ONE Championship: Winter Warriors preview – six storylines to watch out for in Singapore

ONE Championship’s Winter Warriors card goes down on Friday evening in Singapore, and from the early vantage point, the event looks like it could be one of the Asian martial arts promotion’s best of the year.

The card will be topped by a lightweight kick-boxing title fight between champion Regian Eersel and challenger Islam Murtazaev, while the penultimate bout of the night will see Ritu Phogat and Stamp Fairtex collide in the finale of ONE’s exciting atomweight grand prix.

The remainder of the card features appearances from several of the brightest prospects in the organisation’s MMA and kick-boxing ranks, with title shots potentially hanging in the balance in multiple weight classes.

Here’s everything you need to know about the six fights that compose the stacked ONE: Winter Warriors event.

Regian Eersel vs Islam Murtazaev

Suriname-born Dutchman Eersel has quietly become one of the more dominant champions in ONE, having defended his lightweight kick-boxing title two times since he captured it with a hard-fought win over Nieky Holzken in 2019.

At ONE: Winter Warriors, the 28-year-old champion will look to tally another title defence at the expense of Dagestan’s Islam Murtazaev.

The odds are seemingly stacked against the 30-year-old challenger, but with an aggressive style, an arsenal of wild spinning attacks, and most importantly, nothing to lose, he represents a dangerous challenge for the champion.

Ritu Phogat vs Stamp Fairtex

This co-main event is a match made in heaven. Despite their differing backgrounds, the pair have plenty in common, which should lead to a very interesting fight in this long-awaited final of ONE’s injury-beset and oft-delayed eight-woman tournament.

India’s Phogat, 28, got her start in wrestling, and ultimately snagged a gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship, as well as multiple national titles. Thailand’s Stamp, 24, got her start in Muay Thai, and previously held ONE’s atomweight Muay Thai and kick-boxing titles.

After successful careers in other sports, both women are now 7-1 overall in MMA, having both come through adversity in the opening round of the grand prix before cruising through their semi-finals.

And both have their eyes on atomweight champion Angela Lee, knowing full well a win on Friday will secure not just their status as grand prix champion, but also a shot at the divisional belt.

The winner of this clash is anyone’s guess, but the stakes could not be higher, and it’s going to be thrilling to watch.

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Qiu Jianliang vs Hiroki Akimoto

China’s Qiu Jianliang will make his ONE Championship debut on Friday’s card, taking on Japanese contender Hiroki Akimoto, who holds the No 3 spot in the promotion’s bantamweight kick-boxing rankings.

As the more established ONE fighter, the once-beaten Akimoto might seem like a safe bet in this match-up, but Qiu has quite a reputation of his own: he is widely considered one of the hottest kick-boxers in the world at present.

He’s long on confidence, too. Heading into the match-up, the 31-year-old Chinese striker told ONE Championship that the Japanese fighter isn’t on his level, and even made the same claim about the division’s reigning champ, Capitan.

It’s a surging contender against a hyped newcomer, and all signs point to a riveting scrap.

Timofey Nastyukhin vs Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev

These are two of the most terrifying lightweights in ONE Championship, and midway through Friday’s card, the Russians destroyers will collide.

Heading into the match-up, Timofey Nastyukhin (14-5) and “Dagi” Arslanaliev (8-2), are both looking to rebound from lopsided losses to Christian Lee, who reigned over the lightweight division until he was defeated by Ok Rae-yoon in September.

The bout also happens to be a rematch, as the 27-year-old Dagi, now based in Turkey, stopped the 32-year-old Nastyukhin with a volley of first-round strikes in 2018.

With both men attempting to get back on track, and Nastyukhin looking to avenge one of the worst defeats of his career, the stage is set for a banger.

Throw in the pair’s 13 combined knockouts, and a spectacle seems like a certainty.

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida vs Kang Ji-won

After a legendary submission grappling career, Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida has committed to a career in heavyweight MMA.

Buchecha, 31, made his MMA debut at ONE: Revolution in September, picking up a first-round submission win over kick-boxing specialist Anderson “Braddock” Silva.

At ONE: Winter Warriors, the Brazilian will look to make it 2-0 – but it will not be easy.

Standing across from Buchecha will be 26-year-old South Korean knockout artist Kang Ji-won (5-0). “Mighty Warrior” has lived up to his nickname in ONE, knocking out Mehdi Barghi and the highly-regarded Amir Aliakbari in his first two fights – both in the first round.

Buchecha will be looking to drag the fight to the mat. Kang will be looking for another vicious knockout. Both men will be looking to assert themselves as viable opponents for ONE heavyweight champ Arjan Bhullar.

As we say so often when two heavyweights lumber into the cage together, don’t blink.

Yuya Wakamatsu vs Hu Yong

In the eyes of most fans, Japanese knockout artist Yuya Wakamatsu has already earned a crack at ONE flyweight champion Adriano Moraes. Even the champ seems to think so.

“He had a knockout against the former champion Geje Eustaquio,” Moraes told the Post of Wakamatsu (14-4). “He’s a really good flyweight fighter. He’s strong, he’s tall, and it’s going to be a good challenge for me.”

ONE flyweight champ Moraes lays out big plans for 2022

Before Wakamatsu gets his shot at Moraes, however, he’ll need to get by China’s “Wolf Warrior” Hu Yong at ONE: Winter Warriors.

Hu (7-2) made a splash in his ONE debut in March, picking up a decision win over Thailand’s Yodkaikaew “Y2K” Fairtex. Defeating ONE’s No 3-ranked flyweight Wakamatsu, who is riding four straight wins over the likes of Geje Eustaquio and Reece McLaren, will be a tall order for the Chinese fighter.

But as ever, the possibility of an upset exists – and it’ll flip the flyweight division on its head if it happens.