Another former champion has been added to the ONE Friday Fights 46 card. Former bantamweight Muay Thai champion Nong-O Gaiyanghadao will take on Nico Carrillo at Lumpinee Stadium on December 22nd.
Nong-O won his first ten fights for ONE Championship. But the 37 year old was knocked out by Jonathan Haggerty at ONE Fight Night 9 and subsequently hospitalized with a very serious bout of dengue fever.
His opponent comes into this fight on a 13 fight winning streak. Carrillo is one of the tallest fighters in the division and stopped Muangthai PKSaenchaigym in the opening round last time out.
Nico Carrillo ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ steamrolls Muangthai for a second-round TKO! ๐ฅ#ONEFridayFights22 | ๐ด Live Now
๐ Live TV broadcast in 170+ countries (check local listings)
๐ Also available on ONE YouTube and ONE Facebook (geo-restrictions may apply)
๐ Also available onโฆ pic.twitter.com/IuCYjW2l9Tโ ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 23, 2023
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Three titles
There are three title fights on the card. As previously announced the featherweight Muay Thai title fight between champion Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym and challenger Superbon Banchamek has been rescheduled for ONE Friday Fights 46.
The fight had originally been booked for ONE Fight Night 15 earlier this month. Superbon pulled out after tearing his calf muscle butย made a rapid recovery and it was rebooked for ONE Fight Night 17.
Tawanchai was hospitalized with a viral infection and pulled out of that fight. Instead of taking place on one of the Prime Video cards it will now be on a Friday night.
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Switching codes
Tawanchai ended up facing Jo Nattawut in a kickboxing fight at ONE Fight Night 15 instead of Superbon. He won but it wasnโt a particularly impressive performance from the reigning featherweight Muay Thai champion.
His opponent had been in the process of establishing himself as the best kickboxer in the world at the weight. Superbon went on an incredible run that saw him beat Sittichai Sitsongpeenong, Giorgio Petrosyan and Marat Grigorian.
He lost his title and his momentum after getting knocked out by Chingiz Allazov at ONE Fight Night 6 earlier this year. Superbon bounced back to stop Tayfun Ozcan in the second round so it is something of a surprise to see the 32 year old switching codes.
He has been focused on kickboxing in recent years and Superbon will be looking to win a Muay Thai title for the first time since 2018.
What. A. KNOCKOUT! Superbon ๐น๐ญ SLEEPS Giorgio Petrosyan with a second-round head kick to become the first-ever ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion! ๐ฑ #ONEFirstStrike #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/rQzZqEswSx
โ ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 15, 2021
Long awaited
As previously announced Anissa Meksen makes her long awaited comeback on this card. The French fighter will face Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom in an interim atomweight kickboxing title match at ONE Friday Fights 46.
Meksen no showed the weigh ins ahead of ONE Fight Night 6 in January. The decision cost her nearly an entire year as she has been sitting on the sidelines ever since.
She had been promised a shot at the interim atomweight kickboxing belt. That opportunity seemed to slip away from Meksen when she tried to renegotiate the terms of her mixed rules fight with Stamp Fairtex at the last minute.
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Title rematch
Joseph Lasiri will be stepping in the ring for the first time this year at ONE Friday Fights 46. He will be making the first defence of the strawweight Muay Thai title he won in 2022 and rematches former champion Prajanchai PKSaenchaigym.
Lasiri beat Prajanchai to win the belt in 2022. It was seen as a major upset at the time with the Italian making the multiple time Lumpinee and Rajadamnern champion quit on his stool at the end of the third.
Since then Prajanchai has been the busier of the two men and has captured the ONE Championship interim strawweight kickboxing title by beating Sam-A Gaiyanghadao. This will be a unification bout as well as a rematch with the Thai looking for his fourth win of the year at Lumpinee Stadium.
Lasiriโs last fight took place at the tail end of 2022. He dropped down to flyweight to challenge Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon but was beaten by decision.
WHAT AN UPSET! ๐ฑ
Joseph Lasiri ๐ฎ๐น claims the ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Title with a SHOCKING third-round TKO of Prajanchai PK.Saenchai ๐#ONE157 | #ONEChampionship | https://t.co/eBUfsODAFL pic.twitter.com/PDwV74XjP9
โ ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 20, 2022
Marquee event
These events take place at Lumpinee Stadium every Friday night. Every four months or so the matchmakers pull out all the stops for a special card and this looks set to be one of those.
ONE Friday Fights 34 was the last marquee event and it reportedly broke several viewing records. Superlek Kiatmoo9 beat Rodtang Jitmuangnon in the headline fight and fans in Thailand will be excited to see what the card on December 22nd looks like.
ONE Friday Fights 46, Bangkok, December 22nd
Muay Thai: Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym (c) vs. Superbon Banchamek (For featherweight title)
Kickboxing: Anissa Meksen vs. Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom (For interim atomweight title)
Muay Thai: Joseph Lasiri (c) vs. Prajanchai PKSaenchaigym (For strawweight title)
Nong-O Gaiyanghadao vs. Nico Carrillo (Bantamweight)
