ONE Championship has added three new MMA bouts to its ONE 171: Qatar show which will take place on Thursday, 20 December inside the Lusail Sports Arena.
At Welterweight, Turkey’s Dagi Arslanaliev squares off against Croatia’s Roberto Soldic in an intriguing clash between two stars searching for a big comeback victory.
Arslanaliev most recently lost under submission grappling rules against ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo in August 2023. Before that, the 30-year-old had established himself as a star in ONE Championship’s welterweight MMA division, finishing his opponents in all of his eight wins.
On the other hand, Soldic needs to bounce back from what has been an underwhelming star to life at ONE Championship. After his debut against Murad Ramazanov ended in a no-contest, the 29-year-old suffered a second-round knockout defeat against former divisional champion Zebaztian Kadestam.
The martial arts promotion also announced an interesting featherweight matchup between Shamil Gasanov and Martin Nguyen. Gasanov went on an impressive 3-0 record in 2024, capping off the year with a dominant unanimous decision win against Halil Amir.
While third-ranked Gasanov may be one win away from a title shot against the winner between Tang Kai and Akbar Abdullaev who squarer off in the main event of ONE Fight Night 27 in January, Nguyen hopes to bounce back from his most recent submission defeat against Garry Tonon.
Finally, veterans Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon clash in a bantamweight bout. Both men are looking to recover from a recent slump in form with their eyes on restarting their upward push in the weight division.
