ONE Championship returns to Lusail Sports activities Area on Thursday, February 20, for ONE 171: Qatar. The lineup options two title tilts on the prime of the cardboard, however there may be loads of motion for any martial arts fan up and down the invoice. It is going to be a incredible begin to the weekend.
Within the co-main occasion, ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Haggerty defends the gold towards Wei Rui. Then Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio end their trilogy to find out the undisputed ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion. What else ought to seize your eye? Listed below are three extra bouts you will need to watch at this unbelievable occasion.
ONE 171: Dagi Arslanaliev vs. Roberto Soldic
The welterweight MMA bout between Dagi Arslanaliev and Roberto Soldic stands out as the most explosive on the cardboard at ONE 171. The Russian has flashed his ending talents all through his ONE tenure. In the meantime, Soldic is hoping to nab his first win within the promotion and present the world his show-stopping energy.
After a no-contest in his ONE debut, Soldic returned towards former ONE Welterweight MMA World Champion Zebaztian Kadestam. After a scorching begin, Kadestam rallied at ONE Struggle Evening 10 to knock out the Croatian. “Robocop” is refreshed after a yr away from motion and is searching for a standout efficiency to thrust him proper into the title image.
In Arslanaliev’s final MMA bout, he picked up a highlight-reel end over Timofey Nastyukhin. The 30-year-old appears to be like to construct on that victory to make himself a title risk within the division. If he can, a rematch towards Christian Lee could also be within the works in 2025.
ONE 171: Shamil Gasanov vs. Martin Nguyen
The featherweight division can have an necessary match between ranked contenders on the invoice. As ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai holds onto the belt and Akbar Abdullaev chases, #4-ranked Shamil Gasanov and #5-ranked Martin Nguyen collide to make their push. Each males look to complete, making this a must-see matchup.
Gasanov has quietly put collectively a powerful three-match profitable streak. In his most up-to-date outing, the Russian outlasted Halil Amir in a three-round bout in December. A win over the previous divisional king may elevate him proper into the cat hen’s seat of the division.
Nguyen, nevertheless, is coming off of a loss final January to Garry Tonon. The matchup towards Gasanov offers him an opportunity to immediately change his momentum and leap proper again into the title hunt. The 35-year-old is searching for another push towards the gold and recapturing the magic that made him a champion.
ONE 171: Jake Peacock vs. Shinji Suzuki
Jake Peacock’s inspirational journey to the worldwide stage started with a Street To ONE: Canada match victory in 2024. The Canadian made his debut at ONE Friday Fights 58 in spectacular trend by defeating Kohei Shinjo. Now the 31-year-old will get a large alternative inside Lusail Sports activities Area to show his would possibly.
ONE 171 will mark Shinji Suzuki’s second journey to Qatar. At ONE 166, the Japanese striker picked up a unanimous choice win over Han Zi Hao. Now, Suzuki is again enjoying the position of spoiler and hopes to pause the story of Peacock’s rise with a convincing efficiency.
The Muay Thai matchup will take a look at each males and provides the winner an enormous increase within the bantamweight division. The motion must be fast-paced and will assist set the tone for the occasion. As soon as the ultimate bell sounds, one man can have back-to-back wins on the worldwide stage and set himself as much as start a real profitable streak.
ONE 171: Qatar airs stay on Thursday, February 20. The motion begins at 10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST. The occasion is free by way of ONE’s official YouTube channel.
