What the Wins from ONE 171: Qatar Mean for the Winners
Nine stars left the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar with big wins in the ONE 171: Qatar main card.
While Joshua Pacio and Jonathan Haggerty’s wins in the main and co-main events respectively, many established stars and rising talents also captured important wins.
Here we highlight what the wins at ONE 171: Qatar mean for the victors.
1. Joshua Pacio
Joshua Pacio defied all the odds and unified the ONE Strawweight world title in the main event.
Pacio, who entered the fight against interim champion Jarred Brooks as the underdog, put in a career-defining performance, surviving the American’s submission attempts in the first round before turning the tide in the second round to claim a memorable TKO victory.
The 29-year-old Filipino star is undoubtedly one of the biggest winners of the night as his win against a top fighter like Brooks proves that he deserves to be the undisputed divisional champion.
2. Jonathan Haggerty
Despite being the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing world champion, Jonathan Haggerty knew that many people doubted he could take his dominance in Muay Thai into the kickboxing world.
Going up against a kickboxing veteran with a 21-win-streak like Wei Rui, Haggerty produced a remarkable performance over four rounds after a slow start in the first.
When the fight was over, there was no doubt in the judges’ minds about the winner. Not only did Haggerty beat an established kickboxing veteran to leave Qatar as champion, he also erased any doubts about his credentials as a kickboxing superstar.
3. Roberto Soldic
Roberto Soldic picked up his first victory in ONE Championship, dropping Turkish star Dagi Arslanaliev via KO in less than two minutes.
Arslanaliev started well before Soldic caught him off guard with a powerful left hook at 1:55 of round one. The victory, which sees Soldic finally rise to the lofty expectations on him, cements his status as a top contender for the ONE Welterweight MMA world title.
4. Shamil Erdogan
It took 28 seconds for undefeated Turkish Shamil Erdogan to drop Aung La N Sang with a high left kick. The 34-year-old’s second win against the former two-division world champion puts him in pole position to compete against Anatoly Malykhin for the ONE Middleweight MMA world championship.
5. Bibiano Fernandes
Bibiano Fernandes ended his career with a split decision win against Kevin Belingon at ONE 171: Qatar, taking the score against his longtime rival to 4-1.
The 44-year-old couldn’t have asked for a better way to hang up his gloves, especially with ONE CEO and Chairman announcing that the Brazilian will be the second inductee into the ONE Hall of Fame at ONE 172: Japan.
6. Kirill Grishenko
Kirill Grishenko opened his ONE Championship account with a debut win against current ONE Heavyweight MMA world champion Oumar Kane. He followed that up with a victory against Dustin Joynson.
Two losses followed against current two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin and top contender Marcus Almeida. In his latest bout, he returned to winning ways with a unanimous decision win against Kang Ji Won.
At ONE 171: Qatar, Grishenko picked up a TKO win against Mauro Cerilli, putting himself back in the world title frame once again.
7. Jake Peacock
Jake Peacock put in a stunning performance to beat Japanese veteran Shinji Suzuki via TKO at 1:29 of the third round.
Despite missing a forearm, Peacock dominated Suzuki in their Muay Thai contest, dropping him four times for the technical knockout win. With his second ONE victory, the 31-year-old Canadian-British star proves that he is a force to reckon with in the bantamweight division.
8. Ayaka Miura
Ayaka Miura made it four wins in a row, quickly submitting the returning Ritu Phogat via submission (kneebar) at 2:24 of round one.
With three wins in the atomweight MMA division, the Japanese submission specialist is closing in on another shot.
9. Kade Ruotolo
With a win against the previously undefeated Nicolas Vigna, Kade Ruotolo made it three wins from three in his MMA career.
With his meteoric rise not showing signs of slowing down, the 22-year-old American star will eventually get his title shot for the ONE Lightweight MMA world title.
