ONE: "Heroes of the World" mixed martial arts (MMA) event is set for Cotai Arena in Macau this Saturday night (local time), headlined by an interim Flyweight title fight between Adriano Moraes and Andrew Leone Tilek Batyrov. The card features several fights that have the potential to be title eliminators.
Let's break it down (again):
155 lbs.: Christian Lee Vs. Martin Nguyen
This is one of the most eagerly anticipated fights on the card and features two of the best prospects in the featherweight division. Everyone knows about Christian Lee (5-0) and the awesome potential of the teenager who has stopped five opponents out of five in the ONE Championship cage.
Martin Nguyen (6-1) isn't too far behind Lee and would be undefeated were it not for a submission loss to Marat Gafurov in a fight he took at just two days notice. Neither man has ever been the distance and this looks set to be an explosive encounter that is unlikely to be left to the judges.
170 lbs.: Eddie Ng Vs. Honorio Banario
Eddie Ng (7-3) has some serious power and broke Ariel Sexton's arm with a body kick in his last fight. However I expect him to employ more of a wrestling based strategy here because his opponent has decent striking but questionable submission defence.
Banario (9-6) will want to keep this fight standing and attack Ng with a lot of kicks. If he can do that then the former featherweight champion stands a chance but if the Filipino ends up on his back then there is a high likelihood of him getting submitted.
170 lbs.: Adrian Pang Vs. Eduard Folayang
Eduard Folayang (15-5) went some way towards erasing memories of his brutal 2014 knockout at the hands of Timofey Nastyukhin with a comfortable decision win over Tetsuya Yamada earlier this year. However if there are concerns about his chin than his opponent is more than capable of posing the relevant questions.
Pang (22-8-2) likes to stalk opponents and hits hard, as Peter Davis discovered to his cost last year. The Australian is very well rounded, has finished his last three opponents and will put Folayang under a lot of pressure with his forwards movement.
The Filipino likes to fight off the back foot and will look to get in and out and attack with kicks or right hands before circling away. Folayang could win by decision but he will need to fight the perfect fight, if he makes even the slightest mistake Pang will punish him.
135 lbs.: Adriano Moraes Vs. TIlk Batyrov
Adriano Moraes (14-2) is unfortunate not to be undefeated. Both his losses have been debatable split decisions but when the Brazilian is unable to submit an opponent he often struggles to dominate them for sufficiently prolonged periods of time to impress the judges.
Moraes is a jiu-jitsu black belt but he also has high level striking and is very dangerous with his knees. When he finishes fights he looks absolutely fantastic but if a match up goes the distance the former ONE flyweight champion has a tendency to drop the pace.
Batyrov (10-1) was a short notice replacement for Andrew Leone who suffered a serious spinal injury in training. He's been signed to ONE Championship for several months and judging from the online fight footage is more comfortable grappling than striking.
That's not to say Batyrov doesn't have stand up skills. He's confident enough in his defence to stay in front of opponents with his hands held low and likes to attack with low kicks and overhand rights but it would rank as a major upset if he was able to beat Moraes.
ONE: "Heroes of the World" will be available to view on various TV networks and can be purchased for $9.99 USD from here.