Fantasy Primer For ONE: NO SURRENDER II

Muay Thai fighter Saemapetch Fairtex kicks and punches Alaverdi Ramazonov

ONE Championship is set to return with three consecutive weeks of events, which means there are three chances for you to play the world’s largest martial arts fantasy game and win some awesome merchandise from ONE.SHOP.

The first opportunity will come this Friday, 14 August, when ONE: NO SURRENDER II goes down in Bangkok, Thailand.

With very competitive matchups on the six-bout card, it will be difficult to pick the ultimate ONE Fantasy squad. That means you’ll need to be savvy when choosing the six athletes for your team and predicting which rounds their fights will end in.

To help you maximize your point total, here are some quick tips for ONE Fantasy on Friday night.

Expect Long, Methodical Main Event

The ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai Tournament will kick off this Friday with a semifinal matchup between longtime rivals Saemapetch Fairtex and Rodlek PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that these two Muay Thai warriors will likely need all three rounds to decide the winner.

When they met for the first time, Rodlek beat his inexperienced adversary. In July 2014, Saemapetch evened the series with a decision win, but “The Steel Locomotive” regained the lead with a decision victory of his own just a month later.

Since entering ONE Championship, each man has earned three promotional victories, and only Rodlek has been able to score a knockout.

But that’s not to say these strikers haven’t been aiming for finishes.

Saemapetch actually dropped Deividas “The Lithuanian Savage” Danyla with a downward elbow near the end of the first round in their July 2018 matchup, and Rodlek came achingly close to putting away both Liam “Hitman” Harrison and Chris Shaw in their June 2019 and January 2020 wars, respectively.

Getting the finish is tough, and doing so inside three rounds against elite competition is even tougher. Though ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Gaiyanghadao knocked out Saemapetch in their World Title bout last November, it took him four rounds to do so.

All signs point to a tightly contested main event – and one that could very well go the distance.

Expect Early Fireworks In Mixed Martial Arts Clash

Akihiro Fujisawa fights Pongsiri Mitsatit at ONE: NO SURRENDER II

The catchweight battle between Akihiro “Superjap” Fujisawa and Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit has the potential to feature early fireworks.

Both of these talented mixed martial artists have a reputation for finishing their opponents – and doing so rather quickly.

Mitsatit, a Northern Muay Thai Champion of Thailand, has used his famed striking to great effect. He holds a 10-5 professional record, with eight of those victories coming via knockout and one via submission. What’s more, all nine of those finishes happened before the third round.

Likewise, Fujisawa’s blended skill set has carried him to a 5-3-1 professional record. All five of his wins have come via stoppage, with three of them happening inside the opening stanza.

Additionally, since both competitors are always hunting for a finish, they are susceptible to a submission or knockout loss – a fate both of them have experienced.

In fact, each man has tasted defeat three times in the first round, so if this matchup gets off to a fast start, it could very well lead to a quick, dramatic ending.

Big Knockout Potential Between Newcomers

Flyweight mixed martial artists Yodkaikaew Fairtex and John Shink debut at ONE: NO SURRENDER on 14 August

Two mixed martial artists will be making their promotional debuts on Friday, and a quick look into John Shink and Yodkaikaew “Y2K” Fairtex reveals the potential for a knockout.

Both men come from “the art of eight limbs,” and they currently train at two of Thailand’s most reputable Muay Thai camps – Shink at Tiger Muay Thai and Yodkaikaew at the acclaimed Fairtex Training Center.

These flyweights have already used their phenomenal striking skills to great success in mixed martial arts. The Nigeria-born Shink owns a 3-0 record with a pair of second-round knockouts, while the Thailand-born “Y2K” has posted a 4-2-1 slate with a trio of first-round KOs.

Shink has expressed confidence that he’ll finish his rival via knockout or possibly submission. But if he leaves himself open, Yodkaikaew could snatch a quick KO of his own.

Given their striking pedigrees, their track records in mixed martial arts, and their shared penchant for finishes, Shink and “Y2K” could certainly see their battle end in explosive fashion.