Preview: One Championship 'Pursuit of Greatness'

Prelims

Welterweights
Luis Santos (64-11-1 1NC) vs. Daichi Abe (6-2-0)

Brazilian Luis Santos will welcome former UFC fighter Daichi Abe into ONE Championship when the pair square off in their welterweight clash. Abe, the former Pancrase Welterweight Champion, never really got going in the UFC despite winning his initial debut bout. Two unanimous decision losses later and the 26-year-old found himself looking for a new home. A former kickboxer whose strengths are his stand up game and his ability to be put together quick-fire combinations, Abe will need to ensure he remains out of range of the heavy bombs that Santos likes to lob. The 38-year-old who trains out of American Top Team often employs the direct approach when launching his offense.

Santos’s 38 KO/TKO victories are testament to his striking power. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black-belt comes into this bout on back of a unanimous decision loss to American Tyler McGuire. McGuire was able to control Santos on the ground while avoiding any punishment when the fight was standing. Abe’s ground game is unlikely to cause Santos any issues so his pathway to victory would be to keep it standing and attempt to use his speed to cause the Brazilian problems.

Bantamweights
Ma Xu Dong (5-2-0) vs. Ahmad Qais Jasoor (4-1-0)

China’s Xu Dong and Afghanistan’s Qais Jasoor both had similar experiences when they made their respective ONE debuts early in the year. Both men came out swinging heavy-handed in the first round against more experienced opponents then faded after their initial flurries before being stopped in the third round. Xu Dong comes from a kickboxing background and prefers to keep the fight standing; Qais Jasoor has a blended style of sambo and boxing, though due to heavy fatigue after punching himself out, he was unable to display his grappling abilities in his previous bout with China’s Chen Lei. It is unlikely that either fighter has had enough time away from the cage to improve their skill set radically, so the question will be whether or not either fighter will temper their approach this time around.

Qais Jasoor, in particular, will not want to completely exhaust himself in the opening minutes as he did last time against Chen Lei, as it was clear he had the tools to compete and if he had tempered his approach to the fight, it might have gone a different way or at least been more competitive after the first stanza. As the only active Afghani fighter on the roster a win would be a significant accomplishment for Qais Jasoor and his supporters, equally, Xu Dong will not want to add a second loss to his ONE account. It should be noted he fought in his ONE debut on only two days’ notice so with a full camp behind him, cardio should not be an issue. It is hard to see this being anything but an intense and ferocious contest between two men who will be willing to put their all into the fight.

Flyweights
Rudy Agustian (0-0-0) vs. Kaji Ebin (2-1-0) Flyweight

Indonesia’s Rudy Agustian will make his MMA debut against late notice replacement Kaji Ebin of the Philippines. Neither fighter has much in the way of MMA experience but Agustian is a former Indonesian Flyweight Muay Thai champion and If the 33-year-old can keep the fight standing he should have too much in his arsenal for Ebin. Ebin’s last outing was a short-lived affair with the Filipino retiring due to a shoulder injury in the second minute of the first round against Japan’s Akihiro Fujisawa. Fujisawa dominated proceedings from the start, taking Ebin down and controlling him with little resistance. Ebin does have a submission win next to his name and would be wise to attempt to take the fight to the ground where Agustian will feel far less comfortable fighting.

Super Series Kickboxing - Flyweights
Joseph Lasiri vs. Josh Tonna (31-16-0)

Joseph Lasiri has had a tough start to ONE’s Super Series. The 27-year-old Italian was given the honor of participating in the first ever ONE Championship Muay Thai bout when he took on Thailand’s Sam-A Gaiyanghadao. Sam-A, a legend of the sporting who has competed in over 400 competitive fights and has won multiple world titles showed his class when he stopped Lasiri in the second round. Lasiri did enough in the bout to earn a call back from the promotion, returning in May at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams to take on another highly rated Thai fighter in the form of Singtongnoi Por Telakun. Lasiri was again stopped in the second round but losing to Singtongnoi another former world champion and who has over 300 fights to his name is nothing to be embarrassed about.

For his third bout Lasiri, who has previously held the WBA Super Bantamweight and interim WBC Super Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championships, is set to face Australia’s Josh Tonna a WMC International Muay Thai Champion. This fight will be the 30-year-old’s second ONE Super Series bout after making his debut against Thailand’s Petchdam Kaiyanghadao in July at ONE: Pursuit of Power. Petchdam who was the bookies favorite stopped Tonna with a devastating second round KO. Tonna like Lasiri will be viewing this upcoming bout as a way to finally open his ONE Championship account.