ONE: Fists of Fury II Preview

ONE: Fists Of Fury II Preview

ONE Championship continues it’s Fists of Fury series on Friday, as the second instalment goes to air. The three-event series was recorded back on February 26th at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Fists of Fury II is headlined by the long-awaited debut of Iranian former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion, Amir Aliakbari. The former Rizin and ACB heavyweight has been out of action since March 2019.

Aliakbari (10-1) has had to bide his time in the past two years, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the 33-year-old also signed with the UFC in June 2019, only to have his contract cancelled due to an ongoing doping suspension in the US, stemming from his wrestling career.

The former Rizin open-weight grand prix finalist has drawn a stiff test on debut, in the form of knockout artist, Kang Ji Won. Kang has won all four of his professional bouts by knockout thus far, including a first round knockout of Mehdi Bargi on debut at ONE: Unbreakable III in February.

The co-main event features another highly regarded debutant, this time in the form of Russia’s Anatoly Malykhin.

Malykhin comes to the ONE circle with a perfect 8-0 record, and will be looking to keep his record intact against former light heavyweight title challenger Alexandre Machado.

Machado (9-3) returns to action for the first time since ONE: Conquest of Champions back in November 2018, where he made a successful return to the heavyweight division, knocking out 45-year-old Hideki Sekine.

The opening bout on the card also promises fireworks, as longtime ONE staple Mark Fairtex Abelardo takes on returning war machine, Emilio Urrutia.

Abelardo will be looking to get back into the win column, following a two-fight skid including losses to rising stars Fabricio Andrade and Troy Worthen. The 29-year-old Filipino is 19-8 with a 4-3 mark under the ONE banner, all of which have been entertaining to say the least.

Urrutia is on a three-fight skid of his own, and snaps a two-year layoff following losses to Yoshiki Nakahara, who will also feature on Friday, as well as Kai Wen Li and Marat Gafurov. The Thailand-based American is 2-3 in ONE championship, for an overall mark of 11-7.

ONE: Fists of Fury II full fight card:

Heavyweight MMA

Amir Aliakbari (Iran) vs Kang Ji Won (South Korea)

Heavyweight MMA

Alexandre Machado (Brazil) vs Anatoly Malykhin (Russia)

Featherweight MMA

Ryogo Takahashi (Japan) vs Tang Kai (China)

Featherweight MMA

Yoshiki Nakahara (Japan) vs Ruslan Emilbek Uulu (Kyrgystan)

Bantamweight Muay Thai

Han Zi Hao (China) vs Adam Noi (Algeria)

Bantamweight MMA

Mark Fairtex Abelardo (New Zealand/Philippines) vs Emilio Urrutia (USA)