3 Underrated Matchups To Watch Out for at ONE Fight Night 14

Published 09/27/2023, 3:15 AM EDT

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ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham will feature three World Championship matches and a first-of-its-kind special rules striking contest, but there are plenty of other fights that are sure to excite fans when the star-studded event goes down this Friday, September 29. Some of the best female fighters on the planet will take center stage across the four incredible headlining matches. 

Top-ranked atomweights Stamp Fairtex and Ham Seo Hee do battle for the ONE Interim Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title, ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Smilla Sundell steps into her first title defense against atomweight Muay Thai queen Allycia Hellen Rodrigues, grappling stars Danielle Kelly and Jessa Khan compete for the inaugural ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Title, and ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Champion Xiong Jing Nan faces Thai striking star Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak in a special-rules striking match.  Those showdowns are the guaranteed barnburners, but there are a few others that are likely to produce fireworks, and we’ve broken them down below.

John Lineker vs. Stephen Loman – Bantamweight MMA

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Two hard hitters will square off in what could be the match to determine the first challenger to Fabricio Andrade’s bantamweight MMA throne. Former titleholder John Lineker is hungry to reclaim his lost gold, and he won’t let anyone get in his way. The Brazilian veteran is getting a quick turnaround following a third-round knockout victory against a former top contender in South Korea’s Kim Jae Woong at ONE Fight Night 13 this past August, and his upcoming opponent is far from a slouch. 

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Current #2-ranked contender Stephen Loman wants to ride his wave of momentum all the way to a shot at gold in the world’s largest martial arts organization, and he proved he can take out a World Champion when he finished Bibiano Fernandes last November. Both fighters have consistently produced exciting bouts in their respective tenures, and a clash between them will no doubt yield the same result. 

Eduard Folayang vs. Amir Khan – Lightweight MMA

Fans are in for a treat midway through the ONE Fight Night 14 card, as a much-anticipated rematch is set to go down. Eduard Folayang and Amir Khan last met in the Circle when they were fighting for Martin Nguyen’s vacated ONE Lightweight MMA World Title at ONE: Conquest of Champions back in November 2018. “Landslide” took the top prize back to the Philippines on that occasion, and Khan never forgot it. Five years later, the Singaporean star is ready to take on Folayang again. And though it’s not for a World Title, the potential for a banger in this fight is palpable. 

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Khan is eager to string a few wins together and go on the hunt for another World Title shot after a mixed bag of results over the last few years. Given he is one of the most prolific finishers on ONE, fans can expect him to put on a show while doing it.  Meanwhile, Folayang is eager to prove that he still has gas in the tank in his 25th promotional bout. He’ll also be looking to stamp his newly established Lion’s Nation MMA gym’s name in ONE with a crucial victory. So it’s all to play for in this lightweight MMA showdown.

Mauro Cerilli vs. Paul Elliot – Heavyweight MMA

ONE Championship’s heavyweight division is filled with big, agile men who all have the ability to end fights with one shot. The ONE Fight Night 14 match between Mauro Cerilli and Paul Elliot could be one of the highlights of the card because of that. Elliot was undefeated prior to his arrival in ONE, with none of his matches having gone beyond the first round. He hasn’t been able to showcase much of his talent in the world’s largest martial arts organization up to now, however, with two disappointing results so far.

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But the British star is determined to prove that he belongs among the planet’s elite when he faces Cerilli, who has gone up against two former World Champions in Brandon Vera and Arjan Bhullar in his ONE tenure. Cerilli will look to show that he’s better than what his 2-3 promotional record suggests by taking out “The King of the North” on Friday night. And with their division growing rapidly, a win is needed for both men to stay relevant.

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Written by:

Aditya Vaibhav

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Aditya Vaibhav is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. He discovered MMA in the year 2009 after watching Chuck Liddell on Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior, at the age of 10. A follower of combat sports, Aditya uses writing as a medium to actively participate in the domain he is so passionate about.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen