Stamp Fairtex, Xiong Jing Nan, Jonathan Haggerty, and Superlek to Headline ONE’s Return to the US at ONE 168

Published 03/29/2024, 7:53 AM EDT

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The ONE Championship is coming back to the United States this fall, and two bouts featuring four World Champions will headline the thrilling card. On Friday, September 6, atomweight MMA queen Stamp Fairtex will challenge ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Champion Xiong Jing Nan for her longheld throne in the main event of ONE 168: Denver, which goes down inside the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.

ONE Championship’s USA card is stacked

The co-main event will feature star two-sport king Jonathan Haggerty defending his ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title against flyweight Muay Thai titleholder Superlek Kiatmoo9.

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Xiong has held the women’s strawweight MMA strap since its inception in 2018 and has defeated every challenger that has come her way. Not even former longtime ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Champion Angela Lee could overcome the Chinese powerhouse, who defeated “Unstoppable” twice at strawweight. “The Panda” has effectively cleared out the division, so a new challenge in Stamp will be a welcome test.

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The Fairtex Training Center product has gone from a striking star to a full-fledged multi-disciplined force. After claiming the ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Titles, Stamp shifted her focus to the all-encompassing sport of MMA, where she reached her goal of becoming World Champion last year.

The Thai megastar defeated South Korean veteran Ham Seo Hee at last September’s ONE Fight Night 14 to claim the recently vacated divisional crown. It will be a quick turnaround for Stamp in September, as she is set to headline ONE 167 in June, where she will defend her new belt against her friend and former teammate, Denice Zamboanga.

Both Stamp and Xiong – a former national boxer – come from striking backgrounds, so a clash of styles will surely be a welcome treat for U.S. fans. Speaking of high-level striking, the co-main event will feature two of the best practitioners on the planet.

The clash of the giants between Haggerty and Superlek

Haggerty had a 2023 to remember, to say the least. “The General” shocked the world when he claimed the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship with a vicious knockout win over the streaking Nong-O Hama at ONE Fight Night 9 in April. Roughly seven months later, he seized his opportunity to claim supremacy in another sport when he faced bantamweight MMA king Fabricio Andrade for the division’s vacant kickboxing belt.

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The Orpington native asserted his dominance against “Wonder Boy” and claimed the strap with a second-round knockout. Haggerty kicked off his 2024 campaign in style by defending his Muay Thai gold against Andrade’s teammate, Felipe Lobo, at ONE Fight Night 19 this past February, but he’ll face a different beast when he steps foot on American soil.

Superlek is riding a nine-fight win streak that has seen him compete in both Muay Thai and kickboxing. In his latest outings, he took down arguably two of the best pound-for-pound strikers of their generation.

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At ONE Friday Fights 34 last September, he defeated Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a record-breaking Muay Thai showdown. And, earlier this year, he added another notable fighter to his list of conquests when he defeated Japanese star Takeru to retain his flyweight kickboxing belt. “The Kicking Machine” now moves up to bantamweight in hopes of snatching Haggerty’s World Title, and their bout is guaranteed to be a war. More fights are expected to be announced for ONE 168 in the coming weeks and months.

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Written by:

Suryakant Das

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Suryakant Das is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His fascination with combat sports was sparked by gleeful moments he shared with his father watching wrestling. An ardent fan of UFC star Charles Oliveira, Surya closely follows the sport and keeps tabs on behind-the-scenes action.
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Edited by:

Donna Eva