The High Stakes Heading Into ONE: WARRIORS OF LIGHT

ONE Championship is bringing another exciting martial arts spectacle to Bangkok, Thailand, and, as always, the stakes are high for the athletes on the card.

When the world’s largest martial arts organization returns to the Impact Arena with ONE: WARRIORS OF LIGHT on Friday, 10 May, a pair of ONE World Title bouts will top the bill, but 12 more bouts hold a lot of significance for the athletes involved.

As we approach the event, take a look at what is on the line for several of the athletes competing at the show.

The ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship

Muay Thai bantamweight king Nong-O Gaiyanghadao will look to successfully defend his crown against hard-nosed Japanese contender Hiroaki “Kaibutsukun” Suzuki in what is expected to be an explosive and fast-paced main event.

Nong-O has looked completely unflappable so far in his ONE Super Series career, and he reached the pinnacle of his sport by routing Han Zi Hao for the inaugural gold in February. The multi-time Muay Thai World Champion will try to keep his momentum going, but he faces a tough challenge.

Suzuki is also unbeaten in ONE Super Series. The Toyohashi native has a penchant for all-action battles, which has made him one of the most exciting talents on the global stage for martial arts.

He defeated Deividas Danyla via unanimous decision in his promotional debut last November, and followed that with a third-round knockout of Mohammed “Jordan Boy” Bin Mahmoud two months later. Now, he will shoot for the biggest victory of his career.

The Inaugural ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Title 

The night’s co-main event features a World Title clash with a twist, as Muay Thai World Champions “The Baby Shark” Petchdam Petchyindee Academy and Elias “The Sniper” Mahmoudi will battle for the vacant ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Title.

Victory for either man would put them in the history books as the inaugural titleholder and put them in a rare position to revert back to their natural discipline and challenge to become a two-sport ONE World Champion.

It’s an achievement that has already been accomplished by Stamp Fairtex, who claimed the ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Title in October, and then switched back to her first martial art to capture the inaugural ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship.

For Petchdam and Mahmoudi, however, the first step to accomplishing that monumental feat is to win the kickboxing strap in Bangkok.

ONE’s Thai Stars Look For Global Success

In addition to Nong-O and Petchdam, this event features four more homegrown heroes who will all be fired up to deliver show-stopping performances on home soil.

Fellow Muay Thai superstars Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon, Superlek “The Kicking Machine” Kiatmoo9, and Singtongnoi Por Telakun will look to showcase the beauty of “the art of eight limbs” in the sport’s birthplace.

Strawweight mixed martial arts star Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit is also scheduled for action. He has not competed in his native country since March 2017, when he finished Rabin Catalan via first-round TKO, and he will aim to replicate that performance when he faces off against another member of the Philippines’ foremost martial arts family, Robin Catalan, on 10 May.

World Title Shots Could Be Up For Grabs

ONE: WARRIORS OF LIGHT could become an elite-level proving ground to determine the next contender for the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship.

The gold will be contested a week before the event in Bangkok, when reigning World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao faces Jonathan Haggerty in the main event of ONE: FOR HONOR in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday, 3 May.

With a host of flyweight contenders all set for action at the Impact Arena a week later, the event could prove to be an audition for the very best flyweight strikers on the planet.

Either Petchdam or Mahmoudi will walk away from Bangkok with considerable momentum by winning the ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Title, but they are far from alone in their hopes to push themselves to the front of the queue to face the winner of Jakarta’s main event.

The always exciting Rodtang will be hoping for a strong performance against Sok Thy, while Singtongnoi and Superlek will have similar ideas heading into their bouts with Savvas Michael and Rui Botelho, respectively.

At bantamweight, the winner of the ONE Super Series kickboxing clash between China’s “Muay Thai Boy” Zhang Chenglong and Cyprus’ Panicos Yusuf could find themselves within striking distance of a World Title shot.

Meanwhile, women’s atomweight strikers Janet Todd and Wang Chin Long will face off under kickboxing rules. The winner could perhaps book a World Title bout – and, in Todd’s case, a rematch – with the aforementioned Stamp.