ONE Championship: Only the Brave – four storylines to watch out for in Singapore
- Asian martial arts promotion returns to screens on Friday evening in Singapore, with two featherweight kick-boxing grand prix semi-final bouts
- Card also features appearances from resurgent UFC veterans Zhang Lipeng and Jared Brooks
ONE Championship’s Only the Brave card goes down this Friday in Singapore, and while the event has been rocked by several Covid-19-related shake-ups, it still looks like it will be a lot of fun to watch.
The card will be topped by the semi-finals of ONE’s star-studded featherweight kick-boxing grand prix, as Thailand’s Sitthichai takes on Georgia’s Davit Kiria, and Azerbaijani-Belarusian talent Chingiz Allazov battles Jo Nattawut, also of Thailand.
Beyond those two high-stakes kick-boxing bouts, the line-up is highlighted by appearances from several rising contenders and resurgent veterans.
Here are a few storylines to pay attention to when it all goes down this Friday.
Kick-boxing grand prix semi-finals
From its inception, the ONE featherweight kick-boxing grand prix was loaded with top talent. The semi-finals of that stacked tournament go down in the main and co-main events of ONE: Only the Brave.
First up, Allazov will take on Nattawut. Allazov was originally slated to take on Marat Grigorian on the card. Unfortunately, Grigorian was forced off the event because of Covid-19 health and safety protocols, and replaced by the experienced Nattawut, who will look to pull off an upset for the ages on short notice.
Then, in the evening’s final fight, Sitthichai will put his vicious striking skill to the test against Georgia’s Davit Kiria.
These are four of the best strikers in the world. Come Saturday morning, they’ll be down to just two. Sometime in the coming months, those two will collide for a crack at the ONE featherweight kick-boxing title, currently held by Thailand’s Superbon, who earned the division’s top prize with a stunning knockout of the great Giorgio Petrosyan in October.