Big wins for Rasulov, Anane, and Barboza on huge ONE Championship weekend for the region

It was another bumper weekend for ONE Championship – and it did not disappoint for MENA region fighters. Algeria’s Nabil Anane kicked things off when he headlined ONE Friday Fights 69 with a stunning second-round knockout of Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai in their bantamweight Muay Thai clash. The 20-year-old hot prospect extended his unbeaten run with ONE Championship to three fights with a classy display at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. Anane is a tall, rangy bantamweight but it was his work in the clinch on this occasion that would do the damage.  He had already dropped his experienced opponent with a right knee from in tight, and did exactly the same a minute later as the second stanza came to a close – this time there would be no getting up for Kulabdam. It’s another significant win for Anane who continues to plot his course to the top of the division. Alineg Rasulov called out Christian Lee Later, ONE Fight Night 23 would take centre stage with a hugely significant headliner in the MMA lightweight division. In what should have been a battle for the interim title, Ok Rae Yoon took on  Turkey’s Alibeg Rasulov. After passing weigh in and hydration tests late, the title was not there for Rasulov to win, but that didn’t stop him from producing a performance to make everyone take note on debut. Born in Dagestan, wrestling has always been a major weapon in Rasulov’s arsenal and so it would prove again as he was consistently able to dominate and control his South Korean opponent. After a unanimous decision win – the Turkish star will now have eyes on divisional king Christian Lee when he returns.  Ellis Barboza celebrates his first ONE Championship win Elsewhere on the card Britain Ellis Barboza found himself in the win column with a split decision win over Aliff Sor Dechapan in a catchweight Muay Thai contest. Barboza has an incredible back story including surviving bullying, homelessness, and numerous other setbacks to now being in the world’s biggest Martial Arts organisation. Now fighting out of Thailand, Dubai played a major part in the Muslim convert’s fight education as he moved to the Emirates after the UK and trained at TKMMA.