ONE 157 Preview (Pt. 1)

ONE 157 is set for the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday and the card consists primarily of Muay Thai and submission grappling bouts. There are only four MMA bouts on the 16 fight card.

Muay Thai: Panpayak Jitmuangnon vs. Josue Cruz (Flyweight Grand Prix Alternate Bout)

Panpayak Jitmuangnon needs no introduction to Muay Thai fans having already competed several times on ONE Championship, dropping a decision to Superlek Kiatmoo9. A slick southpaw and former three times sportswriters of Thailand fighter of the year he is clearly the strongest of the four alternates.

Josue Cruz is making his ONE Championship debut and is seen as a strong up and coming prospect. He is an aggressive, walk forward fighter with strong hands and will be looking to test the chin of the Thai legend right from the opening bell.

Muay Thai: Sherzod Kabutov vs. Denis Puric (Flyweight Grand Prix Alternate Bout)

First of the Muaythai tournament alternative bouts, sees Sherzod Kabutov of Kyrgyzstan face Denis Puric from Canada/Bosnia.

Sherzod Kabutov is based out of Thailand and has completed regularly on the Thai circuit and also in Myanmar under Lethwei rules. He has an aggressive style and likes to incorporate some eye catching spinning kicks into his arsenal.

Denis Puric at 37 is the oldest fighter in the tournament and has competed in the past on Kunlun fight and Bellator. He has experience in kickboxing and MMA as well as Muay Thai.

Elipitua Siregar vs. Robin Catalan (Strawweight)

Elipitua Siregar (4-2) comes from a wrestling background but is based at Bali MMA. All four of his wins have come on the ground, either through submissions or ground and pound.

Robin Catalan (9-7) comes from a wushu background and has a whole arsenal of kicks as Gustavo Balart discovered to his cost. He has been submitted several times and will want to keep this one standing.

Wondergirl Jaroonsak vs. Zeba Bano (Strawweight)

Wondergirl Jaroonsak is making her MMA debut but has been training in BJJ for several years and holds a blue belt. She is a seasoned Muay Thai veteran with some devastating knees.

Asha Roka (6-0) has an impressive looking record but the bouts all appear to have taken place in her gym. She comes from a wushu background and could turn out to be well out of her depth here.

Kickboxing: Davit Kiria vs. Mohammed Boutasaa (Featherweight)

Davit Kiria keeps a tight guard and is happy to stay in the pocket soaking up punishment while looking to land a combination of punches. He is not afraid to go to war with opponents but hasn’t been stopped since 2015.

Mohammed Boutasaa is an up and coming Dutch Moroccan prospect who can switch stances throughout a fight. He faces a big step up against the hard hitting Kiria.

Muay Thai: Savvas Michael vs. Amir Naseri (Flyweight Grand Prix 1/4 Final)

Amir Naseri making his ONE Championship debut, but comes with solid credentials. He is one of only three foreign fighters to win a prestigious Omnoi stadium title and is also a former Thai Fight Kings Cup tournament champion.

Michael Savvas hasn’t had the best of fortune fighting on ONE Championship, picking up a nasty arm injury in his match against Thai legend Lerdsila Chumpaetour back in 2019 and getting dropped in a decision loss to Taiki Naito last year. He likes to go forward and look for the knockout, as does his opponent, making this a ‘fight of the night’ contender.

Muay Thai: Superlek Kiatmoo9 vs. Taiki Naito (Flyweight Grand Prix 1/4 Final)

Superlek Kiatmoo9 challenged Ilias Ennahachi for the flyweight kickboxing title last time out and was very unfortunate to lose by decision. He has won two back to back on the stadium circuit since then and, along with Rodtang Jitmuangnon, is one of the tournament favourites.

Taiki Naito is an unorthodox fighter but has had something of a mixed bag of results on ONE Championship. He surprised a few people with his strong win over Savvas Michael, where he dropped the Cypriot fighter on route to a clear win but was dropped twice by Jonathan Haggerty and is the underdog here.

Alyse Anderson vs. Asha Roka (Atomweight)

Alyse Anderson (5-2) is primarily a grappler but she did drop Itsuki Hirata in her ONE Championship debut. She fights out of American Top Team and, if she can get this down, it is unlikely Roka will be able to handle her on the ground.

Asha Roka (4-2) hasn’t fought for two years and lost her first two ONE Championship fights. She comes from a wushu background but her takedown defence looks extremely limited .

The entire ONE 157 fight card will be available to view free in some territories using the newly launched app which you can download here.

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