ONE Championship 159 line-up features two title fights, strawweight contenders, and debuting prospects
- July 22 event in Singapore will feature middleweight MMA and atomweight Muay Thai title fights, plus several strawweight contenders
- Card will also feature the return of long-absent lightweight contender Ariel Sexton, and the ONE debut of submission grappling star Jessa Khan
ONE Championship has revealed the completed line-up for its next event, and it looks like fans are in for an entertaining night of fights.
ONE 159 is slated for July 22 in Singapore. The card will be topped by a middleweight title fight between Dutch champion Reinier de Ridder – who also holds ONE’s light heavyweight belt – and Russian challenger Vitaly Bigdash.
De Ridder will be on the hunt for his second title defence, while Bigdash – who briefly held the belt in 2017 – will be looking to reclaim it.
Co-headlining honours will go to an interim atomweight Muay Thai title fight between American kickboxing champion Janet Todd and debuting Spaniard Lara Fernandez.
While these bouts have been public knowledge for some time, the rest of the ONE 159 bill was a mystery until this week.
New additions to the card include a strawweight scrap between Bokang Masunyane and Hiroba Minowa, the division’s No 2 and 3-ranked contenders, both of whom are riding losses to Jarred Brooks. Rising strawweight contender Danial Williams of Australia will also be back in action, taking on China’s Zelang Zhaxi.
The card will also feature the long-awaited return of Costa Rican-Canadian lightweight Ariel Sexton, who has not fought since a 2019 submission win over Amir Khan. He will take on former featherweight champion Marat Gafurov of Russia.