ONE: For Honor Preview, Breakdown, Start Time & Analysis
ONE: For Honor will take place on Friday, May 3, 2019, with a 14-bout card from the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In the main-event, ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao will face-off against England’s Jonathan Haggerty. It is a bout that the Thai will be favored to win, but fans will still be in for an exciting clash.
The co-main event features the ONE debut of Japanese veteran Yushin Okami. The former UFC middleweight title challenger will compete in a welterweight bout with Kyrgyzstan’s Kiamrian Abbasov.
ONE: For Honor is the first of three consecutive cards for the Singapore-based promotion. Bangkok and Singapore will hold the next two events, respectively.
A Thai Legend Mounts His First Title Defence
There is little in the sport of Muay Thai that Sam-A Gaiyanghadao has not already achieved. The 35-year-old is a multiple Lumpinee Stadium champion and has collected numerous domestic titles throughout his 25 years in the sport.
A veteran fighter with over 400 professional Muay Thai fights under his belt, Sam-A captured the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship last May at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams.
It is hard picturing him dropping the belt to Jonathan Haggerty. The 22-year old is 13 years younger than Sam-A, who is about as experienced a fighter as you can get at this level.
However, Haggerty will be no pushover. He earned his title shot with an impressive unanimous decision victory over Italy’s Joseph Lasiri. The Englishman will have a considerable height advantage over Sam-A and can end the Thai’s night if he can get his dangerous hands and elbows going.
The London native has only lost once as a professional and has calmed multiple national and international championships but Friday’s bout is undoubtedly the biggest fight of his career. To defeat a legend like Sam-A, the challenger will need to produce something special.
The Arrival Of Yushin Okami
It would be fair to say that Yushin Okami is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. The question is, does the 37-year-old still have enough in the tank for a title run in ONE’s welterweight division?
Okami was last seen in action in December at UFC Fight Night: Dos Santos vs. Tuivasa where he lost via unanimous decision to Russia’s Alexey Kunchenko.
The Japanese fighter will be facing a tricky opponent in Kyrgyzstan’s Kiamrian Abbasov. The 25-year-old’s last outing saw him pull off a first-round submission win over the highly-rated Malaysian Agilan Thani.
There will be a lot of interest in how Okami fares this week when he competes for the first time under the ONE banner. If he can still perform at the highest level, he will be a valuable addition to ONE’s welterweight division. He could also provide a huge boost for ONE in terms of pulling in fans from the Japanese market.
Striking Sensation Thanh Le Makes His ONE Debut
Thanh Le made himself known to MMA fans around the world with his appearances on season 22 of TUF and the first season of DWTNCS.
The 33-year-old former LFA Interim Featherweight Champion has an eye-catching style thanks to his taekwondo background.
Le has yet to hear the final bell as a professional. All seven of his wins and both his losses have come inside the distance. The Kentucky native has been paired with Russian grappler Yusup Saadulaev, and there is no question that Saadulaev will be looking to take the fight to the ground as soon as he possibly can
Saadulaev comes into this match-up riding a five-fight winning streak. It looks like the ONE matchmakers have purposefully given Le a tough first outing so they can see exactly where he stands in the ONE featherweight division.
In the build-up to this fight, Le has been spending time working on his grappling with Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and UFC fighter Ryan Hall.
If Le can get the job done against Saadulaev, he may quickly find himself being positioned for a title shot similar to ONE welterweight James Nakashima, also a former LFA fighter.
Former featherweight champion Marat Gafurov will also be competing on the night as well the talented Keanu Subba. After Martin Nguyen’s recent defense of his featherweight title, he has no clear-cut challenger for his crown. Expect one to emerge Friday.
Main Card (B/R Live & ONE App @ 9:30 a.m. EST):
(c) Sam-A Gaiyanghadao Vs. Jonathan Haggerty (ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship)
Yushin Okami Vs. Kiamrian Abbasov (mixed martial arts — welterweight)
Tetsuya Yamada Vs. Marat Gafurov (mixed martial arts — featherweight)
Yodpanomrung Jitmuangnon Vs. Tyler Hardcastle (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — bantamweight)
Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol Vs. Nou Srey Pov (mixed martial arts — women’s atomweight)
Thanh Le Vs. Yusup Saadulaev (mixed martial arts — featherweight)
Dae Hwan Kim Vs. Ayideng Jumayi (mixed martial arts — bantamweight)
Preliminary Card ( B/R Live & ONE App @ 7:00 a.m. EST):
Ryogo Takahashi Vs. Keanu Subba (mixed martial arts — featherweight)
Paul Lumihi Vs. Sunoto (mixed martial arts — bantamweight)
Kenta Yamada Vs. Deividas Danyla (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — bantamweight)
Rudy Agustian Vs. Chan Rothana (mixed martial arts — flyweight)
Andrew Miller Vs. Mohammed Bin Mahmoud (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — bantamweight)
Adrian Mattheis Vs. Himanshu Kaushik (mixed martial arts — strawweight)
Guntur Vs. Angelo Bimoadji (mixed martial arts — strawweight)
