There were a number of championship-level competitors on the ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS bout. It’s safe to say most of them have aspirations of one day attaining ONE gold, but truthfully, some are closer to their goals than others.
In the main event, Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex smashed his way through Luis Regis in a Muay Thai bout. The win proved the “Boxing Computer” still has what it takes to evaporate an opponent with his strikes.
While it’s not technically a championship, Yodsanklai’s win might have just set up a bout with Giorgio Petrosyan. If those two meet in the ring, it will feel like a championship bout.
As we move further down the card, we can find winners who have established belts to pursue. Of all the winners, the following combatants are the most realistic championship contenders.
Kiamrian Abbasov
Kiamrian Abbasov scored a dominant win over Agilan Thani in the event’s co-featured bout.
If Abbasov’s victory were to be described with one word, it would have to be pressure. He never relented against the promising 24-year-old Malaysian.
Abbasov’s strikes in the clinch and overall strength overwhelmed Thani. Ultimately, Abbsaov would get the victory via rear-naked choke.
The loss was Thani’s third in his career. The other two came against former welterweight champion Ben Askren, and current titleholder Zebaztian Kadestam.
With Friday’s win, Abbasov joins some impressive company. We don’t know who Kadestam will defend his title against after winning the title in November with a fifth-round KO victory over Tyler McGuire.
A matchup with Abbasov wouldn’t be the worst matchup for a card sometime in spring. We’ll see if that comes to fruition, but Abbasov has to at least be knocking on the door.
Mei Yamaguchi and Jihin Radzuan
Mei Yamaguchi wasn’t competing on the main card in Kuala Lumpur, but she still produced another signature performance on the prelims.
Taking on Jomary Torres, Yamaguchi ground out a tough win. Yamaguchi has already had two shots at the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title.
She fell short in two very competitive matches with Angela Lee. It’s possible Lee might permanently move up to the strawweight division. She was scheduled to face the reigning champion Jingnan Xiong at ONE: HEART OF THE LION in November.
An injury forced Lee out of that bout, but the match is expected to be rescheduled in 2010, if Lee is ready, the February 22 event in Singapore, which is ONE: CALL TO GREATNESS.
Meanwhile, if Lee does vacate the atomweight title, Yamaguchi would have to be considered a frontrunner to battle for the vacant belt. The question is, who would her opponent be?
The answer might be another competitor on the ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS card. The 20-year-old Jihin Radzuan showed great form in front of her hometown Malaysian fans in her win over Jenny Huang. Radzuan is a relentless competitor and it showed on Friday. She took control of the bout with her grappling and outworked her more experienced opponent.
It’s possible Radzuan could be held back for more experience, but a scrap between her and Yamaguchi, perhaps on the undercard of Lee-Jingnan, would make for a heavy duty duo of featured bouts. It would also be a huge evening for women’s mixed martial arts. While Lee is the present and the future, Radzuan might have the potential to make a similar impact because of her youth, talent, warrior spirit, and commercial appeal.
Another competitor who is new to the fold, but could factor into the championship picture in the atomweight division is the recently signed Bi Nguyen. Her first bout hasn’t been announced, but she was brought to ONE to make an impact. We’ll see how quickly she can get into the championship mix.
Vitaly Bigdash
Last but not least, former middleweight champion Vitaly Bigdash got back in the win column after suffering the first two defeats of his career.
With a slick reverse triangle choke, Bigdash forced Yuki Niimura to submit. Bigdash wants nothing more in his professional career than to recapture the ONE Middleweight World Title he lost in his rematch via unanimous decision to current champion Aung La N Sang. Bigdash took the first matchup and is still the last man to defeat Aung La.
Since Bigdash’s win also came via unanimous decision, neither man owns a stoppage or definitive victory over his rival. When the decision was read and Bigdash came up on the short end of the stick, he was visibly upset. A trilogy seems to be in order, but Bigdash might have to win another bout before he earns another shot at the Burmese Python.
Although, it wouldn’t be preposterous to see it happen in March. ONE is scheduled to head back to Aung La’s homeland of Myanmar in March for ONE: REIGN OF VALOR. No bouts are signed yet but don’t be shocked if the main event is a third bout between Aung La and Bigdash.
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