ONE: ‘Century’ Preview (Pt. 3)

For parts one and two of our ONE: “Century” preview click here and here.

The second ONE: “Century” fight card, part of the promotion’s weekend doubleheader in Tokyo, Japan, is set for this Sunday evening (local time). It will be headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Aung La Nsang and Brandon Vera and also feature the final of the Featherweight Grand Prix.

The first four matches pit champions past and present from Shooto and Pancrase against one another. The winners of each fight will receive $50,000 USD so the stakes are high, particularly as neither promotion is known for handing out big purses.

Hiroyuki Tetsuka vs. Hernani Perpetuo (Welterweight)

Hiroyuki Tetsuka (7-3) has made his name in recent years, becoming the welterweight King of Pancrase with a string of strong performances. However the 29 year old doesn’t exactly have any big names on his resume.

Hernani Perpetuo (20-7) is a UFC veteran who held the Shooto Brazil title back in 2013. He’s much more experienced than the Japanese fighter and hasn’t been stopped since 2010.

Rafael Silva vs. Shoko Sato (Bantamweight)

Rafael Silva (31-6) is the reigning Pancrase bantamweight champion and arguably the best fighter on the promotion’s roster. He hasn’t been stopped since 2011 and has been the distance with fighters like Darrion Caldwell and Joe Warren during this period.

Shoko Sato (33-16-3) is an old fashioned karate fighter and has not been afraid to test himself outside of Japan. The Shooto bantamweight champion has won nine out of his last 11 fights and impressed in his ONE Championship debut.

Daichi Kitakata vs. Yosuke Saruta (Strawweight)

Daichi Kitakata (20-8-1) is a newly crowned strawweight King of Pancrase. He is riding a five fight winning streak and is known for finishing opponents with guillotine chokes but also hits hard.

Yosuke Saruta (19-9-3) has already won and lost the ONE Championship strawweight title. Having gone three rounds with BJJ black belt Alex Silva he won’t be too concerned about Kitakata’s submission game.

Takasuke Kume vs. Koshi Matsumoto (Lightweight)

Takasuke Kume (22-6-3) comes from a judo background and the reigning lightweight King of Pancrase is well traveled, having challenged for the Road FC 155lbs strap on two separate occasions.

Koshi Matsumoto (20-8-2) has been the Shooto lightweight champion since 2015. Previous attempts to step up in competition have not gone well, he was knocked out on his Rizin debut and has also suffered losses fighting for PXC, VTJ and Heat.

Mei Yamaguchi vs. Jenny Huang (Atomweight)

Mei Yamaguchi (20-11-1) has already beaten Jenny Huang (5-4) once and there’s nothing to suggest that she won’t do it again. The Taiwanese fighter is a grappler but the Japanese fighter has the superior ground game.

Yamaguchi is also highly experienced and looks to be on the cusp of an atomweight title shot. Huang has been training at Fairtex so her striking should have improved but this looks like it should be a comfortable evening’s work for the veteran.

Shinya Aoki vs. Honorio Banario (Lightweight)

It would be a massive shock if Shinya Aoki (43-9-0-1) lost this but then you could have said the same about his last fight. The Japanese fighter only needs to get a takedown with time remaining in the round and a submission will surely follow.

Honorio Banario (14-9) was the inaugural ONE Championship featherweight champion. His striking is superior to Aoki’s but can he keep the fight standing long enough for that to be a factor?

The entire ONE: “Century” part two fight card will be available to view live and free in some territories using the newly launched app which you can download here.

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