A win by Jeremy Pacatiw could catapult his standings of the stacked bantamweight division in One Championship.
Pacatiw gets another call – up in the largest MMA promotions hoping to get back to his winning ways as he takes on undefeated newcomer Elbek Alyshov in ONE Fight Night 34 set August 1 at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Lions Nation MMA pride, who last saw action in march earlier this year had a chance to climb the divisional ladder when he squared off with #4-ranked contender Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu, but he suffered a unanimous decision loss against the Mongolian, snapping a two-fight winning streak in the process.
Now, the Filipino rising star hopes to erase that memory at ONE Fight Night 34, get his 14th career victory, and prove he is still among the best competitors in the weight class.
But Alyshov is eager to keep his spotless record intact and make an instant impact in his first ONE Championship appearance.
The 26-year-old Russian enjoyed a terrific amateur career, going 4-0 and winning the IFMA Junior World Championship in 2018.
That success would continue once he turned pro.
The Russian has defeated all eight of his opponents in the professional ranks, submitting six of them and knocking one out to garner an impressive 88 percent finishing rate. What’s more, he picked up belts in both Colosseum MMA and Hardcore FC.
That dominance earned Alyshov an invite to the world’s largest martial arts organization, where he will test his skills against the best bantamweight MMA fighters on the planet and compete for a chance to enter the top-five divisional rankings.
With the inaction of the top four of the bantamweight division, Pacatiw hopes to improve his over-all ranking.
Current world champion Fabricio Andrade last fought in January, successfully defending his title against Kwon Won Il while John Liniker, the current top contender saw action in a kickboxing match under ONE in March this year, losing to Hiroki Akimoto.
Fellow Lions Nation MMA’s Stephen Loman, who is currently eyed as the next title challenger to Andrade, has yet to get a shot at the title and has been inactive in the circle for almost two years.
From December 2021 to Nov 2022, Loman was on a three fight win streak, including his dominance against former 11 – time bantamweight world champion Bibiano Fernandes.
Loman’s streak however, was halted by Linker in September 2023. NLMonitor
