ONE: “Fists of Fury” Part II will be broadcast this Friday. After last week’s Muay Thai card this event will consist exclusively of MMA bouts with a big heavyweight star making his promotional debut in the main event.
All eyes will be on Amir Aliakbari when he fights for ONE Championship for the very first time. There will also be a heavyweight fight in the co-main event with the promotion increasingly focused on the biggest fighters.
Here is my preview:
Mark Abelardo vs. Emilio Urrutia (Bantamweight)
Both are based in Thailand and have a propensity for throwing caution to the wins and swinging leather. Mark Abelardo (19-8) is very experienced and likes to plant his feet and throw hard punches and low kicks.
Emilio Urrutia (11-7) is a BJJ brown belt but seems content to keep fights standing and often gets sucked into brawls, which don’t always end well for him. He was able to comprehensively outstrike Bruno Pucci but has lost his last three, albeit at the hands of high calibre opponents.
Roshan Mainam vs. Aziz Calim (Flyweight)
Roshan Mainam (5-2) is a wrestler who is based at Evolve MMA in Singapore. He is coming off back to back submission wins and won’t hesitate to take this fight to the ground.
Aziz Calim (4-3) has a solid, if not spectacular, record against Indonesians but was submitted in less than 90 seconds by Mainam’s teammate Ryuto Sawada. The Indian will be confident of repeating that trick here.
Yoshiki Nakahara vs. Ruslan Emilbek (Featherweight)
Yoshiki Nakahara (13-5) is a southpaw with good footwork who throws constant feints, making him difficult to time. He doesn’t seem to have that ‘one punch KO’ power but can finish opponents with the sheer volume of strikes he throws.
Ruslan Emilbek (12-0) brings a perfect professional record into his ONE Championship debut. He has spent most of his career competing in China and has wins over some solid opponents on his record.
Ryogo Takahashi vs. Tang Kai (Featherweight)
Ryogo Takahashi (14-4) has won nine out of his last ten fights and is known for his low kicks, even if he hasn’t had a chance to use them much in his ONE Championship career. He fights with his hands hung low and showed some devastating punching power to stop Yoon Chang Min last time out.
Tang Kai (11-2) has some fast, accurate striking and can switch hit seamlessly. He doesn’t have tremendous power but his speed and movement allows him to stay in the pocket and do damage without getting hit.
Anatoly Malykhin vs. Alexandre Machado (Heavyweight)
Anatoly Malykhin (8-0) will be making his ONE Championship debut. He has a background in freestyle wrestling and has won some submission grappling competitions in Europe.
Alexandre Machado (9-3) is a BJJ black belt and TUF Brazil veteran. But he hasn’t fought since 2018 and will need to shake off any ring rust fast.
Amir Aliakbari vs. Kang Ji Won (Heavyweight)
Amir Aliakbari (10-1) is former wrestling world champion who has been groomed for MMA greatness for several years. He has fought for Rizin and is a huge heavyweight whose only loss came at the hands of Mirko Crocop very early in his career.
Kang Ji Won (4-0) scored a win over Aliakbari’s teammate Mehdi Barghi recently and has been handed a very fast turnaround here. But the Korean is up against a much bigger, better opponent and will clearly be an underdog here.
The entire ONE: “Fists of Fury” fight card will be available to view live and free in some territories using the newly launched app which you can download here. In the U.S. it will be streamed on B/R Live.