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John Lineker And Liam Harrison Set For Epic Muay Thai Encounter At ONE Fight Night 18

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While 2023 still has plenty of action to keep ONE Championship fans entertained, 2024 begins with a firecracker of its own. ONE Fight Night 18, the promotion’s first event of the year, is set to go down on Saturday, 13th January, and it will feature former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John Lineker taking part in his first Muay Thai matchup against British striking icon Liam “Hitman” Harrison. 

The frantic firefight will take place inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and the announcement was met with overwhelming excitement from the combat sports world.

Lineker is undoubtedly one of the hardest hitters to ever compete in MMA, having amassed a colossal 18 knockouts in his legendary career.

Four of those finishes have been during his ONE tenure, with the most significant coming against Bibiano Fernandes, who he put down to win the bantamweight MMA gold at ONE: LIGHTS OUT in March 2022.

Lineker vacated the coveted strap after failing to make weight ahead of his first meeting with current World Champion Fabricio Andrade last October, and he fell short in his bid to recapture it when he came up against “Wonder Boy” a second time this past January at ONE on Prime Video 3.

But “Hands of Stone” has returned to fearsome form since then by putting together back-to-back wins in his last two fights against Kim Jae Woong and Stephen Loman, respectively.

He now sits as the top contender to Andrade’s throne. But before he goes down that road, Lineker will enter the world of Muay Thai, and his first opponent there will be the textbook opposite of slouch.

A four-time World Champion, “Hitman” has been the flagbearer for British Muay Thai in ONE Championship for many years. He has hundreds of bouts under his belt in “the art of eight limbs, and his ONE 2022 Muay Thai Fight of the Year against Muangthai PK Saenchai is regularly referred to as the best battle the sport has ever seen.

Those victories in ONE earned Harrison a shot at former bantamweight Muay Thai king Nong-O Hama last August, but his burning momentum had cold water chucked on it in the first frame when the Thai legend demolished “Hitman’s” leg with a kick, leaving him on the sideline until now.

But in typical fashion, Harrison wants the toughest fight on offer in ONE for his return to action and there aren’t many who could offer more of a striking challenge for him in the organisation than Lineker, so fans should expect a total firefight when this one goes down on 13th January.

More bouts are expected to be announced for ONE Fight Night 18 in the coming weeks.

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UFC Austin – Weigh-In Results

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With UFC Austin just a day away, all fighters competing tomorrow night have taken to the scales.

Let’s see who weighed in!

***

Main card (12am GMT – TNT Sports)

(#4) Beneil Dariush (156lbs) vs (#8) Arman Tsarukyan (155.5lbs) – lightweight bout

(#12) Jalin Turner (156lbs) vs (#13) Bobby Green (155lbs) – lightweight bout

(#8) Rob Font (135lbs) vs (#2 – FLW) Deiveson Figueiredo (135lbs) – bantamweight bout

(#9) Sean Brady (170lbs) vs (#11 – MW) Kelvin Gastelum (170lbs) – welterweight bout

Joaquim Silva (156lbs) vs Clay Guida (156lbs) – lightweight bout

Punahele Soriano (185.5lbs) vs Dustin Stoltzfus (185.5lbs) – middleweight bout

Prelims (9pm GMT – TNT Sports/UFC Fight Pass)

(#12) Miesha Tate (135.5lbs) vs (#13) Julia Avila (135.5lbs) – bantamweight bout

Zach Reese (185lbs) vs Cody Brundage (185lbs) – middleweight bout

Drakkar Klose (155.5lbs) vs Joe Solecki (155lbs) – lightweight bout

Rodolfo Bellato (205.5lbs) vs Ihor Potieira (204lbs) – light-heavyweight bout

Wellington Turman (171lbs) vs Jared Gooden (171lbs) – welterweight bout

Veronica Hardy (125lbs) vs Jamey-Lyn Horth (125lbs) – flyweight bout

***

For more UFC Austin content, stay tuned to Violent Money TV.

