ONE Championship returns to Bangkok on January 14 with Stamp Fairtex vs Anissa Meksen in mixed rules fight; will host 52 events at Lumpinee in 2023
- Decorated strikers Stamp and Meksen to face off in special attraction at Impact Arena with rounds alternating between MMA and Muay Thai
- Martial arts promotion will begin hosting a weekly Muay Thai event at the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in January 2023
ONE Championship will return to Thailand on January 14 at Impact Arena in Bangkok for ONE on Prime Video 6, airing in US prime time on Friday, January 13.
The card will feature Stamp Fairtex against Anissa Meksen in a special mixed rules super-fight, with rounds alternating between MMA and Muay Thai.
ONE’s flyweight and bantamweight Muay Thai champions, Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, are also expected to be in action at the event, which will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service in the US and Canada, and on pay-per-view in most other locations.
In another major announcement at a Bangkok press conference on Monday, CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed ONE will put on a Muay Thai card at the famed Lumpinee Stadium every Friday night, starting in January 2023.
Chatri said ONE will also pay the highest fight purses in Thailand “to elevate the entire ecosystem”, and make a US$100 million investment in Muay Thai “around the world”.
The global martial arts promotion has not held a card in Thailand since two closed door shows – ONE: No Surrender, and ONE: A New Breed – at the Impact Arena in July 2020.
The events were ONE’s first since the onset of the pandemic, with the promotion since holding all of its shows in its home city of Singapore.
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ONE will finally get back on the road after two years in the Lion City, when it returns to Kuala Lumpur for October’s ONE 162 and ONE on Prime Video 3 double header at the Axiata Arena.
Manila will then host its first ONE events since January 2020 when strawweight MMA champ Joshua Pacio defends his title against America’s Jarred Brooks at the end of a same-day double header on December 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
ONE atomweight MMA Grand Prix winner Stamp last competed in a second-round submission loss to divisional champ Angela Lee at the promotion’s 10th anniversary spectacular, ONE X, in March.
The former Muay Thai and kick-boxing champ is currently preparing to face the No 5-ranked Jihin Radzuan in an atomweight MMA bout next month on the main card of October 1’s ONE on Prime Video 2 event at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Decorated French-Algerian striking icon Anissa Meksen – an 18-time world champion – will fight Dangkongfah Banchamek in a Muay Thai bout on the undercard of the event.
Meksen last fought in a Muay Thai bout on April’s ONE 156 card, pummelling Marie Ruumet en route to a dominant decision. Her repeated calls for a kickboxing title shot against two-sport champ Janet Todd of the US have fallen on deaf ears, though, despite the former Glory champ’s legendary resume.
