5 Reasons To Watch ONE Fight Night 26: Lee Vs. Rasulov On December 6
ONE Championship’s final U.S. primetime show of 2024 is just around the corner, and the event is jam-packed with compelling matchups featuring the planet’s most talented martial artists.
Topped by a massive MMA World Title showdown, ONE Fight Night 26: Lee vs. Rasulov on Prime Video will air live this coming Friday, December 6.
With 12 action-packed bouts across four different combat sports disciplines, the card gives ONE’s global fan base plenty of reasons to tune in.
Before the action gets underway at the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, we take a look at what makes ONE Fight Night 26 a can’t-miss event.
#1 Christian Lee’s Big Return To Action
In the main event, reigning two-division World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee will make his long-awaited return when he defends his lightweight MMA crown against undefeated Turkish destroyer Alibeg Rasulov.
Widely regarded as one of MMA’s most exhilarating athletes and most dangerous finishers, Lee hasn’t fought since his epic 2022 victory over Kiamran Abbasov, which earned him the ONE Welterweight MMA World Title.
The 26-year-old will now return to lightweight and face perhaps his toughest challenger yet.
Rasulov has employed his elite wrestling, vicious clinch striking, and crafty submission game to compile a pristine 14-0 career record, and will enter this contest following a five-round decision victory over former lightweight MMA kingpin Ok Rae Yoon – the last man to defeat Lee.
“The Warrior” is undoubtedly hungry to make a statement in his return, hand Rasulov the first loss of his MMA career, and leave Bangkok with 26 pounds of gold.
#2 A Heated World Title Rematch
Elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts Mayssa Bastos and Danielle Kelly will lock horns in an intriguing ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Title rematch.
The pair first met in August at ONE Fight Night 24 when Bastos – the best-ever BJJ competitor of the sport’s lightest weight classes – scored a closely contested decision win to dethrone Kelly and claim the divisional belt.
Kelly and her supporters disagreed with the judges’ decision, and the American superstar will now look to regain the gold against her Brazilian rival.
Fans of world-class BJJ technique and aggressive submission hunting will be in for a treat when Bastos and Kelly square off again.
Each woman represents the pinnacle of submission grappling, and if their fast-paced first encounter was any indication, they will both attack at a torrid pace in Friday’s rematch.
#3 Contenders Aim For The Vacant Flyweight World Titles
ONE Fight Night 26 features four high-stakes flyweight bouts – two in MMA and two in Muay Thai – and each fight carries significant implications for those World Title pictures.
Following the retirement of former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion and all-time great Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, the divisional throne now sits vacant, and there is no shortage of hungry contenders.
In one battle, current ONE Interim Strawweight MMA World Champion and former undisputed king Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks will move up to flyweight and face #4-ranked contender Reece “Lightning” McLaren.
The outspoken American is eyeing two-division glory, and his explosive wrestling-based style will be tested against McLaren’s impressive submission skills and ever-evolving striking game.
In other MMA action, #2-ranked flyweight contender Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu hopes to punch his ticket to another World Title shot when he takes on dangerous promotional newcomer Gilbert Nakatani.
The Japanese superstar has long been a mainstay of the flyweight MMA division’s upper echelon. Nakatani, though, possesses the well-rounded skills and bold confidence to upset the veteran in his ONE debut and rocket himself up the rankings.
The ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title is also vacant after former longtime titleholder Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon failed to make weight while hydrated for his most recent World Title defense.
In June, Denis “The Bosnian Menace” Puric dropped a kickboxing decision to Rodtang in one of the year’s most electrifying bouts. The 39-year-old brawler will now return to Muay Thai – where he is the division’s #3-ranked contender – to face #5-ranked Elias “The Sniper” Mahmoudi.
The fight has fireworks written all over it. Puric is one of the world’s most fearless strikers, always willing to take two or three shots just to land one of his own.
Mahmoudi, meanwhile, is a ruthless knockout artist on a two-fight winning streak, most recently scoring an incredible spinning backfist KO of Taiki Naito in August at ONE Fight Night 24.
Also in “the art of eight limbs,” surging Thai knockout artist Nakrob Fairtex has lost just once in ONE and finds himself on an impressive five-fight winning streak to earn the #4 flyweight Muay Thai ranking.
Nakrob hopes to make his case for a World Title shot by dispatching his decorated Thai compatriot Kongthoranee Sor Sommai.
Both men are master technicians with dynamite in their hands and elbows, so fans should buckle up for a barnburner.
#4 Anane Makes Kickboxing Debut Against Former Champ
In bantamweight action, 20-year-old Thai-Algerian phenom Nabil Anane will make his ONE kickboxing debut against the division’s #3-ranked contender and former World Champion Petchtanong Petchfergus.
Standing 6-foot-4, the towering Anane has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the world’s largest martial arts organization and will come into this high-stakes contest on a five-fight winning streak that includes victories over several of the organization’s most established stars.
Petchtanong, though, is on a mission to reclaim the 26 pounds of gold he once held. At 39 years old, the Thai fan favorite possesses perhaps the best fight IQ in all of kickboxing – the perfect complement to his show-stopping power.
He returned to ONE in June after a two-year layoff, stopping another former titleholder in Alaverdi Ramazanov with a savage second-round TKO.
A strong performance for either Anane or Petchtanong in this clash between the new and old guards could lead to a coveted crack at reigning ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan “The General” Haggerty.
#5 Two Pound-For-Pound Grappling Stars Debut In ONE
ONE Fight Night 26 will see the hotly anticipated promotional debuts of two of the planet’s top pound-for-pound submission grapplers.
First, two-time IBJJF No-Gi World Champion Dante Leon will bring his wealth of experience and supremely well-rounded game to ONE when he faces fellow BJJ black belt Bruno “Puccibull” Pucci.
The Canadian powerhouse has collected practically every major title outside of ONE, and he’s excited to make waves and compete against the best of the best on the global stage.
Later in the card, 20-year-old BJJ phenom “Ice” Cole Abate – long regarded as the sport’s most promising rising star – will square off with Japanese grappling and MMA icon Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki.
A true wunderkind with no weaknesses in his aggressive, submission-hunting style, Abate’s arrival in ONE is a big moment in the submission grappling world. His journey toward establishing himself as an all-time great begins with a dangerous fight against a savvy veteran.