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ONE Championship To Spotlight MMA In 2024 With 60 Events Scheduled

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ONE Championship’s goal for 2023 saw them place a spotlight on the greatest fighters in Muay Thai fighters on its roster through its weekly ONE Friday Fights series. But 2024 will see the organization adjust its focus back to MMA.

In an interview with South China Morning Post this week, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong discussed the outcomes of the martial arts giant’s commitment to Muay Thai over the last 12 months, and he spoke of the exciting plans ONE has for 2024 & for MMA. 

“You’re going to see MMA back in full force. We have our US stadium shows, we have Qatar, Japan. In the Philippines, we have one or two shows,” Sityodtong announced to the South China Morning Post.

“ONE Friday Fights and the Muay Thai product are very much on a firm footing now. We’ve laid the groundwork and feel very comfortable it’s running on autopilot, and now we’re able to scale up. We’ve firmly established we have the No. 1 striking property on the planet. The focus will be sharply back onto mixed martial arts.”

Arguably, the most-anticipated date on ONE’s calendar next year is its debut event in the Middle East. 

The organization was scheduled to put on an event in Qatar in December 2023, but plans were rearranged when conflict broke out nearby. 

But with 2024 looming, Sityodtong has confirmed that the show will go on in mid-spring.

“First and foremost, it is the right decision, given the sensitive circumstances in the region. Also, the war broke out right in the middle of our execution,” the ONE co-founder said.

“The good news for fans and athletes is that March 1st is 100 percent happening in Doha. Thank you to all of the stakeholders in Qatar for making it possible.”

Along with confirming the news of ONE’s first-ever show in the Middle East, Sityodtong also hinted at an event in Europe in the coming 12 months. 

While the location is still under wraps, it would make sense for the promotion to bring its exciting live show to a European country, given the amount of talent from the continent that ONE has on its roster.

“Yeah, knock on wood, I think in the next couple of weeks I will be making a major announcement for Europe, our biggest for Europe in our history,” Sityodtong teased.

“It’s very exciting.”

Roberto Soldic, Stephen Irvine, and Nico Carrillo have all been introduced to the global fanbase this past year. And with Jonathan Haggerty’s rise to two-sport stardom in the bantamweight division, there is a seemingly endless amount of firepower from the region that could feature on ONE’s debut card there.

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Can Abdisalam Kubanychbek end the curse of BRAVE CF’s Lightweight world title?

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One of the most devastating fighters to ever grace the BRAVE CF arena, Abdisalam Kubanychbek has finally earned the world title he worked hard for: he`s the undisputed BRAVE CF Lightweight champion of the world. But ahead of his first defense against Lucas ‘’Mineiro’’ Martins at BRAVE CF 77, on December 5, a curse rears its ugly head once again. In total, BRAVE CF has had seven titleholders, and none of them have been able to defend their belt.

The Lightweight world title has traveled the world, being contested in Bahrain (3 times), Brazil (2 times), Jordan, Poland, Uzbekistan, and Serbia. Each time, the champion failed to defend, losing the fight – and the belt- immediately after winning it. 

The belt has been in possession of Ottman Azaitar (Morocco), Lucas Martins (Brazil), Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (Jordan), Luan Santiago (Brazil), Cleiton Silva (Brazil), Amin Ayoub (France), Ahmed Amir (Egypt), and is now with Kubanychbek, widely regarded as the number one fighter from Kyrgyzstan.

On December 5, he will have a golden opportunity to break one of the biggest curses in MMA today. In front of him, lies a former victim of the curse, who’s now eager to keep it alive – Lucas ‘’Mineiro’’ is more determined than ever to regain the belt, and make history as the first-ever BRAVE CF two-time Lightweight champion of the world, and only one of two men to hold the same belt twice, after Jarrah Al-Silawi at Super Welterweight. 

For Abdisalam Kubanychbek, this is a chance to stake his claim as the most feared man on the roster and keep his undefeated BRAVE CF record alive. A chance Omok is eager to take and has prepared his whole life to achieve – from the boogeyman of the Lightweight division to its king and destroyer of curses. On December 5, it’s all to play – and fight – for.

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