Scottish Knockout Artist Set to Fight in Unfriendly Territory at ONE Friday Night Fights 70

Stephen Irvine will need to scour the internet to find videotapes with information on his upcoming opponent, Focus PK Wor Apinya. Focus didn’t give anyone much to look at during his debut in ONE Championship. In less than 95 seconds, Focus flattened Comeback TK Yutthana to make a memorable debut with the promotion.

Online boxing news shows that Irvine has also made a career out of putting away opponents. Irvine enters this ONE Friday Night Fights 70 bout with a 26-4 overall record, which includes a 3-1 mark in ONE. Two of Irvine’s three victories in ONE Championship have come by KO/TKO.

Irvine wasn’t someone who had left his home country to get started training with Muay Thai. Irvine started training in Drumchapel, Scotland when he was seven years old. Over the course of his career that followed, Irvine stacked up over 100 bouts on the European junior circuit all over Europe.

Irvine prefers to lean on his speed and utilize strong movement to paralyze his opponents. He is hoping that his technical skills will help him inch closer to a championship. 

Irvine will have to deal with the challenges of fighting a Thai fighter in his home country. Despite only being 19 years old, Focus has gained a lot of professional experience. Focus’ next win will bring him his 51st win of his career.

There are a lot of fighters competing a lot in Muay Thai who are in their late teenage years and early 20s. Focus would like to stay ahead of the learning curve to quickly climb up the rankings.

This should be a thrilling main event with each man hoping to earn the security of a six-figure contract with a strong performance.

Co-Main Event Will Feature 

ET Wankhongohm MBK and Yodthongthai Sor Sommai will each look to lay the foundation for a long stretch of success in ONE Championship. The 130-pound Muay Thai catchweight fight will feature two men who have picked up a pair of consecutive victories. The most important way to climb the ranks and accrue enough cache to earn a championship opportunity is with long winning streaks. 

ET has won three of his past four fights since joining the organization. He is fighting just three months after he picked up a unanimous decision win over Mongkolkawe Sor Sommai in May. Yodthongthai, 31, is already making his third appearance in 2024.

Yodthongthai avenged a previous loss to Omar El Halabi in February. The MMA latest updates show that Yodthongthai knocked out El Halabi in the second round. Yodthongthai followed that up with a decision win over Petnamngam PK Saenchai in April.

Undefeated Fighters Set to Clash

Abdallah Ondash has passed nearly every test he’s been faced with in Muay Thai. Ondash has fought his way to a 21-1 record and will now face a much more experienced Thai counterpart in Chokpreecha PK Saenchai. Chokpreecha is ten years older than Ondash and has entered ONE by winning back-to-back fights.

Chokpreecha’s last win was impressive. He was able to pick up a first-round knockout over Pongsiri Sujeebameekiew in May. Chokpreecha has 102 career victories and will enter this matchup with a 2-0 record in ONE.

Ondash has won all four of his fights so far in ONE, including two knockouts. With a strong performance in this Muay Thai strawweight fight, both men could inch toward earning a six-figure contract.

Russian Fighter Searches for Respect

Amir Abdulmuslimov introduced himself to the ONE audience with an outstanding performance against Jaising Sitnayokpunsak in July. Abdulmuslimov was able to keep the pressure on his opponent for three rounds of his debut fight. The accumulation of his strikes was eventually too much for Jaising to take.

Abdulmuslimov, an undefeated Russian fighter, ended up wrapping up a third-round knockout. Continuing to remain undefeated in Muay Thai is a challenge for every fighter around the world. Abdulmuslimov’s next challenge, trying to tackle Petnamngam PK Saenchai, is a good matchup for him.

Petnamngam also only has one fight under his belt in ONE. However, Petnamngam hasn’t proven he has the ability to hang with the other top fighters quite yet.

Pereira is at Home in ONE

Matheus Pereira has quickly become one of the top lightweight title challengers in ONE. The Brazilian fighter has won four straight fights in his career, including his first three in ONE. Pereira will get another strong test when he tries to stack up with undefeated Russian fighter Gadzhimurad Amirzhanov.

Amirzhanov has only had five professional fights in MMA under his belt. However, he does challenge himself in other disciplines, such as combat sports, as well. Amirzhanov took a kickboxing fight in September 2022 but lost by knockout.

During Amirzhanov’s time in ONE, he has picked up consecutive finishes to improve to 5-0 on his career. Amirzhanov will get his first look at a competitor from a different part of the world from him. This will be a fun back-and-forth that will give each man a good idea of where their skills currently are. 

Pereira has also picked up all three of his victories in the promotion by finish. The judges likely won’t be needed to say who won this bout.

Here are the other fights on the card not mentioned above:

• Muay Thai catchweight (114 pounds), Tubtimthong Sor Jor Lekmuangnon vs. Yodnumchai Fairtex 

• Muay Thai catchweight (122 pounds), Boonchu Sor Boonmeerit vs. Apidet FiatPathum (Muay Thai – 122-pound catchweight)
• Muay Thai catchweight (119 pounds), PayakSurin Or AudUdon vs. Tahaneak Nayokatasala (Muay Thai – 119-pound catchweight)
• Muay Thai catchweight (123 pounds), Petphathai Bumrungsit vs. Sirvan Amini (Muay Thai – 123-pound catchweight)
• Muay Thai Featherweight Tun Min Aung vs. Tran Quoc Tuan
• Muay Thai catchweight (130 pounds), Petnamngam PK Saenchai vs. Amir Abdulmuslimov
• Muay Thai (143 pounds), Kendu Irving vs. Yuhei Tsuda

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By Dean McHugh.