Breaking Down Every MMA Matchup At ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel Vs. Menshikov
A pair of World Title showdowns in the Muay Thai and submission grappling divisions will headline ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov on Prime Video, but fans can’t overlook the mixed martial arts contests on the cards.
Four exciting MMA tilts are scheduled for Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in U.S. primetime this Friday, June 9, featuring highly ranked contenders, powerful knockout artists, dangerous ground specialists, and more.
With so many potential ways to win – and plenty at stake in each contest – no outcome will be off the table in ONE’s all-encompassing rule set.
Here, we take a deeper look at what to expect when the action gets underway in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ilya Freymanov Vs. Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg
Third-ranked contender Ilya Freymanov and fan favorite Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg will face off in a key battle of featherweight heavy hitters that is most likely to play out on the feet.
Freymanov is looking to build on a dominant debut knockout of former two-division ONE World Champion Martin Nguyen, and his next foe offers up another exciting matchup.
The Russian kickboxing specialist has nine knockouts in 11 professional wins, while Shinechagtga owns four KOs in six career victories – and both men are constantly on the hunt for a finishing shot.
Stylistically, Freymanov is the slicker of the two with crisp punches, kicks, and knees, but his rival from Zorky MMA will come forward swinging with ferocious boxing combinations.
The odds of needing 15 minutes to separate them are slim, and with a spot in the rankings hanging in the balance, the outcome will greatly impact the landscape of the division.
Mansur Malachiev Vs. Jeremy Miado
Filipino star Jeremy Miado is another concussive striker who will step into the ring on June 9, but his opponent is an elite grappler who’s entering ONE’s strawweight MMA division with a ton of hype behind him.
Mansur Malachiev will bring a perfect 10-0 slate into this promotional debut, including five submissions and three TKOs that have come from his fierce ground-and-pound arsenal.
Miado has already proven himself on the global stage – with all six of his ONE wins coming inside the distance – but he hasn’t been up against a wrestler of Malachiev’s caliber.
Likewise, the Russian has not faced an opponent with the KO power of “The Jaguar,” so both men are in fresh territory.
If Malachiev can meet expectations and remain unbeaten, he’ll emerge as an immediate threat in the strawweight ranks. Meanwhile, Miado would surely enter the top five if he can snag his fifth straight win.
Artem Belakh Vs. Kwon Won Il
Just like Freymanov at featherweight, Artem Belakh crashed the bantamweight MMA rankings with a stunning debut win over Leandro Issa.
Holding the #5 contender spot, the Kazakhstan-born fighter now faces #4-ranked Kwon Won Il in a bid to prove his first win was no fluke.
However, he’s going from a BJJ World Champion to one of the pound-for-pound hardest hitters in ONE, so it’ll be a very different matchup.
Belakh showed a solid striking repertoire against Issa, but with seven submission wins in nine career victories, he might be better served by taking his foe to the deck.
The ground has typically been Kwon’s weak point, though he insists he’ll be ready to compete in every area.
Still, the South Korean knows that one connection with either hand could mean the end for his opponent, and he’s hoping to make a statement with his 11th KO victory to potentially earn a rematch with reigning bantamweight king Fabricio Andrade.
Hu Yong Vs. Woo Sung Hoon
China’s Hu Yong and South Korea’s Woo Sung Hoon will get the MMA action underway in their flyweight tilt.
Again, these are a pair of strikers with resumes that includes a history of knockout wins, and both men are eager to smash their way into the division’s upper echelon.
Hu picked up a career-best victory last time out with a one-punch KO of former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje Eustaquio, while Woo finished the finisher in former World Title challenger Yuya Wakamatsu, adding an eighth stoppage to his tally.
The hard-hitting competitors have shown they have the necessary attributes to make waves in the world’s largest martial arts organization, but in one of its most stacked divisions, they know a decisive finish would propel them furthest.
