ONE: “Pinnacle of Power” is set for Studio City Events Center in Macau on Saturday afternoon (June 23, 2018). The card features two title fight as well as a couple of big names from the world of Muay Thai.
The main event sees interim champion Geje Eustaquo face regular champion Adriano Moraes in a flyweight unification bout. Before that Xiong Jing Nan makes the first defence of her strawweight title against promotional newcomer Laura Balin.
145 lbs.: Mario Wirawan vs Rin Saroth
Mario Wirawan (5-5) has lost his last three fights while Rin Saroth (2-5) is coming off back to back defeats. The Indonesian’s main claim to fame is the 15 second KO he scored against Chan Heng in 2015.
Saroth does at least have a ONE Championship win to his name and he went the distance with Muhammad Aiman in March. It was a decent performance from the Cambodian, who showed he is tough and durable but will surely need to win this if he wants to remain on the roster.
135 lbs.: Ma Hao Bin vs Danny Kingad
Thins escalate fast on this card with the second bout a potential flyweight title eliminator. Danny Kingad (8-1) could emerge as the number one contender here, although that would depend on whether his team mate succeeds in unifying the belts in the main event.
Given that he’s been taking fights for other promotions Haobin Ma (11-2) might be a bit further away from a title shot than Kingad. However he is 6-0 in ONE Championship fights and the Chinese southpaw will be looking to take Kingad down and dominate from top position.
155 lbs.: Li Kai Wen vs Rodian Menchavez
This will be the ninth time Li Kai Wen (7-4) has fought for ONE Championship and the second fight in a row in which he’s been matched with a Filipino. His record was tainted by a DQ loss last year, with the promotion showing zero tolerance to fighters who commit blatant fouls.
Rodian Mechavez (5-1) looks very confident in his striking and appears to have some kickboxing experience. He likes to pressurize opponents and it will be interesting to see whether the Chinese fighter chooses to engage in a standup match or takes this to the ground.
135 lbs.: Rui Botelho vs Yukinoro Ogasawara (Muay Thai)
The Japanese signings are coming thick and fast at ONE Championship although Yukinori Ogasawara might be the first star from the world of stand up sport to put pen to paper. He is reportedly a WBC Japan Muay Thai champion, whatever that means, but there isn’t much footage available online.
Rui Botelho appears to have extensive amateur experience but has less than 30 pro fights. Despite his relative inexperience the Portugese flyweight is a solid Muay Thai fighter who is particularly dangerous with knees and kicks.
265 lbs.: Alain Ngalani vs Tarik Khbabez (kickboxing)
After five years on the roster and nine MMA fights Alain Ngalani goes back to his striking roots for this kickboxing match. The Cameroonian is an explosive striker with devastating speed and power but he seems to have stamina issues as you would expect at 43 years of age.
Tarik Khbabez is nearly 20 years the junior of Ngalani but doesn’t seem to have any big names on his resume. He keeps a high guard and will probably look to use low kicks to take away some of his opponent’s speed.
125 lbs.: Lerdsila Chumpairtour vs Sok Thy
This is a fascinating fight with so many unknowns. Lerdsila Chumpairtour is about ten year’s past his prime but will be competing at what seems to be his natural weight class these days, walking around at 125lbs.
Sok Thy, or Kaka Paeminburi as he is known in Thailand, was knocking out high level opponents in Lumpinee Stadium as recently as 2016. But he was competing at 122lbs just a year ago, which suggests he is too small for ONE Championship’s flyweight division.
Thy has youth on his side, but Lerdsila might well have size on his.
The entire ONE: ‘Pinnacle of Power’ card will be available to view live and free using the newly launched app which you can download here. The first four fights will also be live on facebook and twitter.