ONE Championship has signed Strawweight prospect Lea Bivens and is set to make her professional mixed martial arts (MMA) debut against Zeba Bano at the upcoming ONE 159 event in Kallang, Singapore, set for July 29, 2022, according to sources.
Bivins went 3-0 as an amateur and now the 19-year-old looks to make a splash in her pro debut against Bano, who is 6-1 so far in her young MMA career and is coming off her first-ever loss at the hands of Nat Jaroonsak at ONE 157. Prior to that, “Fighting Queen” had scored five finishes in six pro fights.
Bivins is based out of California and currently trains with reigning ONE Championship 115-pound Atomweight champion, Angela Lee, ex-Welterweight champion, Christian Lee, and Victoria Lee.
For the young contender, taking out Bano in her pro debut would be a great way to announce herself to the sport on a grand stage, and would give her a much-needed boost of confidence to potentially become one of the faces of the promotion. Bano, on the other hand, is out to spoil Bivins’ debut while preventing the young fighter from kickstarting her career at her expense.
Headlining ONE 159 will be a Middleweight title fight between division king, Reinier de Ridder — who is undefeated at 15-0 — taking on Vitaly Bigdash. De Ridder is currently the Light Heavyweight champion, as well, so he is looking to retain his much-coveted status of champ-champ, which very few in the sport have been able to obtain.
In the co-main event of the evening, Janet Todd will battle Lara Fernandez for the Interim Atomweight Muay Thai World Title. Todd will look to add another belt to her mantle as she is the current Atomweight Kickboxing World Champ.
For all things related to ONE Championship click here.