The bantamweight Muay Thai title fight between Nong-O Gaiyanghadao and Liam Harrison has an official date. The two men will face off at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on August 27th (local time) on a card that is being broadcast live on Amazon Prime in North America.
Nong-O has won eight fights out of fight since signing for ONE Championship. Harrison’s fortunes have been more mixed and the Englishman has two wins from his four fights.
But Harrison is coming off an incredible come from behind win over Muangthai PKSanchaigym. He survived two knockdowns and went on to knock his experienced Thai opponent down three times in the first round to win the fight and earn a shot at the bantamweight Muay Thai belt.
Muangthai nearly FINISHES Liam Harrison with back-to-back knockdowns! 👊💥👊#ONE156 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship | How To Watch 👉 https://t.co/t1U58xACAx pic.twitter.com/JNOAZLIcdW
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 22, 2022
Heavyweight fights
The card will also feature two heavyweight fights. Undefeated Brazilian grappler Marcus Almeida (3-0) has been matched with former title challenger Kirill Grishenko (5-1).
Almeida has won three fights out of three for ONE Championship but a first win continues to elude Amir Aliakbari (10-3). He will be looking to snap his two fight losing streak when he takes on former title challenger Mauro Cerilli (14-4).
Kang Ji Won 🇰🇷 springs a MASSIVE upset, stopping Amir Aliakbari in Round 1! #ONEFistsOfFury2 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/zje6KvjwkA
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 5, 2021
Title rematch
As previously announced the event will be headlined by a flyweight title rematch between Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson. Last year Moraes stunned the world by knocking out Johnson.
Moraes (20-3) is currently in his second stint as champion and has held the title since 2019 although he has only defended it twice. While he has always been highly regarded in Asia the win over Johnson really put him on the global MMA map.
Demetrious Johnson 🆚 Adriano Moraes ended with a SHOCKING KNOCKOUT! @adrianomkmoraes #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/TIY3CUqeLR
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 23, 2021
Greatest flyweight
Johnson (23-4-1) is widely regarded as being the greatest flyweight of all time. He successfully defended the UFC flyweight title 11 times and had been widely expected to win the ONE Championship belt at the first attempt.
So the loss to Moraes was a stunning upset. Johnson has not competed in MMA since although he did face Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a mixed rules bout at ONE: ‘X’ earlier this year.
Moraes has successfully defended his title since. He submitted Yuya Wakamatsu with a third round guillotine choke at ONE: ‘X’ making this the biggest flyweight fight of the year.
Rodtang will also be in action at ONE 161. He has been booked to take on Savvas Michael in the semi final of the flyweight Grand Prix.
ONE 161, Singapore, August 27th
Adriano Moraes (c) vs. Demetrious Johnson (For flyweight title)
Muay Thai: Nong-O Gaiyanghadao vs. Liam Harrison (For bantamweight title)
Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Savvas Michael (Flyweight Grand Prix semi final)
Marcus Almeida vs. Kirill Grishenko (Heavyweight)
Amir Aliakbari vs. Mauro Cerilli (Heavyweight)
Muay Thai: Amir Naseri vs. Jonathan Haggerty (Flyweight)
Itsuki Hirata vs. Lin Heqin (Atomweight)
Muay Thai: Diandra Martin vs. Amber Kitchen (Catchweight)
