ONE: “Tribe of Warriors” is set for the Istora Senayan Stadium in Jakarta this Saturday night (Feb. 20, 2016) and will be the promotion’s third mixed martial arts (MMA) card of the year. The main event sees Luis Santos return to he cage for the first time since the controversial cancellation of his title rematch with Ben Askren.
The Brazilian is taking on Rafael Silva in a welterweight fight while the card also features former lightweight champion Kotetsu Boku as well as the debut of a couple of heavyweight contenders. Here’s my preview of the first five fights, please note that fighters will be competing at their walk-around weights.
145 lbs.: Jerome Paye vs Li Hao Jie
Li Hao Jie will be making his pro debut but we’ve inexperienced Chinese fighters put in some impressive performances in the ONE cage. He comes from a kickboxing and Sanda background and is likely to be much more competent on the ground than in the grappling department.
Jerome Paye (2-1) is a Taekwondo black belt but more importantly he also holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) under Fransino Tirta. That means he’s likely to be at a significant advantage if-when the fight goes to the ground which makes him the favorite.
185 lbs.: Djatmiko Waluyo vs Trestle Tan
Djatmiko Waluyo (5-0) is half Mexican-half Indonesian and has spent his entire career competing in South America. He hasn’t fought in two years but is a well known MMA journalist who writes in Spanish for the UFC website and should have a good overall understanding of the sport.
Trestle Tan (3-5-0-1) demonstrated how dangerous he can be when he knocked out Jeff Huang in under 10 seconds last year and he’s been trainng very seriously in Vietnam for this fight. Anything could happen here but I would expect Waluyo to have an advantage on the ground.
157.6 lbs.: Jimmy Yabo vs Bashir Ahmad
Bashir Ahmad (3-2) is well rounded and put in a very good performance in his last fight when he accepted a bout with Amir Khan at two day’s notice and repeatedly rocked the Singaporean. The Pakistani had a rough weight cut ahead of that contest which won’t be an issue this time around.
Jimmy Yabo (4-2-0-1) comes from a Taekwondo background and there isn’t that much footage of him online. Expect Ahmed to be a little too good for him.
120 lbs.:Angela Lee vs Rebecca Heintzman
Angela Lee (4-0) is arguably ONE Championship’s most exciting young prospect and the teenager is likely to be challenging for the belt this year. First she will need to get past the challenge presented by Rebecca Heintzman (2-1) in what promises to be her hardest fight yet.
Heintzman’s only loss was to a top 10 ranked opponent who she went the distance with and the American has enjoyed success at some grappling tournaments. Lee holds a brown belt in BJJ and a black belt in Taekwondo and has won numerous competitions in both wrestling and Pankration but this will be a tough test for the teenager.
141 lbs.:Andrew Leone vs Koetsu Okazaki
This is a very interesting fight. Andrew Leone (7-2) hasn’t fought in nearly two years but is coming off hugely impressive wins against Geje Eustaquio and Shinichi Kojima. If the New Yorker could work out what weight division he should be in he’d be an immediate title contender.
Leone is primarily a wrestler and is very good on the ground. Koetsu Okazaki (10-4-1) probably has the better striking but he’s coming off a very underwhelming performance against Kevin Belingon and hasn’t fought in over a year either. With both having been away from the cage for an extender period this one’s impossible to call.
ONE: ‘Tribe of Warriors’ will be on PPV and is available to purchase for $9.99 from here.