Biggest Winners and Losers from ONE Fight Night 26: Lee vs Rasulov
ONE Championship’s last show of the year ONE Fight Night 26: Lee vs Rasulov produced the anticipated fireworks.
Eleven fights across Muay Thai, Kickboxing, MMA, and Submission Grappling, including two world championship bouts, featured some of the best martial artists that entertained the crowd inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.
After watching one of the best martial arts shows of the year, here are the biggest winners and losers from ONE Fight Night 26: Lee vs Rasulov.
Biggest Winners
– Alibeg Rasulov
He may have not left Lumpinee Stadium with the ONE Lightweight MMA world title, but Alibeg Rasulov kept his overall MMA record intact.
The undefeated Turkish challenger put in a solid display, but judging by Christian Lee’s dynamic and motivated performance, he could have lost his spotless record. Instead, Rasulov can treat the fight as a learning experience as he will probably get a rematch for the world title soon.
– Mayssa Bastos
The BJJ star left no doubt in the minds of viewers on who is the best atomweight submission grappler in the world. Another impressive win – albeit, not via submission – against a star of the magnitude of Danielle Kelly seals one of the sport’s best rivalries of 2024.
– Reece McLaren
Despite being a mainstay in ONE Championship’s flyweight MMA division, Reece McLaren entered his fight against ONE Interim Strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks as the underdog.
Throughout three rounds, McLaren imposed his style, showed his strength, and bloodied Brooks on the way to a dominant decision victory that positions him as a possible challenger to the vacant ONE Flyweight MMA world championship.
Yuya Wakamatsu
Yuya Wakamatsu made it three wins on the trot with a unanimous decision victory against promotional newcomer Gilbert Nakatani.
With three big consecutive wins at flyweight, Wakamatsu is also eying a shot at the vacant ONE Flyweight MMA world title.
Elias Mahmoudi
In-form Algerian star Elias Mahmoudi picked up his third consecutive KO victory in ONE Championship against Bosnian-Canadian veteran Denis Puric.
After capturing perhaps his biggest win in ONE Championship, Mahmoudi is inching closer to competing for the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai belt which was recently vacated by Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
– Shamil Gasanov
Shamil Gasanov will be delighted to have ended 2024 on a high note with three wins from three bouts. He has even more reason to be proud of his performance against Halil Amir as he nullified the Turkish athlete’s standup game while giving him a lesson in grappling on the way to a deserved unanimous decision win.
– Cole Abate
20-year-old American Cole Abate lived up to the hype on his ONE debut as one of BJJ’s best rising stars by beating Japanese legend Shinya Aoki at 2:25.
Abate dominated from the get-go and pulled off two submission maneuvers (triangle choke and leg entanglement) before finishing Aoki with an outside heel hook, raising his overall record to 32-3.
Biggest Losers
– Jarred Brooks
ONE Interim Strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks’ hopes to become a two-division champion were delivered a big blow with a loss to fourth-ranked contender Reece McLaren.
Despite a good performance in the first round, Brooks couldn’t drop his Australian counterpart to the canvas and was second-best in striking on the way to a split decision loss in the first Flyweight MMA bout of his ONE Championship career.
– Danielle Kelly
Danielle Kelly might have put in a solid performance against Mayssa Bastos, but her second loss to the Brazilian means she will have to wait to get another shot at the ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling world title. The 29-year-old American never lost at ONE before meeting Bastos, so it’s safe to say she is more than capable of climbing back up the contenders’ ladder again.
– Halil Amir
Halil Amir suffered his second straight defeat in ONE Championship against Shamil Gasanov. His only two career losses have now come back-to-back which points to a slump in form. However, a bigger cause of concern for the 30-year-old Turkish star is the poor performance he put in against Gasanov who dominated the bout from start to finish.
– Danial Williams
A former world title challenger, Danial Williams has lost five of his last six fights. Williams struggled to match Thongpoon PK Saenchai’s energy as he was dropped three times to the canvas, losing via TKO.
