Bulgarian mixed martial artist and reality television star Georgi “Stanchev” Stoyanov will make his ONE Championship debut on Saturday Night, 14 January, when he battles undefeated Turkish prospect Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev. 

The lightweight showdown takes place at ONE: QUEST FOR POWER, live from the Jakarta Convention Center in Indonesia.

Stoyanov is filling in for Rasul Yakhyaev, who was forced out of the bout due to injury, on ten days notice. Although the circumstances may not be ideal, he plans to make the most of this opportunity.

“Of course there is a lot of pressure on me. I will be fighting against a really strong fighter. I have to respect that,” the 36-year-old says. “I will respect that and I will show the best of me for this fight.”

The Bulgarian will have his work cut out for him. Arslanaliev, who trains out of the Istanbul, Turkey-based Corvos MMA, holds a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is a Russian, Armenian, and Azerbaijan champion in wushu-sanda. Sporting a perfect 4-0 record, the relentless lightweight has finished all of his opponents in less than two minutes.

Because of the lack of footage of “Dagi”, it has been difficult for Stoyanov to discover any holes in his game. Still, the Bulgarian remains determined. 

“It is very hard for me to find any weakness,” he admits. “I just know that everybody makes mistakes.”

Also, he knows combat sports is in his blood. Raised in Burgas, a warm southeastern city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, Stoyanov is the grandson of Nikola Stanchev, the first Bulgarian to ever win an Olympic gold medal. He won the medal at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games in freestyle wrestling.

Despite having been the best in the world, he never taught his grandson how to do a takedown or any other type of wrestling move. 

“My grandfather did not let me to train professional in any kind of sport,” Stoyanov reveals. “He was a really good person, and probably he would not allow me to train MMA.”

He followed in his grandpa’s footsteps, anyway. Stoyanov had his first wrestling experience when he was 16, and he fell in love with the grappling discipline immediately. He was not able to go far in the sport, however, choosing to go to college instead. 

“Stanchev” studied finance, banking, and bookkeeping in Burgas Free University, and then went into the army. He was still able to practice and refine his wrestling over the years. But when he was 29, he began training more seriously.

That turned into an impressive career start, as the bruiser became the Bulgarian amateur champion, a BJJ blue belt, and won his first 11 professional fights en route to capturing the Max Fight Featherweight Championship in 2012.

The Bulgarian’s popularity hit an all-time high in 2014. Aside from being an MMA champion, he became a reality television star and won the second season of his country’s version of The Mole. At one point, he even appeared in the tabloids.

However, as a side effect, his fire in the sport was slowly becoming extinguished. Stoyanov ran into a rough patch, bringing his cumulative record to 19-11.

“All of my loses are against very tough opponents. I will not make any excuses for them,” he says. “I just try to focus on the positives for my experience as an MMA fighter and person in life.”

Perhaps a change in scenery was needed. In 2015, he relocated to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to be an Assistant MMA Coach at the state-of-the-art Saigon Sports Club, where he trains alongside fellow Bulgarian ONE athlete Sotir Kichukov.

Also, at the end of the year, he took a hiatus from competing so he could re-charge his batteries and enjoy life. 

“Sometimes,” he begins, “you just have to take a break and stop living like a sportsman, just to give another part of you to your family and friends.”

Feeling refreshed, Stoyanov ends his hiatus on Saturday Night, 14 January, and his quest to reignite his career begins with Arslanaliev. Though the Turkish transplant seems to be on a hot streak, “Stanchev” brings his veteran experience, and a new kind of fire, into this contest.

“I think everyone has his own strengths, and it is very important how we use them during the fight,” the Bulgarian says. “Losing motivation for me is the biggest obstacle. Sometimes, you just have to find this ‘spark’ again.”

It would seem the spark has been relit in the Stoyanov’s eyes, and the world will see the results come fight night.

ONE Championship looks to kick off the new year in style. ONE: QUEST FOR POWER is set to hit the Jakarta Convention Center in Indonesia on 14 January, and the blockbuster event will feature one of the biggest middleweight bouts in the promotion’s history.

In the main event, ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash of Russia will make his highly-anticipated return to the ONE Championship cage, defending his title for the first time against Myanmar national hero the “Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang.

It is a matchup of epic proportions, one that is sure to have both Russian MMA fans and Aung La’s incredible fan base in Yangon worked up.

