Ben Askren headlines May's ONE FC 15 vs. Bakhtiyar Abbasov

Former Bellator MMA welterweight champion Ben Askren will make his highly anticipated ONE FC debut next month in Singapore.

Askren (12-0) will headline “ONE FC 16: Honor & Glory” against Bakhtiyar Abbasov (11-2), promotion officials have announced. ONE FC 16 will take place May 30 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The main card will stream via an online pay-per-view.

Also on tap for the card is a lightweight bout between Caros Fodor (8-4) and Willy Ni (15-8), plus light heavyweights Jake Butler (3-1) vs. Pane Haraki (3-2). More fights will be announced in the coming weeks.

Askren will fight for the first time since Bellator released him so he could explore free agency. He had a brief flirtation with the UFC before announcing he had signed with the Asia-based ONE FC. The four-time Division I All-American wrestler from Missouri won Bellator’s welterweight title against Lyman Good after winning the Season 2 tournament. He then defended it against Jay Hieron, Douglas Lima, Karl Amoussou and Andrey Koreshkov before leaving the company.

Abbasov, from Azerbaijan, takes the fight with Aksren on a nine-fight winning streak, including eight stoppage victories. It’s been more than three years since his last loss, and of his 11 wins, he has five submissions and five TKOs. His lone decision win came at Cage Warriors 58 this past August against Charles Andrade.

“Fans around the world have been eagerly awaiting the ONE FC debut of top welterweight Ben Askren,” ONE FC CEO Victor Cui stated. “He faces the toughest test of his career when he goes up against another top welterweight, Bakhtiyar Abbasov.”

Fodor will fight for ONE FC for the third time after being released by the UFC following a loss to Sam Stout at UFC 157. The former Strikeforce fighter debuted with ONE FC with a decision win over Seung Ho Yang at ONE FC 10, but in December, he dropped a decision to Vuyisile Colossa at ONE FC 13, giving him three setbacks in his past four fights.

Ni started his career 15-1, and then ran into issues in 2007. Between then and 2009, he lost five straight fights, including a submission loss against Dan Hardy for Cage Warriors. He stepped away from competition in 2009. He returned four and a half years later, but was submitted by VIncent Latoel at ONE FC 10 this past September. Now, against Fodor, he’ll try for his first win since 2006.

Butler suffered the first loss of his pro career at ONE FC 11 when he was stopped in the second round by Sylvain Potard. His first three wins, all for ONE FC, had been first-round stoppages. Haraki, from New Zealand, will make his promotional debut and will be in search of the first winning streak of his young career. He was out of action for all of 2013.

Tickets for ONE FC 16 are on sale now through Sports Hub Tix.

For more on ONE FC 16, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Ben Askren)

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Below, watch as Askren talks about his thoughts on the future of his new home in ONE FC.

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