ONE: Full Circle | Main card breakdown

After a stellar run of blockbuster fight announcements as of late, ONE return on Friday with ONE: Full Circle, an event which is seriously flying under the radar and on paper, looks to be ONE of the Asian giants’ best events of the year. In this piece I will be exploring the bouts on tap and explaining why this event is a must watch.

Fabricio De Andrade vs Jeremy Pacatiw

Brazil’s Fabricio De Andrade has been on a tear since joining ONE in 2020, amassing 3 straight wins at featherweight, two of those being first round finishes over Mark Abelardo and Kai Wen Li. His Muay Thai background has put him in good stead against largely more experienced opponents, always making for exciting contests with finishing potential. As well as an evidently strong striking base, you’d be hard pressed not to notice the rapid growth in Andrades grappling since his transition to MMA. At just 24 years old already with wins over the likes of Shoko Sato, Andrade future is certainly one with immense potential.

Taking on the Brazilian will be Team Lakays Jeremy Pacatiw. Pacatiw made his ONE debut in July with an Impressive unanimous decision win over Chen Rui. Also very young in his career at only 25 years old, Pacatiw has displayed a well rounded game. Granted what makes this fight exciting though is his preference for the striking and the way he marches forward with aggression, ferosity and throws a whole load of Venom behind his strikes. Its no secret that this hard nosed style is a team Lakay staple, and I think against the surgical striking of Andrade this one promises to be one for the fans.

Guto Inocente vs Bruno Susano

After a return to MMA in recent years, Guto will finally return to kickboxing, seemingly spearheading the injection of depth into a heavyweight division which is severely lacking contenders. If anything is guaranteed its excitement, Guto is renown for his flashy yet powerful fighting style, most notably his viral spinning back kick KO over Demoreo Dennis. After stints in Glory and WGP the Brazilian has fought some of heavyweight kickboxings premier names and I have no doubt he will be providing us with some vicious finishes en route to a title shot in the near future. With Opacic and now Inocente the two premier names in the division, expect them to cross paths sooner rather than later.
Inocentes opponent is Portugal’s Bruno Susano. Susano was unsuccessful in his ONE debut against unofficial King Rade Opacic last January, where he was dominated for 2 rounds before being put away convincingly. He’s experienced and always brings the fight and his game style will definitely make for some fireworks against a guy like Inocente. Heavyweight kickboxers and heavy pressure is a recipe for collision and that collision only means one thing, a short but incredibly entertaining contest. Don’t blink In this one.

Enriko Kehl vs Tayfun Ozcan

Without question both of these guys have fan favourite styles, they’ve both been eliminated from the featherweight kickboxing grand prix and honestly in a division that stacked, one win over any of these big names is worth multiple. Kehl had a mixy 2021, it began as well as it possibly could with a huge win over then debutant Chingiz Allazov in one of the best fights of the year. His pressure heavy boxing style saw him to victory, the aggression and ferociousness unleashing that vintage Kehl we all know and love. A win that certainly aged well as Chingiz now finds himself in the final of the grand prix. Come years end though Kehl was eliminated from the grand prix in devastating fashion after being stopped in the 1st by Davit Kiria per the three knockdown rule. When he can impose his style on the contest he’s one of the best there is, something that’s going to be imperative yet certainly not easy against the Turkish turbine.
Tayfun Ozcan has long been one of the best talents in kickboxing and after his ONE debut in October it’s easy to see why. Granted he did lose a split decision but it was to non other than pound for pound standout Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong. The pair went to war for 3 rounds with Ozcan showcasing his durability and impressive kickboxing expertise, the key element being his inside boxing which can be decievingly impactful, as well as those clubbing leg kicks. Tayfun has certainly shown he can hang with the best and I think someone like Kehl with that hard nosed pressure boxing style is sure to bring out the best in him. I don’t see a world in which this fight isn’t electric, get your popcorn ready.

