ONE: ‘Warrior’s Code’ Preview (Pt. 2)

For part one of our preview click here.

ONE: “Warrior’s Code” is set for Istora Senayan in Jakarta this Friday. The event is headlined by a Muay Thai title fight pitting Petchmorrakot Petchyindeeacademy against Detrit Sathiangym for the inaugural featherweight belt.

The card is stacked with Indonesian fighters and features three former One Pride MMA champions. There is also an intriguing middleweight bout pitting two top contenders together as Leandro Ataides faces Reinier de Ridder.

Meanwhile former featherweight champion Marat Gafurov moves up to lightweight to face the undefeated Iuri Lapicus.

Here’s my preview of the last six fights:

Koyomi Matsushima vs. Kim Jae Woong (Featherweight)

Koyomi Matsushima (11-4) came up short against Martin Nguyen in a featherweight title shot. He’s best known for the highlight reel KO of Marat Gafurov but used a safety first, wrestling based strategy against Won Il Kwon in his most recent win.

Jae Woong Kim (10-3) is a former Top FC 145lbs champion who signed for the promotion on the back of a three fight winning streak. He stopped Rafael Nunes with knees on his ONE Championship debut recently.

Nyrene Crowley vs. Itsuki Hirata (Atomweight)

Nyrene Crowley (3-2) is coming off back to back losses to the same opponent on ONE Warrior Series. She fights out of Bali MMA and accepted this matchup at late notice.

Itsuki Hirata (2-0) has made a name for herself with her submission wins, all six victories as an amateur and professional have come this way. She is particularly dangerous with arm locks and cranks.

Marat Gafurov vs. Iuri Lapicus (Lightweight)

Marat Gafurov (17-2) is the former ONE featherweight champion. He holds a black belt in BJJ and most of his wins come by way of rear naked choke but he also has a sneaky head kick.

Iuri Lapicus (13-0) trains with the Petrosyans in Italy but his striking looks limited. Stylistically this looks a very tough matchup for the Romanian.

Eko Roni Saputra vs. Khon Sichan (Flyweight)

Eko Roni Saputra (1-1) has won national titles in wrestling as well as silver and bronze medals at the SEA Games. He relocated to Singapore to train at Evolve MMA but was stopped by a Singaporean on his ONE Championship debut and his second fight ended prematurely when his opponent was injured.

Khon Sichan (3-4) comes from a Kun Khmer background and is a veteran of four ONE Championship fights. He’s been a professional mixed martial artist for six years but wrestling is a weakness.

Leandro Ataides vs. Reiner de Ridder (Middleweight)

Leandro Ataides (11-3) is a BJJ black belt but is known for his devastating right hand and flying knees. The Brazilian is very happy to keep things standing and has one punch KO power but his chin is questionable.

Reinier de Ridder (11-0) also comes from a grappling background and has said that he wants to submit Ataides.

Muay Thai: Petchmorrakot Petchyindeeacademy vs. Pongsiri PKSaenchaigym (For featherweight title)

Petchmorrakot Petchyindeeacademy came up short against Giorgio Petrosyan in kickboxing. But he will be able to use his knees and elbows here and is particularly dangerous with both weapons.

Pongsiri PKSaenchaigym replaces Detrit Sathiangym at two day’s notice. He’s a former Channel 7 and Lumpinee 147lbs champion who fought just over two week’s ago so should be in reasonable shape.

The entire ONE: “Warrior’s Code” 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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