Eddie Alvarez is injured and has pulled out of the ONE Lightweight Grand Prix. He has been replaced by Christian Lee who will face Saygid Arslanaliev on October 13th.
The ONE Championship CEO / Founder Chatri Sityodtong broke the news on Facebook earlier today:
Three of the four semi finalists in the Lightweight Grand Prix pulled out with injury. Ariel Sexton, Lowen Tynanes and Timofey Nastyukhin all withdrew after winning quarter final bouts.
As a result Alvarez was reinstated, despite having been knocked out by Nastyukhin in the quarter finals. He beat Eduard Folayang, another replacement, in the last round but subsequently suffered an injury.
Folayang was ONE Championship’s first choice to face Arslanaliev at ONE: ‘Century’ which is set for the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on October 13th. But the Filipino was unable to secure a Japanese visa in time to compete on next month’s card.
Instead Arslanaliev (8-1) has been matched with reigning lightweight champion Lee (12-3). However the 21 year old’s title will not be on the line in the rearranged Grand Prix final.
ONE: ‘Century’ Part I will be headlined by the atomweight title bout pitting Angela Lee against strawweight champion Xiong Jing Nan for the second time. ONE: ‘Century’ Part II is main evented by heavyweight champion Brandon Vera who challenges Aung La Nsang for his light heavyweight belt.
ONE: ‘Century’ Part I, Tokyo, October 13th (Morning)
Angela Lee (c) vs. Xiong Jing Nan (For Atomweight Title)
Demetrious Johnson vs. Danny Kingad (Flyweight Grand Prix Final)
Christian Lee vs. Saygid Arslanaliev (Lightweight Grand Prix Final)
Muay Thai: Janet Todd vs. Ekaterina Vandaryeva (Atomweight)
Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Dae Hwan Kim (Flyweight)
Muay Thai: Sam-a Gaiyanghadao vs. Darren Roland (Strawweight)
Yushi Okami vs. Agilan Thani (Welterweight)
Itsuki Harata vs. Rika Ishige (Atomweight)
Senzo Ikeda vs. Lito Adiwang (Strawweight)
Phoe Thaw vs. Yoon Chang Min (Featherweight)
Sunoto vs. Kwon Won Il (Catchweight)
ONE: ‘Century’ Part II, Tokyo, October 13th (Afternoon)
Aung La Nsang (c) vs. Brandon Vera (For Light Heavyweight Title)
Bibiano Fernandes (c) vs. Kevin Belingon (For Bantamweight Title)
Rodtang Jitmuangnon (c) vs. Walter Goncalves (For Flyweight Title)
Kickboxing: Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Samy Sana (Featherweight Grand Prix Final)
Mauro Cerilli vs. Arjan Bhullar (Heavyweight)
Shinya Aoki vs. Honorio Banario (Lightweight)
Mei Yamaguchi vs. Jenny Huang (Atomweight)
Takasuke Kume vs. Koshi Matsumoto (Lightweight)
Daichi Kitakata vs. Yosuke Saruta (Strawweight)
Rafael Silva vs. Shoko Sato (Bantamweight)
Hiroyuki Tetsuka vs. Hernani Perpetuo (Welterweight)
