By:  | July 1, 2023 1:18 pm

ONE Fight Night 12 has a new main event. The show at Lumpinee Stadium on July 15th will now be headlined by a flyweight Muay Thai fight between Superlek Kiatmoo9 and Tagir Khalilov.

The kickboxing light heavyweight title fight between Roman Kryklia and Francesko Xhaja is off. The Albanian has withdrawn from the contest after suffering an undisclosed injury.

In its place is a fight between the promotion’s reigning flyweight kickboxing champion and an opponent who has made his name competing on the Friday night cards at Lumpinee Stadium.

Superlek is on an eight fight winning streak and is the flyweight kickboxing champion and flyweight Muay Thai Grand Prix winner. But he has made it clear he is not willing to challenge current Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

Instead Superlek finds himself in a non title Muay Thai bout against an opponent who knows what it takes to beat top Thai opponents in this venue. Khalilov is coming off two straight stoppage wins over Chorfah Tor Sangtiennoi and Black Panther.

Quick turnaround

Khalilov had originally been scheduled to face Elias Mahmoudi on this card. A replacement opponent is currently being sought for the French fighter.

Meanwhile Superlek has been handed a very quick turnaround. He was in action last week and stopped Nabil Anane with punches to the body in the opening round at ONE Friday Fights 22.

Grudge match

Two of the promotion’s top featherweight will also face off next month. Garry Tonon and Shamil Gasanov will go head to head at Lumpinee Stadium on July 14th in a featherweight grudge match.

Gasanov called out Tonon after beating Kim Jae Woong at ONE Fight Night 3 last year. In the aftermath of that victory he announced he was going to rip the American’s head off.

Tonon rebounded from the first defeat of his MMA career to submit Johnny Nunez at ONE Fight Night 6 earlier this year.  He is a BJJ black belt and Gasanov will have his work cut off trying to rip any of the 31 year old’s limbs off.

Gasanov was scheduled to fight Martin Nguyen at ONE Fight Night 7. The Russian pulled out of that fight but will be looking to underline his title credentials with a win over the #2 ranked Tonon.

 

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A heavyweight fight between Amir Aliakbari and Dustin Joynson has been added to ONE Fight Night 12. The event is set for Lumpinee Stadium on July 15th.

Aliakbari (12-3) was seen as a future heavyweight champion when he signed with ONE Championship but was knocked out in the opening round of his first two fights. He has got his career back on track and comes into this contest on the back of two stoppage wins of his own.

Joynson (7-1-0-1) has been the distance in both his ONE Championship fights and has a win and a loss. The Canadian has not provided anything like as much entertainment as Aliakbari but could secure himself a title shot with a win over the Iranian.

Having easily overcome Arjan Bhullar reigning heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin is in need of a new challenge. The winner of this fight could be in the title mix, along with the winner of the ONE Fight Night 13 bout between Marcus Buchecha and Omar Kane.

Female fight

Meanwhile Lara Fernandez will be back in action at ONE Fight Night 12. The Spanish atomweight has been matched with an opponent who earned a contract after impressing on the weekly shows at Lumpinee Stadium.

Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom won at ONE Friday Fights 9 and ONE Friday Fights 16 with both victories coming inside the distance. In 2021 she also knocked out Aida Looksaikongdin, who married Rodtang Jitmuangnon earlier this year, with a spinning back fist.

Phetjeeja is on a ten fight winning streak and nine of these victories have come inside the distance. Meanwhile Fernandez was handed an atomweight title shot on her ONE Championship debut but came up short against Janet Todd.

She caused Todd plenty of problems in that fight. At ONE 164 the Spanish fighter was matched with Daokongfah Banchamek and she beat the Thai fighter by split decision.

Bantamweight bout

A bantamweight bout between Yuya Wakamatsu and Xie Wei is also on the ONE Fight Night 12 card. The two will face off at Lumpinee Stadium on July 15th.

Wakamatsu is coming off back to back defeats. He was submitted by Adriano Moraes in the third round of a flyweight title fight at ONE: ‘X’ last year.

While Wakamatsu was clearly the underdog heading into that fight his next defeat was more surprising. The 28 year old was stopped in the opening round by Sung Hoon Woo at ONE 163.

Wei is also coming off a defeat. He saw his three fight winning streak snapped by Reece McLaren, the Australian submitted him with a rear naked choke at ONE 158.

ONE Fight Night 12, Bangkok, July 15th
Muay Thai: Superlek Kiatmoo9 vs. Tagir Khalilov (Flyweight)
Garry Tonon vs. Shamil Gasanov (Featherweight)
Amir Aliakbari vs. Dustin Joynson (Heavyweight)
Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Xie Wei (Bantamweight)
Muay Thai: Lara Fernandez vs. Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom (Atomweight)
Submission Grappling: Tammi Musumeci vs. Amanda Alequin (Strawweight)
Kickboxing: Constantin Rusu vs. Bogdan Shumarov (Lightweight)