Itsuki Hirata is out of the atomweight Grand Prix. Jenelyn Olsim replaces her and will face Ritu Phogat in the semi final at ONE: ‘NextGen’ on Friday.
No reason was given for the Japanese fighter’s withdrawal. She becomes the second fighter to withdraw from the tournament, after Seo Hee Ham.
Olsim (5-2) has won two fights out of two for ONE Championship, beating Maira Mazar and Bi Nguyen. She had originally been booked to face Jihin Radzuan in an alternate bout.
Olsim was originally set to face Grace Cleveland in an alternate bout at ONE: ‘Empower’. The Thai fighter pulled out but the Filipina has been given a second chance to succeed in the tournament, albeit an outside chance.
Phogat (6-1) is probably the favourite for the tournament after the latest withdrawal. In the other semi final Stamp Fairtex meets Ham’s replacement Julie Mezabarba.
The light heavyweight kickboxing title fight has been removed from the card. That means the semi final bout between Mezabarba and Stamp will headline the event.
ONE: ‘NextGen’, Singapore, October 29th
Julie Mezabarba vs. Stamp Fairtex (Atomweight Grand Prix Semi Final)
Ritu Phogat vs. Jenelyn Olsim (Atomweight Grand Prix Semi Final)
Kiril Grishenko vs. Dustin Joynson (Heavyweight)
Miao Li Tao vs. Jeremy Miado (Strawweight)
Kickboxing: Anderson Silva vs. Iraj Azizpour (Heavyweight)
Kickboxing: Beybulat Isaev vs. Bogdan Stoica (Light Heavyweight)
