Kryklia Vs. Xhaja World Title Clash Headlines ONE Fight Night 12; Tonon Vs. Gasanov Added To Card
A colossal main event has just been confirmed for ONE Fight Night 12 on Prime Video in Bangkok, Thailand.
ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Champion Roman Kryklia will defend his crown against Françesko Xhaja at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Friday, July 14.
The towering Ukrainian has been untouchable so far in his ONE Championship tenure, registering five straight victories with four knockouts.
Kryklia will defend his light heavyweight belt for the third time in the Thai capital. After finishing old rival Tarik Khbabez in his promotional debut to take the inaugural gold back in November 2019, he dominated Andrei Stoica and then knocked out Murat Aygun to keep it around his waist
He added the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Championship to his resume in his most recent outing, having stopped Iraj Azizpour in the second round of their trilogy clash last November.
Kryklia will look to keep his promotional slate clean at ONE Fight Night 12, but he’ll be facing a challenger whose rightfully oozing with confidence.
Xhaja defeated Stoica to claim his first ONE victory in February, subsequently earning the next shot at the ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Title.
The Albanian-Italian striker has stepped up against more experienced opposition for much of his career, and following his biggest win to date, he’ll be fired up to spring an upset in front of a U.S. primetime audience on July 14.
Another huge clash has also been lined up for ONE Fight Night 12, as top-five featherweight MMA contenders Garry Tonon and Shamil Gasanov will do battle.
Second-ranked Tonon suffered the first, and only, loss of his MMA career when Thanh Le knocked out “The Lion Killer” in his ONE Featherweight World Title challenge in March 2022. But the grappling icon rebounded with a first-round submission victory over Johnny Nunez this past January.
Now 7-1 in MMA, Tonon could earn a second crack at the divisional gold by defeating #5-ranked Gasanov.
The 13-0 Russian exploded onto the global stage with a quick submission victory over Kim Jae Woong last October, and though a February showdown with former two-division ONE World Champion Martin Nguyen fell through, “Cobra” is ready to continue his meteoric rise.
For months, Gasanov called for a matchup with Tonon to see who the best grappler truly is in the featherweight ranks. And on July 14, the world will find out.
In the meantime, take a look at all the bouts that have been confirmed for ONE Fight Night 12 below.
Fight Card For ONE Fight Night 12: Kryklia Vs. Xhaja On Prime Video
- Roman Kryklia vs. Françesko Xhaja (ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Title)
- Garry Tonon vs. Shamil Gasanov (MMA – Featherweight)
- Elias Mahmoudi vs. Tagir Khalilov (Muay Thai – Flyweight)
- Xie Wei vs. Yuya Wakamatsu (MMA – Flyweight)
- Walter Goncalves vs. Banma Duoji (MMA – Flyweight)
- Tammi Musumeci vs. Amanda Alequin (Submission Grappling – Strawweight)
