Bibiano Fernandes is set to defend his bantamweight title for the sixth time at ONE: Kings & Conquerors in Macau on Aug. 5. The Brazilian will be looking to extend his 12-fight unbeaten streak when he faces Andrew Leone at the Cotai Arena.
The event will be ONE Championship’s second in a venue which has also held UFC cards and boxing matches involving the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Zou Shiming. The headliner sees Fernandes (20-3) defend his title against an opponent who is ten years younger.
Leone (8-2) has won three fights out of three for ONE Championship. The American is based in Bali and had initially been scheduled to challenge for the interim flyweight title in Macau last year, but pulled out of the bout after suffering an injury in training.
The card features several former title challengers including Koji Ando (12-5-2). The former Legend FC lightweight champion returns to the cage to face hard hitting Russian Timofey Nastyukhin (10-3), who suffered a broken shin in his last bout.
The card also features exciting Thai prospect Shannon Wiratchai (7-1-0-1). He is riding a five-fight winning streak and will be looking to take a step closer to a lightweight title shot when he faces unpredictable Australian Rob Lisita (14-9).
ONE Championship has signed one of the world’s top flyweight prospects and he will be dropping down a division to make his promotional debut. Hayato Suzuki (16-0-2) faces Filipino Joshua Pacio (9-1) in a bout which could well determine the identity of the next challenger to strawweight champion Yoshitaka Nairo.
A former champion faces a former challenger when Kotetsu Boku (25-11-2) takes on Eric Kelly (12-3), while Herbert Burns (6-1) squares off against promotional newcomer Magomed Idrisov (7-1).
ONE: Kings & Conquerors
Cotai Arena, Macau
August 5, 2017
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Andrew Leone (for Fernandes’ bantamweight belt)
Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Koji Ando
Rob Lisita vs. Shannon Wiratchai
Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Koji Ando
Joshua Pacio vs. Hayato Suzuki
Eric Kelly vs. Kotetsu Boku
Chen Lei vs. Saiful Merican
Herbert Burns vs. Magomed Idrisov
Rika Ishige vs. Jomary Torres
Leandro Ataides vs. Michal Pasternak
Marc Marcellinus vs. Tran Quang Loc
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