By:  | May 29, 2023 9:33 am

Another of ONE Championship’s top Thai names has been added to the stacked June 22nd card. Former Glory lightweight champion Sittichai Sitsongpeenong will be facing Eddie Abasolo in a featherweight Muay Thai fight.

ONE Friday Fights 22 looks set to be the biggest card the promotion has ever put on at Lumpinee Stadium. Sittichai has won four fights out of six for the promotion without picking up any silverware.

He was beaten by Chingiz Allazov in the final of the kickboxing Grand Prix last year. But Sittichai is coming off a victory over Mohammed Boutasaa and could potentially be one win away from a title shot.

Abasolo is also coming off a win. He stopped Niclas Larsen at ONE Fight Night 8 but faces a huge step up in opposition against the experienced Thai.

Big headliner

ONE Championship appears to be pulling out all the stops for this card. Headline fights don’t come much bigger than the heavyweight unification bout which  was recently moved to June 23rd.

Regular champion Arjan Bhullar will face interim champion Anatoly Malykhin in a heavyweight unification fight at ONE Friday Fights 22. Having been postponed multiple times this match has now been brought forwards.

The fight had been set to take place at ONE Fight Night 12 at the same stadium on July 15th. Prior to that it was booked for ONE 161 last September. But Bhullar had to pull out of that event in order to undergo arm surgery.

It was then rescheduled for ONE Fight Night 8 in March. But the bout was postponed again with the promotion citing ‘a shift in broadcast commitments’.

Superb form

Seksan Or Kwanmuang will be looking to continue his superb form in 2023 when he faces Nathan Bendon in a catchweight contest at ONE Friday Fights 22. The event is set for Lumpinee Stadium on June 23rd.

Seksan has won all three fights so far on ONE Championship’s weekly events. He has picked up bonuses on each occasion, amounting to a grand total of $70,000 USD making this a very successful year for the 34 year old.

His opponent earned his shot after finishing as runner up in a Road to ONE tournament in the UK. Bendon is also a pro boxer who has been in with some solid opponents on the regional scene in England and never been stopped.

Interim belt

Earlier this week Another title fight was added to the ONE Friday Fights 22 card. Sam-A Gaiyanghadao will rematch Prajanchai PKSaenchaigym in a bout that will have the interim strawweight Muay Thai belt on the line.

Sam-A has been scheduled to fight Kompetch Fairtex on this card which is set for Lumpinee Stadium on June 23rd. But there has been a reshuffle and he will now be rematching Prajanchai who beat him at ONE: ‘Battleground’ in 2021.

Prajanchai won the title that night. But he lost it at the hands of Joseph Lasiri, quitting on his stool before the start of the fourth round at ONE 157.

According to ONE Championship Lasiri is injured. With both men coming off wins on the promotion’s weekly fight cards at Lumpinee Stadium matchmakers decided to allow them to fight for the interim belt.

Big fight

Meanwhile another big fight has been added to the ONE Friday Fights 22 card. Reigning kickboxing flyweight champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 is set to face rising star Nabil Anane in a flyweight Muay Thai fight.

Superlek is on a seven fight winning streak which saw him win the flyweight kickboxing Grand Prix and then claim the vacant belt. He was was booked to defend that title against Rodtang Jitmuangnon but the fight fell through.

He faced a very different type of challenge against Nabil. The teenager stands at 6’2″ and has seven wins from his last eight fights, capturing the WBC featherweight and WBC lightweight title during this spell.

Nabil has been scheduled to face Panpayak Jitmuangnon at ONE Friday Fights 9 in March. The bout was cancelled when an eye issue was discovered during medicals but the 19 year old is clearly healthy and ready to fight again.

Muay Thai

There are currently seven fights confirmed for the card. It looks set to be the first time one of these events has been headlined by an MMA fight but the rest of the bouts are Muay Thai.

Nico Carrillo takes on ONE Championship veteran Muangthai PKSaenchaigym in a bantamweight bout. Meanwhile the experienced Jomhod AutoMuayThai has been matched with Akram Hamidi in a catchweight contest which is set for 120lbs.

ONE Friday Fights 22, June 23rd
MMA: Arjan Bhullar (c) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (For heavyweight title)
Sam-A Gaiyanghadao vs. Prajanchai PKSaenchaigym (For interim strawweight title)
Seksan Or Kwanmuang vs. Nathan Bendon (Catchweight)
Nico Carrillo vs. Muangthai PKSaenchaigym (Bantamweight)
Jomhod AutoMuayThai vs. Akram Hamidi (Catchweight)
Superlek Kiatmoo9 vs. Nabil Anane (Flyweight)
Sittichai Sitsongpeenong vs. Eddie Abasolo (Featherweight)