Stamp, Superlek featured in ONE’s US return
Two of Thailand’s most famous world champions are moving up in weight to search for more gold. ONE Championship has announced its highly anticipated return to the US on September 7 with ONE 168: Denver, which will be headlined by a pair of world title battles.
At the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, atomweight queen Stamp Fairtex will step up a division to challenge ONE strawweight MMA world champion Xiong Jing Nan, while two-sport ONE bantamweight world champion Jonathan Haggerty will put his Muay Thai strap on the line against flyweight kickboxing king Superlek Kiatmoo9.
Xiong has reigned over the women’s strawweight MMA division since the inaugural divisional crown was minted in 2018.
“The Panda” has defended her title on seven occasions, making her the longest-reigning women’s world champion in ONE history.
There are few challenges left for the Chinese superstar in her weight class, but there is another history-making athlete in the division below her that is moving up for another shot at greatness.
Stamp became the first combat sports athlete ever to win world titles in three separate sports in 2023.
There, she claimed the ONE atomweight MMA world title with a crushing third-round TKO win over South Korea’s Ham Seo Hee at ONE Fight Night 14.
The stunning victory added to her previous reigns as ONE’s atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion.
The Thai megastar relinquished both titles in 2020.
Xiong vs. Stamp promises to be an intriguing clash of styles, with Xiong’s heavy hands pitted against Stamp’s world-class Muay Thai arsenal.
Superlek has also gotten his wish for a shot at another belt.
“The Kicking Machine” has held the ONE flyweight kickboxing world title since January 2023.
But after his latest defence against Takeru Segawa earlier this year, he mentioned Haggerty as a man who was in his crosshairs.
The pair have history, with Superlek downing the now-bantamweight striking king back in 2018 before they each made the leap onto the ONE roster.
The callout proved successful, and the Thai star will rematch the now-bantamweight striking king, who is fresh from a bumper 2023 campaign.
“The General” shocked the world when he crushed longtime bantamweight Muay Thai divisional ruler Nong-O Hama inside one round last April.
Then he took the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title back to England with a scintillating two-round demolition of Fabricio Andrade in November.
Now, Haggerty will be hunting for redemption as he looks to keep his unbeaten run in the bantamweight division alive.
