ONE Championship will kick off 2025 with ONE Fight Night 27: Tang vs. Abdullaev on Saturday, January 11, and the promotion is getting the year started in style.
The curtain-raising show will feature three combat sports disciplines, and the stacked card is sure to bring an abundance of action to Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium.
As we wind down the clock on 2024, let’s get hyped for the new year by looking at three fights that must be checked out at ONE Fight Night 27.
Tang Kai vs. Akbar Abdullaev
In the evening’s main event, reigning ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai will defend his gold against unbeaten star Akbar Abdullaev.
Tang has been an indomitable force since joining ONE Championship at the start of 2019. The perennial finisher carved out four stoppages in six outings before snatching the gold from former king Thanh Le at ONE 160 in August 2022.
His most impressive win came last time out at ONE 166 in March, again versus Le, who he stopped in the third round to retain the gold.
But Abdullaev’s rise to his first World Title shot in ONE has been meteoric. The 11-0 combatant has knocked out all three of his opponents so far, and he’s been the first to put a blemish on the previously untouched records of Aaron Canarte and Halil Amir along the way.
Undoubtedly, Tang will be his toughest test to date, and the Chinese ruler will want to cement himself as the king of the division. But Abdullaev’s rapid surge and heavy momentum will have him hoping he can seize his opportunity to claim the gold.
John Lineker vs. Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai
Former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John Lineker will continue his Muay Thai journey at ONE Fight Night 27 when he meets Thai striking dynamo Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai in bantamweight action.
Lineker has been a force so far in “the art of eight limbs.” He scored a knockout win against Asa Ten Pow in his debut at ONE 168 in September and followed that by finishing Alexey Balyko in the first round of their clash at ONE Fight Night 25.
However, Kulabdam will represent a significant step up for the Brazilian brawler. He has eight wins in ONE Championship’s Muay Thai ranks, and stars like Julio Lobo, Tyson Harrison, and most recently, Suablack Tor Pran49 have all fallen to the strike that has earned him the moniker “Left Meteorite.”
Both men will be looking to charge forward and make their names known in the talent-rich bantamweight Muay Thai division, so this one is set to be a barnburner.
Tatsumitsu Wada vs. Sanzhar Zakirov
Another intriguing battle will see promotional mainstay Tatsumitsu Wada meeting unbeaten prodigy Sanzhar Zakirov in a strawweight MMA affair.
A member of ONE Championship’s flyweight division since 2018, Wada has duelled with some of the weight bracket’s best, including Gustavo Balart and former titleholder Demetrious Johnson.
The Japanese ace is on a two-fight run of wins, having bested Ernesto Montilla in March 2023 and Xie Wei this past July, and he’ll look to instill that same dominance when he debuts at strawweight next month.
However, Zakirov will likely give him a challenging welcome. The Uzbekistani star has amassed three wins in ONE since his debut in August 2023, and his impressive finishes of Dave Bangguigui and Ryosuke Honda, respectively, helped to earn him a six-figure contract with the promotion.
He’ll be looking to turn heads on the main roster with another destructive performance at ONE Fight Night 27, but Wada will be out to bring his younger foe’s momentum to an abrupt end. So, expect fireworks here.
