ONE: “Heavy Hitters” is the promotion’s first event of 2022 and sees a live audience return for a full fight card. It marks a departure from last year when events were often broadcast on tape delay from an empty venue.
The event is set for the Singapore Indoor Stadium on January 14th but the 12 fight card has been ravaged by Covid-19. Only seven of the original fights remain intact with one rearranged at the last minute.
Here is my preview:
Elipitua Siregar vs. Senzo Ikeda (Strawweight)
Senzo Ikeda (12-6-1) was originally scheduled to face Jeremy Miado. He was a successful boxer, putting together an 8-0 record before switching to MMA where he became flyweight King of Pancrase.
Elipitua Siregar (4-1) fights out of Bali MMA and is a submission specialist. He was originally scheduled to face striking specialist Robin Catalan so this will be a very different type of challenge.
Tiffany Teo vs. Meng Bo (Strawweight)
Tiffany Teo (9-2) is nothing if not resilient. The Singaporean does not specialize in any one area but is a tough all rounder who never fades in the latter rounds.
Meng Bo (17-5) put on a striking clinic against Ritu Phogat for five minutes. But once the Indian took her down she had no answer and in Teo she faces another opponent who definitely won’t fade down the stretch.
Shuya Kamikubo vs. Troy Worthen (Bantamweight)
Shuya Kamikubo (11-1-1) hasn’t fought as frequently as he would have liked but the Japanese wrestler has a 100% winning record in his ONE Championship fights. He is an out and out wrestler who likes to take opponents down and keep them down.
Troy Worthen (7-2) also comes from a wrestling background. He won his first three ONE Championship fights comfortably but is 0-2 since stepping up in opposition to face top tier opponents.
Kim Jae Woong vs. Tang Kai (Featherweight)
Kim Jae Woong (12-4) is coming off the biggest win of his career. He knocked out Martin Nguyen in the opening round at ONE: “Revolution” in September.
Tang Kai (13-2) has won five fights out of five for ONE Championship and is on an eight fight winning streak. But this will be the first time that the Chinese fighter has been matched with a ranked opponent.
Muay Thai: Ekaterina Vandaryeva vs. Supergirl JaroonsakMuaythai (Strawweight)
Supergirl JaroonsakMuaythai is renowned for her knees. She can generate incredible force on them and look for her to repeatedly drive the tip of her knee into her opponent’s midsection.
Ekaterina Vandaryeva’s main claim to fame is a win over Joanna J?drzejczyk as an amateur although there was a lot of controversy surrounding the judging. She put on a good showing against Jackie Buntan, who beat Supergirl’s sister, last time out.
Kickboxing: Beybulat Isaev vs. Giannis Stoforidis (Light heavyweight)
ONE Championship’s light heavyweight kickboxing division is highly competitive with the champion defending his belt on this card. Beybulat Isaev is coming off back to back wins and could earn himself a title shot here.
Giannis Stoforidis has had zero success against big name opponents and will need to break that streak here. Both men have a stoppage loss to Anderson Silva on their records.
Saygid Izagakhmaev vs. James Nakashima (Welterweight)
Saygid Izagakhmaev (19-2) hails from Russia and is a protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov, he began training with the UFC fighter’s father as a child. He has the same wrestling based style and will want to obtain top position as soon as possible.
James Nakashjima (12-2) also comes from a wrestling background and is a former welterweight title challenger but has lost his last two. He wrestled at an NCAA Division 1 level at the University of Nebraska and it will be interesting to see whether that gives him an advantage over Izagakhmaev.
Xiong Jing Nan vs. Ayaka Miura (For strawweight title)
Xiong Jing Nan (16-2) will be making the sixth defence of her strawweight title. She has held the belt since 2018 and her only loss since signing for ONE Championship came in an atomweight title fight against Angela Lee.
Ayaka Miura (11-3) is a submission specialist. She is something of a one trick pony but it is an effective trick, all four of her ONE Championship wins have come courtesy of a keylock.
The entire ONE: “Heavy Hitters” fight card will be available to view free in some territories using the newly launched app which you can download here.