Aside from the colossal main event matchup, a series of compelling supporting bouts have also been put together. Let’s take a look at what’s at stake for the fighters of ONE: QUEST FOR POWER.

Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen

Nguyen challenged reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov back in September of 2015 on just three days’ notice, and while the Russian made quick and easy work of the Australian-Vietnamese fighter, Nguyen has only improved since then. 

Nguyen is currently riding an impressive three-fight stoppage win streak, and is on an absolute tear right now. It seems the loss to Gafurov did well to light a fire underneath him, and all he can really think of is how he can get another shot at the title, this time on his own terms.

In perhaps Nguyen’s most critically-acclaimed performance, the “Situ-Asian” trumped 18-year-old featherweight prospect Christian “The Warrior” Lee of Evolve MMA last August, putting the youngster to sleep with a modified guillotine choke that earned a spot on ONE Championship’s list of top submissions in 2016.

Now, Nguyen is set to face Japanese MMA veteran Kazunori Yokota at ONE: QUEST FOR POWER.

Kazunori Yokota

Yokota’s experience in the cage is clearly his best asset, having amassed a stellar 25-6-3 record spanning over a decade as a professional mixed martial artist, including a 13-fight, five-year win streak. As such, Yokota will represent one of the toughest matchups in Nguyen’s young career.

If Nguyen can get past Yokota, whose last bout came against Gafurov for the title, Nguyen could perceivably earn another date with his Russian conqueror. Of course, it all depends on how Nguyen can perform against a proven talent in Yokota, and if he has what it takes to win.

For Yokota, it’s a chance to earn his first victory in ONE Championship, after his promotional debut didn’t exactly go as he had planned, and show that his first loss to Gafurov was due to weight issues as he says.

Anthony “Archangel” Engelen

Dutch-Indonesian featherweight Anthony Engelen has done well inside the ONE Championship cage since joining the promotion in 2015. The experience he has gathered in matchups against solid contenders over the last two years has given him a good feel for the competition inside ONE’s blossoming featherweight ranks.

The 31-year-old is coming off an impressive victory over Egypt’s Sami Amin in his last bout, earning the finish in the second round via rear-naked choke submission. He is set to take on Malaysian MMA veteran and coach, AJ “Pyro” Lias Mansor.

Lias Mansor is coming off over three years’ break from professional competition. He is largely responsible for training Ann “Athena” Osman, serving as the Malaysian star’s head coach. Lias Mansor’s last appearance inside the ONE Championship cage was a unanimous decision victory over countryman Melvin Yeoh for the ONE Malaysia Featherweight Tournament Championship.

However, the focus will definitely be on Engelen, who is one of Indonesia’s most promising featherweights. Engelen owns five victories as a professional, with three wins by submission and one by scintillating knockout. He has already faced the likes of Christian Lee, Rocky Batolbatol, and Bruno Pucci.

A victory here would put Engelen on a small two-fight win streak, but it could also land him another big fight down the road. 

Vincent “Magnivincent” Latoel

Indonesia’s mixed martial arts favorite Vincent Latoel has experienced a slight dip as of late, with two heartbreaking setbacks to Japan’s Kotetsu Boku and the Philippines’ Edward Kelly, but he has held his head high and continues to soldier on through adversity.

The 37-year-old mixed martial arts veteran is the country’s most experienced MMA fighter with a solid record of 16-18-2. Impressively, out of his 16 total victories, seven have come by submission and seven more by knockout.

Latoel can be described as a crafty striker with the grappling knowledge and ability to outwork opponents on the mats. His victories over Arnaud LePont and Eddie Ng are his most impressive, as he was able to knock out both foes with his heavy hands.

Latoel is a mainstay of ONE Championship events in Jakarta, being a full-blooded ethnic Indonesian after his parents migrated to the Netherlands. He is scheduled to face Filipino fighter Vaughn Donayre next, and while Donayre himself has also had a rough start to his ONE Championship career, Latoel is still considered the favorite to win the matchup due to his experience and home advantage.

Win or lose, Latoel will continue to represent Indonesia as best as he can while he is still able to compete as a professional. Regardless of how his most recent bouts have gone, Latoel remains a tough matchup for any opponent, and his bout against Donayre could prove to be a sleeper hit.

Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev

One of ONE Championship’s top prospects to watch out for in 2017, a lot is riding on Saygid Guseyn “Dagi” Arslanaliev’s performance against Bulgarian MMA veteran Georgi Stoyanov.

