ONE: Warriors Of Light Preview, Start Time & Analysis
ONE Championship returns to Thailand this week for ONE: Warriors Of Light. The 12-bout card will take place on Friday, May 10, 2019, from Bangkok’s Impact Arena.
A pair of ONE Super Series title fights will headline the event, which is not surprising given that the card is taking place in the country where Muay Thai originated from.
American fighter Janet Todd will be making her second appearance under the ONE banner this week. Todd was last in action back in February, when the California-native fought for the inaugural ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship.
The 33-year-old was defeated by Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex but still put on an impressive showing. Todd is now set to take on Chinese Taipei’s Wang Chin Long in a three-round kickboxing contest.
Bantamweight Muay Thai Title On The Line
Thailand’s Nong-O Gaiyanghadao is set to make the first defense of his Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title when he takes on Japan’s Hiroaki Suzuki. Nong-O won the vacant belt in February with a unanimous decision win over China’s Han Zihao.
The 33-year-old currently trains out of Evolve MMA and has competed in over 300 fights during the course of his career. His record stands at 258-56-1, and along the way, he has captured four Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Championships.
In Suzuki, Nong-O will be facing an aggressive and dynamic striker. However, the Japanese fighter will need to pressure Nong-O. If the Thai can establish his rhythm early on, it could become a frustrating night for Suzuki.
A Kickboxing Title Fight
Thailand’s Petchdam Petchyindee Academy and French-Algerian Elias Mahmoudi will battle it out on Friday, for the right to be crowned the inaugural ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion.
Both fighters are technical wizards inside the ring, and this bout could easily be ‘Fight of the Night.’ It is a tough one to pick as both athletes have impressive attacking arsenals.
Petchdam currently holds the record for fastest Super Series knockout after demolishing Australia’s Kenny Tse in just 86 seconds. The 20-year-old Thai has a vicious left kick that can send opponents to sleep in the blink of an eye.
Mahmoudi’s strength lies in his strikings. The 21-year-old can put together dazzling highlight-reel combinations when given the opportunity. He is aware that he will need to be at his best to defeat Petchdam, but Mahmoudi is confident he has tools required to get the job done. It’s hard to see this contest going the distance.
A Bantamweight Contenders Clash
The headline MMA bout on the night will be a bantamweight fight between Japan’s Shoko Sato and New Zealand’s Mark Fairtex Abelardo.
Sato will be making his ONE debut, and the former Shooto Bantamweight Champion will be hope to make a statement with a win over Abelardo. The Kiwi fighter is coming into this encounter on the back of a come-from-behind TKO victory over the previously unbeaten Daichi Takenaka.
Both Sato and Abelardo hit hard and prefer to keep the fight standing so this should be an entertaining contest. They have 26 KOs wins between them. The bantamweight division is on hold at the moment. Until the Belingon-Fernandes rematch plays out all the other fighters in the division can do is keep racking up wins to build their case for a title shot.
Main Card (B/R Live & ONE App @ 9:30 a.m. EST):
Nong-O Gaiyanghadao VS Hiroaki Suzuki (ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title)
Petchdam Petchyindee Academy VS Elias Mahmoudi (ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Title)
Shoko Sato VS Mark Fairtex Abelardo (mixed martial arts — bantamweight)
Rodtang Jitmuangnon VS Sok Thy (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — flyweight)
Pongsiri Mitsatit VS Robin Catalan (mixed martial arts — strawweight)
Zhang Chenglong VS Panicos Yusuf (ONE Super Series kickboxing — bantamweight)
Kazuki Tokudome VS Adrian Pang (mixed martial arts — lightweight)
Preliminary Card
Singtongnoi Por Telakun VS Savvas Michael (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — flyweight)
Superlek Kiatmoo9 VS Rui Botelho (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — flyweight)
Kota Shimoishi VS Pieter Buist (mixed martial arts — lightweight)
Janet Todd VS Wang Chin Long (ONE Super Series kickboxing — atomweight)
Hexigetu VS Ovais Shah (mixed martial arts — strawweight)
