Inaugural Welterweight Title to be Awarded at ONE FC: Warrior Spirit

The inaugural ONE FC 170-pound title will be on the line when Adam Kayoom and Nobutatsu Suzuki clash in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 15. Their title match will headline ONE FC: Warrior Spirit, which will be the promotion’s third card in Malaysia and the second in the 15,000-seat Stadium Putra.

Kayoom (4-1) was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur and shot to prominence with a hard fought decision win over Gregor Gracie at ONE FC: Destiny of Warriors. The BJJ black belt and former Muay Thai world champion is aiming to become Malaysia’s first-ever MMA champion.

He will be in for the toughest test of his career when he takes on Suzuki (10-1-2), who is a Zst veteran and is coming off a first-round stoppage win over Phil Baroni at ONE FC: Rise to Power. The Japanese fighter’s 10 wins have all come by way of knockout and he has never fought more than two rounds.

Kayoom has one of the most diverse skillsets of any fighter in the region and also holds a black belt in Taekwondo. He is a seasoned martial artist who has won tournaments and competitions in numerous disciplines and traveled to Asia, Australasia and South America to train and compete.

Suzuki has a background in Kyukoshin Karate and has proven how effective this particular skillset can be by registering six first-round stoppage wins due to strikes in his career to date. His stand-up skills are unorthodox and he is extremely adept at stepping in with long knees, a technique which is relatively rare in MMA.

Kayoom has a diverse range of kicks himself and is unlikely to be intimidated by his opponent’s striking credentials, but with a black belt in BJJ, the Malaysian might feel that his key to victory will be to take Suzuki down and try to submit him.

ONE FC: Warrior Spirit sees Asia’s biggest promotion renew its commercial partnership with Tune Talk. The Malaysian Telco has invested heavily in local MMA and earlier this year launched its own amateur series of events entitled Malaysian Invasion.

No other fights have been officially announced for Nov. 15, but featherweights Jian Kai Chee (4-4) and Melvin Yeoh (7-1) are likely to fight in the final of the four-man tournament that was started earlier this year to crown the inaugural Malaysian 145-pound champion.

ONE FC CEO Victor Cui stated that he was looking forward to returning to Stadium Putra for the second time in 2013.

“We are coming back to the capital of Malaysia to put on one of the greatest fight cards in Asian MMA history,” he said. “We will finally settle the question of who deserves to be called the top welterweight fighter on the planet. ONE FC is putting together a fight card that will blow away the millions of passionate fight fans all around the world.”

He also hailed the significance of Tune Talk’s continued involvement in the sport.

“Of course, we are also extremely excited to have Tune Talk as an official partner of ONE FC once again. Tune Talk has proven time and time again that they are the top mobile prepaid operator in Malaysia with their forward-thinking strategies and mass market appeal.”

ONE FC: Warrior Spirit will be broadcast live in Asia by Star Sports and will be available to view online for 9.99 USD with the first two fights streamed free of charge.