ONE: “Battleground III” is being broadcast on Friday. The main event sees Sittichai Sitsongpeenong matched with Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym in a Muay Thai bout after both fighters saw their original opponents pull out.
The event will also feature the promotional debut of Banma Duoji. The Chinese strawweight faces former champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke in a battle between an experienced campaigner and an up and coming young prospect.
Purev Otgonjargal vs Ben Royle (Bantamweight)
Purev Otgonjargal (7-1) is riding a seven fight winning streak and all seven of those wins have come by way of submission, primarily chokes. He throws the odd kick but doesn’t appear to be interested in striking.
Ben Royle (5-1) is also a submission specialist who doesn’t appear particularly interested in striking. He is a southpaw but is very flat footed but he does have power in his punches as he proved on his ONE Championship debut.
Tial Thang vs. Song Min Jong (Bantamweight)
Tial Thang (3-0) is a seasoned wrestler who started out in his native Myanmar and continued to compete in the US. He looks comfortable in the pocket but is only there to take the fight down, the Burmese bantamweight doesn’t throw many strikes.
Song Min Jong (11-8) won the Road FC flyweight title and then took four years off. He is by far the best opponent Thang has faced so far and switches stance seamlessly, landing some solid kicks.
Dae Hwan Kim vs. Xie Wei (Flyweight)
Dae Hwan Kim (15-7-1) comes from a Muay Thai background but is very dangerous with rear naked chokes. The Korean has dropped decisions in his last three bouts and will look to be more aggressive here.
Xie Wei (7-3) appears to have a Muay Thai striking style with a wide stance and a high guard. He is not afraid to let his hands go but there’s question mark over his ground game.
Bi Nguyen vs. Jenelyn Olsim (Atomweight)
Bi Nguyen (6-6) tends to get involved in split decisions because she is a Muay Thai fighter with very little power. The Vietnamese American can hit opponents but she struggles to hurt them and doesn’t throw a high enough volume of strikes to consistently convince the judges.
Jenelyn Olsim (4-3) looked very impressive on her ONE Championship debut. She has the Team Lakay wushu striking style but is also solid on the ground as she demonstrated with her submission win over the more experienced Maira Mazar.
Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke vs. Banma Duoji (Strawweight)
Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke (11-6) was the first ever ONE Championship strawweight champion and seamlessly blended his extensive Muay Thai experience with his new found submission skills. The 42 year old’s chin has become questionable, he has been one punch KOd twice recently, and he is 20 years older than his opponent here.
Banma Duoji (13-1) will be making his promotional debut. He is six inches taller than Dejdamrong and is a southpaw but his striking looks very limited.
Muay Thai: Sittichai Sitsongpeenong vs. Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym (Featherweight)
Sittichai Sitsongpeenong will make an unscheduled return to the sport of Muay Thai at ONE: ‘Battleground’ Part III. He has been training for a kickboxing contest and has been competing exclusively under that code for nearly seven years.
Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym is one of the top fighters in the stadiums today but is moving up 10lbs for this contest at late notice. The ONE Championship ruleset limits clinching and the fighters will wear small gloves, so this seems to favour the bigger man.
The entire ONE: “Battleground” Part III fight card will be available to view free in some territories using the newly launched app which you can download here.