One of Asia’s leading mixed martial arts promotions is set to return to American soil and the lineup is expanding.
ONE 168 takes place Sept. 6 at Ball Arena in Denver. The most recent addition is a three-round welterweight bout between [autotag]Maurice Abevi[/autotag] (8-1) and [autotag]Samat Mamedov[/autotag] (10-0), promotion officials Tuesday informed MMA Junkie.
Abevi (8-1) rides a two-fight winning streak into the matchup. He most recently competed in May when he defeated UFC alum Lipeng Zhang by unanimous decision. Prior to that Abevi finished Blake Cooper, brother of PFL standout Ray, by first-round TKO.
#ONEFightNight14 highlight video: Maurice Abevi TKOs Blake Cooper pic.twitter.com/ST7ctieiEO
— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) September 30, 2023
Mamedov (10-0) is a finisher with nine stoppages in 10 appearances including six submissions and three TKOs. This bout will be his promotional debut, which comes after he choked out UFC alum Will Chope in 71 seconds for Kazakh promotion Octagon League.
Samat Mamedov improves to 10-0 submitting UFC/Fight Circus vet Will Chope in just over 1 minute. #Octagon53 pic.twitter.com/tsX5bGi39R
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) December 23, 2023
With the addition, the ONE 168 lineup includes:
- Jonathan Haggerty vs. Superlek Kiatmoo – muay Thai
- Mikey Musumeci vs. Kade Ruotolo – grappling
- Liam Harrison vs. Saeksan Or Kwanmuang – muay Thai
- Maurice Abevi vs. Samat Mamedov – MMA