Iran’s Amir Aliakbari and Marcus Almeida will face each other in a pivotal heavyweight MMA contest that could decide the challenger for the world title in ONE Championship.
Aliakbari and Almeida will collide at ONE Championship’s upcoming event ONE 169 which kicks off in the morning hours of Saturday, November 9. The winner could potentially be the next man to face the winner of the show’s main event where Anatoly Malykhin defends his ONE Heavyweight MMA world championship against Senegal’s Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane.
Aliakbari has won his last four bouts – with two victories coming at the expense of former heavyweight champions Arjan Bhullar and Brandon Vera. The 36-year-old Iranian finished three of his last four opponents, beating Mauro Cerilli and Vera via TKO and Dustin Joynson via submission.
Meanwhile, Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida is a submission specialist and a 17-time BJJ world champion who has proven himself in MMA. The 34-year-old Brazilian’s first and only loss he has suffered since switching to MMA came in his most recent bout against “Reug Reug”.
The two veterans will face each other at ONE 169, which kicks off at 3:00 AM Mecca on Saturday, November 9, and will be broadcast live via beIN SPORTS.
