ONE Championship is back with another huge card this weekend.
ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart takes over Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium on Saturday, 3rd August, and it is set to feature four different combat sports disciplines.
Mixed martial arts will take centerstage in the main event, but two other bouts in the all-encompassing sport will surely grab attention. Let’s get into why you should pay attention to these three pivotal MMA contests.
Jarred Brooks vs. Gustavo Balart
The evening’s headliner will see former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks clash with #3-ranked contender Gustavo Balart for the division’s interim crown.
At ONE 166: Qatar this past March, Brooks walked in as World Champion and ready to defend the strap against the man he took it from in December 2022, Joshua Pacio. Unfortunately, the American saw himself lose the gold via disqualification after he dropped his rival on his head.
Since then, he’s wanted nothing more than to reclaim it.
A trilogy bout wasn’t an option, due to Pacio being injured. So an interim World Title was introduced. And the man deservedly chosen to face “The Monkey God” was Balart.
The Cuban wrestling star is on a four-fight winning streak in ONE, and he’s put down some noteworthy opponents to earn his first shot at gold, including former kings Alex Silva and Yosuke Saruta.
A unification bout with “The Passion” awaits the winner of this main event tie, so fans can expect fireworks when these two strawweight stars collide.
Shamil Gasanov vs. Aaron Canarte
The featherweight MMA division will have a huge bout of its own at ONE Fight Night 24 when #5-ranked contender Shamil Gasanov meets Aaron Canarte.
The pair both entered ONE as unbeaten prospects. Gasanov got off to a great start by steamrolling Kim Jae Woong to score a first-round submission win in October 2022, but his record suffered its first blemish at the hands of Garry Tonon in June 2023 at ONE Fight Night 12.
However, the Russian star managed to respond in great fashion this past January by overcoming Oh Ho Taek over three rounds at ONE Fight Night 18, and he’ll be looking to add to that momentum this Saturday.
That will be a difficult task, though, as his rival, Canarte, is also in need of a redeeming performance and will likely throw everything at him.
“Tommy Gun’s” professional record saw its first loss last July when he fell to a first-round knockout to Akbar Abdullaev in his ONE Championship debut. He’ll have a perfect chance to step into relevancy in the featherweight MMA division if he can defeat Gasanov, so this one will be a barnburner.
Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu vs. Carlo Bumina-ang
Two solid bantamweight battlers will collide this weekend when battle-tested Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu meets up-and-coming sensation Carlo Bumina-ang.
Baatarkhuu rose to become the division’s dark horse during his time in ONE Friday Fights, and he took his run of form to ONE’s biggest stage when given the chance. The 35-year-old battler amassed a 3-0 record in his first three fights and managed to score a win over Bumina-ang’s highly touted training partner at Team Lakay, Jhanlo Mark Sangiao.
“The Tormentor’s” momentum came to an end against Artem Belakh at ONE Fight Night 18 this past January, but he’d love to bounce back by taking the smoke from Bumina-ang.
Also a graduate of the ONE’s Friday Fights series, the Filipino star has been perfect across his five promotional outings, with four of his wins coming by finish.
Bumina-ang has been deemed the new face of Team Lakay, and he’ll hope to live up to that reputation by avenging his teammate against Baatarkhuu this weekend.
