ONE Championship’s upcoming event, ONE: STATE OF WARRIORS, looks set to be a big one, as the main card and preliminary portion of the show have been announced. ONE Championship will storm its way back to the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar, on 7 October.
The global main event will feature undefeated 11-0 ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito defending his belt against unbeaten number one contender Joshua Pacio. Also, in the local main event, hometown hero Aung La “Burmese Python” N Sang will battle Michal Pasternak in a middleweight affair.
Naito has been absolutely unstoppable ever since making his MMA debut four years ago. The 32-year-old Chiba, Japan, resident tore through the Shooto flyweight division and took the organization’s belt, successfully defending it twice.
Last April, he left the promotion to sign with ONE Championship, and made a successful debut a month later. That’s when he submitted ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke via rear-naked choke in the fourth round at ONE: KINGDOM OF CHAMPIONS to claim the title.
This upcoming contest will be Naito’s first title defense, but Pacio shouldn’t be overlooked.
A product of Team Lakay, the 20-year-old Filipino not only has a flawless 8-0 record, but he has finished every professional fight to date. The wushu specialist has three knockouts and five submissions to his name, including a brilliant first-round rear naked choke victory over Kritsada Kongsrichai at ONE: HEROES OF THE WORLD this past August.
Another highly-anticipated bout is the local main event, where Aung La N Sang plans to make an illustrious return to his home country in impressive fashion. Currently training at Baltimore, Maryland-based fight gym Crazy 88 Mixed Martial Arts, the 31-year-old is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist on a three-fight win streak and an overall 18-9 record, with all of his victories ending in highlight-reel finishes.
Aung La will need another one of those stoppages if he wants to get a title shot against ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash, but that will be easier said than done. After all, Pasternak has something to prove.
Pasternak (11-1) was riding a tremendous wave of momentum until it came crashing down last May when he was submitted by Roger Gracie at ONE: ASCENT TO POWER. That loss not only handed him his first-ever professional defeat, but it cost him the chance to become the promotion’s inaugural Light Heavyweight World Champion.
The well-rounded Polish combatant isn’t one to stand still, however. He wants, and needs, to recover quickly. With a win over Aung La, the 32-year-old will be able to keep his name close to the top of ONE’s middleweight crop.
Aside from the two dazzling two contests, three other bouts have been added to the fight card.
Muin “Tajik” Gafurov, a decorated combat sambo champion, will face off against Team Lakay’s Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, a former ONE Bantamweight World Title challenger, in a bantamweight tilt.
Both fighters are looking to get back into the win column, as Tajikistan’s Gafurov, a 10-1 fighter, lost to Reece McLaren in April at ONE: GLOBAL RIVALS, and the Philippines’ Belingon, a 13-5 competitor, was submitted by reigning ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes at ONE: DYNASTY OF CHAMPIONS (CHANGSHA).
If that wasn’t enough, there is a second dose of bantamweight action as Yusup “Maestro” Saadulaev takes on Jordan “Showtime” Lucas. Rocking a 15-4-1 record, Saadulaev is also a decorated combat sambo world champion. The 31-year-old is riding a three-fight win streak and will have to be at the top of his game to push it to four.
Lucas, a 22-year-old Melbourne native fighting out of Australia’s Team Nemesis camp, has a stacked 8-1 record, with his only defeat coming to the hands of Edward Kelly at last March’s ONE: UNION OF WARRIORS. A former BRACE Bantamweight title holder, he is hoping to secure his first win under the ONE Championship banner.
From there, we step up to the featherweight division as Bashir “Somchai” Ahmad, a pioneer of Pakistan’s MMA Movement and the founder of PAKMMA, will look to break a two-fight losing skid and build upon his 3-3 record when he takes on Egyptian prospect Mahmoud Mohamed in a featherweight affair. Mohamed, also 3-3, plans to bounce back from his recent loss to Singaporean standout Christian Lee.
In addition to these fights, the organization will also hold the ONE Myanmar Featherweight Tournament, a contest pitting the country’s best homegrown talents against one another with the winner being crowned tournament champion.
There are some familiar names competing in the tournament, as Saw Ba Oo, Kyal Sin Phyo, Ye Yint Aung, and Phoe Thaw have all fought in the ONE cage before, with Kat Pali and Saw Yan Paing making their ONE debuts. All are famed Lethwei exponents.
The full fight card for ONE: STATE OF WARRIORS is as follows:
Global Main Event:
ONE Strawweight World Championship
Yoshitaka Naito vs Joshua Pacio
Local Main Event:
Aung La N Sang vs Michal Pasternak
ONE Myanmar Featherweight Tournament Final
Winner Semi-Final 2 vs Winner Semi-Final 1
Main Card:
Muin Gafurov vs Kevin Belingon
Yusup Saadulaev vs Jordan Lucas
Bashir Ahmad vs Mahmoud Mohamed
Preliminary bouts:
ONE Myanmar Featherweight Tournament Alternate Bout
Saw Ba Oo vs Kyal Sin Phyo
ONE Myanmar Featherweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Ye Yint Aung vs Saw Yan Paing
Kat Pali vs Phoe Thaw
