Veteran striker Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong has become a staple of ONE Championship’s lightweight Muay Thai division over the last year, but he’ll shift focus to a new sport this weekend.

At ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova this Saturday, 4th May, the Thai star will strap on the big gloves to compete in kickboxing for the first time in ONE against Bogdan Shumarov inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. 

Rungrawee has put together a 4-1 slate in the Muay Thai ranks, taking out names like Nauzet Trujillo, Vladimir Gabov, and Shakir Al-Tekreeti along the way. His next clash may be a step outside his comfort zone, but the Sitsongpeenong man believes he’s ready for anything. 

“I am a person who never underestimates my opponents. I will do my best on stage. I will fight according to the game plan. If he has a trump card to show, I’m ready to adapt,” Rungrawee said. 

“It’s definitely me who kicks better than him. We’ve practiced Muay Thai kicks since we were kids. The thing that gives him an advantage over me is his punches. I study him all the time. He’s only good at punching people.”

Shumarov has put a strong showing together thus far in ONE Championship. His two finishes from as many fights have announced the Bulgarian brawler as a contender to Alexis Nicolas’ newly acquired divisional gold, and he’ll be out to cement that on Saturday.

With that in mind, Rungrawee knows he’ll need to be at the top of his game to walk away with the win. But he intends to cause an upset and snatch a bit of extra cash while doing it. 

After that, the 28-year-old will set his eyes on the ultimate prize.

“The goal for this fight is to win by knockout. In my mind, I want to get another bonus,” Rungrawee stated.  

“If I can knock Bogdan out, I think I would like to fight for the ONE World Title.”

British UFC fans were over the moon when the MMA leader announced that UFC 304 will take place in Manchester, England later this year. That delight quickly soured, however, once news arrived that the event will take place during the regular US broadcast slot, meaning the first preliminary bout is scheduled for 11pm local time, while the main card will begin at 3am. 

The last time this happened was at UFC 204 back in 2016 when Michael Bisping defended  his middleweight title against Dan Henderson. And it seems one fighter who is likely to be appearing on the pay-per-view this time around isn’t a fan of the UFC’s announcement. 

Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall believes that the UFC’s decision (which was made with the company’s US audience in mind) is completely unfair on the British fans who will attend the event.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Violent Money TV (@violentmoneytv)

“Well, as an athlete, as a fighter, in all honesty, it doesn’t make that much difference” he said while speaking on his YouTube channel. “Probably for a couple of weeks before I’ll have to  wake up and train at that time, or stay up, or whatever. I’ve flown across the world multiple  times and fought on different time zones, so it’s not as bad as that”. 

“As a fan who wants to watch it live, I think it is absolutely terrible. I think, yeah, it’s just not  fair on the fans, not fair on the UK fans” added Tom Aspinall. 

“Obviously, it’s predominantly an American audience, so I understand that they want to sell  to them. But why can’t they sell to them in the afternoon, which is our evening time? Why  can’t the Americans watch it in the afternoon? And the UK fans, the Manchester fans, the  European fans, can all fly to this event, sell out this new arena. I mean, it’s going to sell out  regardless, mate. We’re very, very, very, very lucky to have a pay-per-view event in  Manchester. Very lucky. But UK MMA, let’s put it on UK time”. 

Aspinall is likely to be defending his interim title at UFC 304, with Curtis Blaydes looking  increasingly likely to be the man standing across the octagon from him, after it emerged that Cyril Gane is unavailable due to the fact that he’s filming a movie. 

Another belt likely to be on the line in Manchester will be Leon Edwards’ welterweight title, with rumours persisting that he will finally face perennial contender Belal Muhammed.

Nico Carrillo is one of the brightest stars to emerge from ONE Championship’s Friday Fights series. The scrappy Scotsman has passed every test put in front of him in the promotion, and he’ll face another striking veteran in his next outing.

On Monday, ONE announced that Nico Carrillo will be pitted against Saemapetch Fairtex in a bantamweight Muay Thai tilt at ONE Fight Night 23: Buntan vs. Meksen on Saturday, 5th July, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. 

One of the brightest stars from the U.K., “King of the North” has scored three knockouts from as many fights in the world’s largest martial arts organization, and he now sits firmly atop the bantamweight Muay Thai rankings.

Carrillo’s tenure began at ONE Friday Fights 13 in April 2023, where he dispatched Furkan Karabag in the third round, and he followed that by finishing Thai sensation Muangthai PK Saenchai in the second round of their battle at ONE Friday Fights 22 two months later.

But it wasn’t until his latest appearance that the world recognised his true greatness. The 25-year-old was tasked with taking on former longtime ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama last December at ONE Friday Fights 46.

The pair brawled across two thrilling rounds, with Nong-O putting the heat on Nico Carrillo throughout. But the Scottish sensation held his own, and he picked his moment perfectly to finish his legendary Thai foe before the end of the second frame.

That performance has firmly placed him on reigning divisional king Jonathan Haggerty’s radar, and it’s a fight Carrillo is eager to book. But he’ll need to put down another world-class foe to prove he’s ready for a shot at gold.

A veteran of 14 outings in ONE Championship, Saemapetch has faced a who’s-who list of competitors in bantamweight Muay Thai, and he currently occupies the #4 spot in the divisional rankings.

The former ONE World Title challenger has taken on talents like Tawanchai PK Saenchai, Nong-O, and Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai. And while he hasn’t won every bout, he always comes back better than before, making him a consistent threat to the competition. 

Saemapetch’s last outing saw him exact revenge on Mohamed Younes Rabah in a rematch of their controversial first encounter at ONE Fight Night 17 last December.

The 29-year-old took a poorly timed strike from Rabah that affected the rest of his performance and ultimately saw him fall to a loss in the opening round. But with his motivation sky-high, he met the Algerian again two months later at ONE Fight Night 18 and scored a first-round win.

He’ll undoubtedly be out to continue his momentum and stop Carrillo’s hype train at ONE Fight Night 23, so fans should expect a firefight between two proven finishers when they face off on 5th July.