was fortunate to come away with two wins.
Huang is a determined fighter who looks most comfortable on the ground. However taking Badr down will be no simple task as she’s a multiple time national wrestling champion. It could come down to how well rounded the Egyptian is, if her striking and submission skills are limited than she will struggle.
170 lbs.: Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev vs Mishal Alfad
Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev (1-0) hails from Dagestan but is based in Turkey. He started training Wushu when he was five years old and has been learning MMA since the age of 14. He’s 21 now and has won numerous tournaments in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and No-Gi Grappling in Europe.
He reportedly came to ONE Championship’s attention after traveling to Singapore for an open tryout and impressing Matt Hume. His opponent Mishal Alfad (1-1) hails from Indonesia and has a background in Kempo Karate. I know who my money is on.
205 lbs.: Agilan Thani vs James Kouame
This is an interesting matchup because Agilan Thani (3-0) has previously been competing at welterweight, so even with ONE’s new weight cutting regulations he’s still moving up 20+ lbs. James Kouame (3-6) has a background in karate and kickboxing and his striking is world class but there are question marks over the Canadian’s takedown defense and ground game.
Thani’s background is in BJJ and he recently returned from a training trip the the U.S.. He wouldn’t last long in a striking battle with Kouame but if the Malaysian gets a takedown I would expect him to finish the fight with a submission.
155 lbs.: Christian Lee vs Mahmoud Mohamed
Christian Lee (1-0) is an exciting prospect. He holds a purple belt in BJJ, a black belt in Taekwondo and is a former Pankration world champion. The 17 year old has been training in martial arts since he first started to walk and made quick work of an Australian opponent in his pro debut last year.
There’s limited footage of Mahmoud Mohamed (3-2-1) available but Egyptian Top Team fighters tend to have background in either kickboxing or Wushu. This will be an interesting test for Lee against an opponent 20 years his senior but the Singaporean should come through it comfortably.
ONE: “Clash of Heroes” is available to purchase on PPV for $9.99 right here.