Although Arslanaliev has a mere four wins on his professional MMA record to begin his career, he has definitely impressed many with his exceptional performances, although nobody has seen much of him in the first place.

Arslanaliev has averaged around a minute of cage time, with all of his wins coming in the first round. His first three victories ended in jaw-dropping knockouts. In his most recent victory, Arslanaliev showed fans that he could grapple too, winning by standing guillotine choke over Chinese fighter Haolan Jietebusibai.

Against Stoyanov at ONE: QUEST FOR POWER, Arslanaliev faces somewhat of a step up in competition. Stoyanov owns a solid 19-11 record, but has largely competed in his home country of Bulgaria as well as recently in Russian promotion M-1.

Stoyanov owns 11 submission victories and one by knockout, so he should be able to test Arslanaliev’s grappling in this one, provided he gets past the Russian’s heavy hands and fast start.

If Arslanaliev can defeat Stoyanov, it will indicate his readiness to reach the next step of his budding career. But for now, as good as Arslanaliev has been inside the ONE Championship cage, we have yet to see him against worthy opposition.

Stoyanov represents Arslanaliev’s toughest test to date and rightfully so. Fans will get to witness just how good “Dagi” is, and if he is ready for the big leagues.

Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed has tore through the best competition in the Middle East, but now he is preparing to navigate through the deepest talent pool in Asia.

The Egyptian Top Team product will make his ONE Championship debut on Saturday Night, 14 January, when he squares off against Filipino resident Igor Subora of Ukraine in a light heavyweight showdown. The bout will take place at ONE: QUEST FOR POWER in Indonesia’s Jakarta Convention Center.

Subora, a former URCC Heavyweight Champion who relocated to Manila, Philippines, eight years ago, is making his light heavyweight debut after experiencing two consecutive defeats in his ONE heavyweight campaign. Despite the losing skid, Sherif is not underestimating his opponent. 

“I think he is good in wrestling,” the 34-year-old offers. “I respect him and any opponents I face.”

The brother to fellow ONE competitor Mahmoud Mohamed, Sherif came from humble beginnings before stumbling into the rough and tumble world of fighting. Just surviving in Cairo, Egypt, was a battle within itself. 

Sherif took to combat early in life. A man of few words, he stated that his only hobby growing up was watching fights. The fascination moved from watching fights to testing the waters of combat sports. He laid the foundations for his fighting style early on, taking first to wrestling, then kickboxing, and he eventually became a national champion in both.

After excelling on the national stage, Sherif caught the eye of Egyptian Top Team trainer Khaled Abdel Hamid and made the jump to MMA.

“Egyptian Top Team is one of the best teams in the Middle East,” he says. “The trainers are always supportive and keep pushing me to fight at a high level. I am training with the godfathers of MMA in Egypt, and several of my teammates are champions.”

As the saying goes, “iron sharpens iron.” The Cairo resident’s coaches saw his progress and suggested he go from the training ground to the cage. 

“My first time walking to the cage was easy,” he recalls. “A lot of guys told me to focus and that I would be nervous. I was not any of those things. I had belief in myself.”

Though his debut fight with Egyptian FC 5 in March 2012 ended with Sherif on the wrong end of a second-round TKO, he went back to the drawing board and fine-tuned his skills. “I just needed to be more careful,” he says of the lesson learned after his first defeat.

It would be two years before Sherif took another professional fight. “The Shark” finally returned to the cage in 2014 and immediately put Egypt’s budding MMA community on notice that a new contender was in town. 

At Egyptian FC 14, he dispatched his opponent in the second round with a series of punches. The taste of victory was all the motivation Sherif needed to press forward with his professional career.

“I felt I was at home,” he said of getting his hand raised for the first time. “I was proud and happy that my coaches trusted me and my skills.”

Sherif certainly found his home inside the cage. Not only did he turn his career around quickly, but he also won the EFC Middleweight Championship in 2014 before moving up to light heavyweight. Currently, he holds an 8-1 overall record, with four of his wins coming by submission and the other four by TKO.

Now, after wowing Egyptian fans for several years, he finds himself on the biggest fighting stage in all of Asia, and will make his ONE debut on Saturday Night, 14 January, against Igor Subora.

For Sherif, this is another step on his quest towards his ultimate goal. 

“I want to be one of the best Egyptian fighters ever.”