The early part of ONE Championship’s 2025 got a little healthier with the addition of three fights to ONE 171.
Of particular note, Croatian standout [autotag]Roberto Soldic[/autotag] (20-4) will return for the first time in nearly two years to take on [autotag]Dagi Arslanaliev[/autotag] (9-2), who will move up to welterweight from lightweight. The promotion announced the fight for the Feb. 20 event in Qatar.
In addition, ONE 171 will include a matchup between former bantamweight champions [autotag]Bibiano Fernandes[/autotag] (24-6) and [autotag]Kevin Belingon[/autotag] (20-10), who will meet for the fifth time. Fernandes has said this will the final fight of his career. He currently is 3-1 against Belingon with a split decision loss and three stoppage wins.
Plus, [autotag]Shamil Gasanov[/autotag] (14-1) will take on former two-division champ [autotag]Martin Nguyen[/autotag] (15-7) at featherweight.
Soldic came to ONE from KSW, where he was a champion, but a no contest and upset loss in his first two ONE appearances have him no doubt hungry for his first promotional win. A win for Arslanaliev could put him quickly in line for a title shot against champion Christian Lee.
Former ONE bantamweight champ Fernandes, a legendary ground fighter, will try to make it 4-1 against Belingon. They fought in 2016, 2018 and twice in 2019.