ONE 168: Denver may be fast approaching, but ONE Championship isn’t slowing down on its event schedule for the rest of the year. Well, the promotion is getting into action for the later part of the year and there are two more fights that’s been making some noise.

On U.S. primetime on Friday, October 4, the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, will play host to ONE Fight Night 25: Eersel vs. Nicholas II, and two pivotal matches have just been added to the card.

Masunyane and Malachiev Battle for Strawweight Supremacy at ONE Fight Night 25

First, a strawweight MMA battle between two skilled contenders is set to take place when #2-ranked Bokang “Little Giant” Masunyane and #5-ranked Mansur Malachiev meet in a fascinating clash of styles. To date, Masunyane has only one loss on his professional MMA slate, which came at the hands of former undisputed divisional king and newly crowned interim World Champion Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks at ONE 156 back in April 2022.

Since then, though, the South African has bounced back with wins against Hiroba Minowa and Keito Yamakita, respectively, to prove himself worthy of his position in the stacked weight bracket.

However, Masunyane will have his work cut out against Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 25. The Dagestan-based fighter overwhelmed his opponents with his expert wrestling to go undefeated in his first 11 fights, but that momentum was cut short by reigning strawweight MMA titleholder Joshua Pacio at ONE Fight Night 15 last October.

He showed that was a simple blip in his next fight, though, when he took out former World Champion Yosuke Saruta at ONE Fight Night 15 last February. With a chance to take Masunyane’s ranking spot and become a true World Title challenger, fans should expect Malachiev to pull out all the stops when they collide.

Kongthoranee Sor Sommai and Tagir Khalilov Set for High-Stakes Flyweight Muay Thai Showdown

In the other addition to the card, Kongthoranee Sor Sommai will take on the always dangerous “Samingpri” Tagir Khalilov in a flyweight Muay Thai battle. Kongthoranee won eight of his first nine bouts in ONE Championship, which included him going on a seven-fight streak and earning a six-figure contract to compete in the promotion’s marquee events.

Unfortunately, the Thai star saw his run snapped by none other than flyweight kickboxing king Superlek Kiatmoo9 when they clashed in a Muay Thai brawl at ONE Friday Fights 68 in June. As a result, Kongthoranee will be out to get back on track against Khalilov.

However, the Russian has made a name for himself as one of the most exciting fighters in the flyweight Muay Thai division, having taken on both Superlek and divisional king Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon, and he’ll be looking to return to form after falling to a loss against Nakrob Fairtex at ONE Friday Fights 67 in June. Fireworks will flare when these two bouts go down at ONE Fight Night 25 in October, and the card will likely only get bigger from here.