Aung La N Sang vs Vitaly Bigdash

Another fair shout for fight of the night sees these two meet once more. We know their games and we know how they operate, this one is to settle the score. Aung La may have lost both his middleweight and light heavyweight belts against De Ridder, but he bounced back strong in July with a vicious first round KO over Leandro Ataides. Its no secret he’s struggled with the grappling of De Ridder and I’m sure it’ll have been a pronounced focus in his training camp. His bread and butter is the stand up realm, walking guys down and perpetually clubbing them with all eight limbs until they break. He knows how to dig deep and is no stranger to a war, in fact he thrives in these sort of fights. Not only is this an opportunity to close the Bigdash saga but this gets him one step closer toward the belt he once realised, the stakes are high.
Vitaly finally returned last year after a 3 year hiatus, taking out Rong Fan with a 3rd round guillotine choke to remind the division that he’s certainly still in the mix. He gave a good account of himself, displaying a well rounded game, securing the finish on the ground which I’m sure is something he will look to exploit against Aung La, following the De Ridder blueprint. He hits hard, he’s durable and he can do it all, these guys matchup so well as we’ve seen before and I’m sure we will see again. A guaranteed barnburner and another fight you won’t want to miss.

Roman Kryklia vs Murat Aygun

Kryklia has taken ONE by storm since joining in 2019. He may have only had 2 fights in the organisation but he’s displayed a level of kickboxing which is unrivalled in that division. To win the title he dismantled a man renowned for his toughness and tank like ring prescence in Tarik Khababez, going on the defend his belt in dominant fashion against Andrei Stoica. The accuracy, the way he uses his length, the volume, the incredibly cerebral shot selection, Kryklia has it all and taking him off his perch is something which doesn’t look feasable right now. The man is brimming with talent and his opponent on Friday in Murat Aygun has a tall task on his hands.

Aygun certainly may not be the most technical, fastest or the most graceful kickboxer on the roster, but there’s no denying this man is ridiculously tough and has a hard nosed heavy handed style which is guaranteed to make you uncomfortable. Aygun made his ONE debut in December of 2020 with a unanimous decision win over Anderson Silva where he displayed exactly that. He weathered some big shots, landed some bigger ones back and toughed out a decision victory while Imposing that gritty style. He has the opportunity here to win a belt and make no mistake, he will be walking Roman down and swinging for the fences. Even in defeat this man is always entertaining so expect a war of attrition as intense as can be.

Reinier De Ridder vs Kiamran Abbasov

This is a huge opportunity for Abbasov he’s not just fighting a champion, he’s fighting a guy who has two belts in ONE, one of them being 2 weight classes above him. A huge statement can be made should he get it done. This man is a warrior, the well rounded skill set he has forged over his career has seen him lose just one fight in the last 6 years. He finds himself on a 5 fight win streak, 4 of those being in ONE over the likes of Yushin Okami, James Nakashima and Zebaztian Kadestam. The Nakashima fight was his most recent contest and his first title defence, a fight which many thought he was losing before an incredible display of heart and toughness saw him rally to a knockout finish in round 4. He has a crafty takedown game which compliments a tricky arsenal of submissions while evidently carrying fight ending power no matter how long the fight lasts. He may be the smaller man but don’t count this man out, he has all the skills and will to take a second belt home to Kyrgyzstan.

Now for De Ridder, the double champ, a virtuoso. This man honestly came out of no where. He arrived at ONE in 2019, 8-0 as a professional. He flew under the radar, taking out any and all opponents who dared to meddle with his ascension. Fast forward to today, he is still undefeated at 14-0 with two ONE world titles round his waist. He is big and long with a decievingly effective striking game, utilising the clinch and most notably the ground work. The BJJ and top control is De Ridders bread and butter, he can seemingly control and submit anyone at middleweight and light heavyweight within ONE. He dominated Aung La effortlessly to take both titles and I can’t help but think it’s going to take a monumental effort to pry them from his possession. De Ridder has met very little adversity and so I guess a new challenge was needed. Does Abbasov have the skills to negate this unstoppable force or will De Ridder continue to prove he is one of the best middleweights in the sport?

ONE Full Circle goes down on Friday at 10am BST.

The full card can be found below:

Reinier De Ridder vs Kiamran Abbasov
Roman Kryklia vs Murat Aygun
Aung La N Sang vs Vitaly Bigdash
Enriko Kehl vs Tayfun Ozcan
Guto Inocente vs Bruno Susano
Fabricio Andrade vs Jeremy Pacatiw
Valmir Da Silva vs Zebaztian Kadestam
Chris Shaw vs Vladimir Kuzmin
Diandra Martin vs Smilla Sundell
Yuri Simoes vs Daniyal Zainalov
Jiduo Yibu vs Daniel Puertas
Rahul Raju vs Drex Zamboanga