Explosive rivalries, exceptional regional fighters – Five reasons why you need to watch ONE 171: Qatar

Here are five reasons you need to tune in.

A score to settle at the top of the bill

It was less than a year ago when Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks stepped into the cage at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. That night Brooks went into the bout as ONE Strawweight MMA world champion, but with only two minutes on the clock he was disqualified for an illegal spike on his opponent. Pacio ended up the new champion but, in an unrelated injury, has found himself on the shelf since. Now the pair get to run things back. Brooks has been busy since their last bout and finds himself with interim gold – but it’s not the title he wants. It’s time to unify one of ONE Championship’s most hotly contested divisions.

A huge night for bantamweight kickboxing 

While eyes might be drawn to the division’s world title fight at the top of the bill, look just a couple of fights down the list and there is another with almost equal importance. Morocco’s Ilias Ennahachi takes on Petchtanong Petchfergus in what could turn out to be a title fight eliminator. Ennahachi has what it takes to be a superstar and lays claim to being one of the best strikers in the world today. A former flyweight champion, he now seeks out gold at a higher weight class. Petchtanong however has ruled over the bantamweights before and is likely to give Ennahachi his toughest challenge to date. 

The title fight in questions places champion Jonathan Haggerty against China’s Wei Rui. This will be Britain’s Haggerty’s first title defence and the test could not be more stern against a man riding a 21-fight unbeaten streak. Whoever wins will likely not have too long to bask in title glory with another huge test around the corner.

UAE world champion makes his debut 

The UAE’s Zayed Alketheeri might be making his ONE Championship debut, but brings a wealth of experience and accomplishment to the table. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt became the first Emirati to win a gold medal at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan American Championship at the adult black belt level. 

The 24-year-old took just five years to reach black belt under Ribamar Santiago and has since gone on to win the AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro. 

Now he gets to test his skills in the flyweight submission grappling division of the world’s biggest martial arts organisation.

Turkish pair look to push for title shots 

10-0 Shamil Erdogan will want to further enhance his middleweight MMA credentials when he takes on former two-weight world champion Aung La N Sang. Erdogan already has a win over the Myanmar legend, but a second would certainly put him in contention for a shot at current divisional king Anatoly Malyakhin. Meanwhile Dagi Arslanaliev will take on Germany’s Roberto Soldic in the lightweight MMA division. Soldic has dropped down a division for the fight against a man who looks to be a mainstay for years to come. Arslanliev has a 9-2 MMA record as a pro, with one of those losses coming against current lightweight champion Christian Lee. A win in Qatar might give him the opportunity to avenge that loss. 

A midcard sleeper

With everything else going on elsewhere on the card, the clash between Shamil Gasanov and Martin Nguyen feels like it has gone under the radar somewhat. This featherweight MMA clash sees Russia’s Gasanov look to extend his current three-fight win streak and in doing so further enhance his title credentials. But standing opposite him will be one of the legends of ONE Championship. Nguyen debuted in 2014 and six stunning finishes later stood as the first-ever two-division titleholder in ONE Championship history. If Gasanov wants a title shot, a win over a man with more than a decade in the upper echelons of the organisation is a good place to start. 

You can watch ONE 171: Qatar, which takes place on Thursday February 20th at 5pm Mecca at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. For ticket information, click here. Alternatively, you can watch the event live on BeIn Sports or at watch.onefc.com.