By:  | February 6, 2024 10:42 am

The card for ONE Fight Night 19 is complete. Among the latest batch of fights released is a bantamweight bout pitting Mansur Malachiev against Yosuke Saruta.

Malchiev (11-1) is coming off the first loss of his career. The Russian dropped a decision to Joshua Pacio at ONE Fight Night 15 last October but remains at #5 in the strawweight rankings.

Saruta (21-11-3) is a former strawweight champion but has been out of action for nearly two years. The Japanese fighter is coming off a pair of defeats in 2022, he was stopped by Joshua Pacio and outpointed by Gustavo Balart.

Welterweight bout

There will be just three MMA fights on this card. The latest to be announced is in the welterweight division and it pits Hiroyuki Tetsuka (12-4) against Valmir Barbosa (9-3).

Tetsuka has won his last three fights and could be in line for a welterweight title shot if he defeats the Brazilian, although Zebaztian Kadestam is at the front of that queue. Barbosa has lost two of his three fights for ONE Championship but his bouts almost never go the distance.

Strawweight fight

The other MMA fight pits Lito Adiwang against Danial Williams. The Filipino strawweight recently made a successful comeback after a year spent on the sidelines following knee surgery.

He won two fights out of two in 2023 and a third win would put Adiwang back in the title mix at strawweight. Williams didn’t get to compete in MMA at all in 2023 as he was busy challenging for titles in kickboxing.

Bantamweight title

As previously announced the fight card at Lumpinee Stadium will be headlined by a bantamweight Muay Thai bout between champion Jonathan Haggerty and challenger Felipe Lobo. The Englishman also holds the kickboxing title and is on a six fight winning streak.

The event will take place on Saturday morning (local time) and be broadcast live in North America by Prime Video.

Immediate rematch

The rest of the card looks to consist primarily of Muay Thai fights. One of them is a rematch that has possibly been ordered to clear up some controversy.

The ending to the first fight between Saemapetch Fairtex and Mohamed Younes Rabah stirred up a lot of debate. The Algerian appeared to secure a first round finish courtesy of an illegal knee.

Saemapetch made a fast start to that fight, which took place at ONE Fight Night 17 in December. He dropped Rabah with a left hook just 90 seconds into the opening round at Lumpinee Stadium.

Rabah bounced back to knock down the Thai veteran. But the knee which finished the fight appeared to land when Saemapetch was already grounded.

 

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A post shared by Mohamed Younes Rabah (@younes_rabah_)

All American

Also on to the card is an all American featherweight Muay Thai fight. Luke Lessei came up short against Jo Nattawut at ONE Fight Night 17 but put on a very impressive display.

He has been matched with compatriot Eddie Abasolo. The former boxer is coming off a decision loss to Sittichai Sitsongpeenong at ONE Friday Fights 22.

ONE Fight Night 19, Bangkok, February 17th
Muay Thai: Jonathan Haggerty (c) vs. Felipe Lobo (For bantamweight title)
Muay Thai: Saemapetch Fairtex vs. Mohamed Younes Rabah (Bantamweight)
Muay Thai: Liam Nolan vs. Nauzet Trujillo (Lightweight)
Hiroyuki Tetsuka vs. Valmir da Silva Barbosa (Welterweight)
Mansur Malachiev vs. Yosuke Saruta (Strawweight)
Muay Thai: Luke Lessei vs. Eddie Abasolo (Featherweight)
Danial Williams vs. Lito Adiwang (Strawweight)
Muay Thai: Liam Nolan vs. Nauzet Trujillo (Strawweight)
Muay Thai: Luke Lessei vs. Eddie Abasolo (Featherweight)
Muay Thai: Thongpoon PKSaenchaigym vs. Timur Chuikov (Strawweight)
Mixed rules: Wondergirl Jaroonsak vs. Dayane Cardoso (Strawweight)