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ONE Fight Night 26 Lee vs. Rasulov Preview – Best Fights & Fighters to Watch

Get ready for this Friday's ONE Fight Night 26 card.

Drew Beaupre

(ONE Championship

ONE Championship will wrap up its 2024 schedule this Friday (December 6) when ONE Fight Night 26 takes place at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Main Event

The main event will see Christian Lee make his long-awaited return to defend his lightweight title against undefeated challenger Alibeg Rasulov.

Lee became a two-division champion when he claimed the welterweight belt from Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE Fight Night 4 but has now been out of action for more than two years, while Rasulov made his ONE championship debut in July and impressed fans with a unanimous decision victory against former titleholder Ok Rae Yoon.

(Exclusive) Christian Lee Talks Brother Adrian and Return at ONE Fight Night 26

The Co-Main Event

The night’s co-main event is a bantamweight kickboxing bout featuring former champion Petchtanong Banchamek taking on Nabil Anane.

Banchamek was stripped of his ONE kickboxing title in July 2023 for a positive drug test and was subsequently suspended for a year, and now he’ll look to get back on track in Bangkok when he faces the 20-year-old Anane.

Fights You Don’t Want To Miss

Mayssa Bastos vs. Danielle Kelly 2

ONE Fight Night 26 will see Kelly attempt to reclaim her ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling title when she meets Bastos in a rematch after their first meeting in August.

Kelly became the division’s inaugural champion when she defeated Jessa Khan in September of last year before losing to Bastos via unanimous decision, but that closely-contested match encouraged ONE Championship to rebook the two women for its year-ending event.

(Exclusive) Danielle Kelly Talks Mayssa Bastos Rematch at ONE Fight Night 26

Reece McLaren vs. Jarred Brooks

Brooks rebounded from a disqualification-loss in his rematch with Joshua Pacio in March by winning the Interim ONE Strawweight MMA title against Gustavo Balart, and now “The Monkey God” is moving up in weight to take on McLaren while Pacio remains sidelined.

A member of the ONE Championship roster since 2015, McLaren will look to score back-to-back wins and spoil Brooks’ hopes of a flyweight title run when the pair square off in what should be a high-paced matchup.

Shamil Gasanov vs. Halil Amir

This featherweight matchup will see Amir try to get back on track after Akbar Adullaev handed “No Mercy” his first loss and secured a title shot against Kai Tang in the process.

Gasanov also suffered his first loss and had his title aspirations derailed when he was submitted by Garry Tonon last year, and after rebounding with a pair of decision-wins the 29-year-old now faces a stiff test in Turkey’s Amir.

Fighters To Watch

Jon Di Bella

Di Bella’s debut fight in ONE Championship saw the 28-year-old claim the vacant ONE Strawweight Kickboxing title against Peimian Zhang, but after defending it against Danial Williams he failed his hydration test ahead of ONE Friday Fights 58 and was stripped of the belt.

A rebooked matchup with Prajanchai PK Saenchai for the now-vacant title at ONE Friday Fights 68 saw Di Bella suffer a unanimous decision loss, and now he’ll try to work back towards title contention when he meets Rui Botelho.

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Cole Abate & Dante Leon

ONE Championship has signed some of the world’s top grapplers in recent years, and in November the promotion made another significant splash by adding Abate and Leon to its roster.

Both men will be making their promotional debuts at ONE Fight Night 26, with Leon set to meet longtime ONE veteran Bruno Pucci in the Brazilian’s first ONE grappling match and Abate squaring off with MMA legend Shinya Aoki.

ONE Fight Night 26

• Main Event: Christian Lee vs. Alibeg Rasulov – For the ONE Lightweight MMA World Championship

• Co-Main Event: Petchtanong Petchfergus vs. Nabil Anane (Kickboxing)

• Mayssa Bastos vs. Danielle Kelly – For the ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship

• Reece McLaren vs. Jarred Brooks (MMA)

• Denis Puric vs. Elias Mahmoudi (Muay Thai)

• Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Gilbert Nakatani (MMA)

• Nakrob Fairtex vs. Kongthoranee Sor Sommai (Muay Thai)

• Shamil Gasanov vs. Halil Amir (MMA)

• Shinya Aoki vs. Cole Abate (Submission Grappling)

• Jonathan Di Bella vs. Rui Botelho (Kickboxing)

• Dante Leon vs. Bruno Pucci (Submission Grappling)

• Thongpoon PK Saenchai vs. Danial Williams (Muay Thai)

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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