Yodphupa Wimanair Seeks Fifth Win in ONE Championship

May 15, 2024

4 months

Yodphupa Wimanair likely thought he was on the road to a bantamweight Muay Thai championship fight in ONE Championship. Online boxing news shows that Yodphupa earned a contract with the organization by winning the Road to ONE Thailand tournament. Once arriving in ONE, Yodphupa picked up four consecutive victories.

But the 20-year-old has run into a big barrier. Yodphupa has lost three consecutive fights over the past year. Now, Yodphupa is headlining ONE Fight Night 63 against Soner Sen. When Sen entered ONE Championship, he drew major positive attention in the promotion.

Sen opened with knockout wins over Kongklai Annymuaythai and Otop Or Kwanmuang. But, much like Yodphupa, Sen found sustaining that winning streak a difficult task to handle. Sen went to the scorecards during his last fight and lost in a decision to Rambolek Chor Ajalaboon.

This is another big card for fighters to try and earn big contracts. This card that is packed with fights will take place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. While a majority of the bouts will be made up of Muay Thai contests, there will also be two MMA fights for people interested in seeing some variety.

Sor Salacheep Wants to Keep Building Reputation

There is only one opportunity to make a first impression. Sanpet Sor Salacheep did that when he burst onto the Muay Thai scene in ONE Championship. Sanpet picked up a decision win over Yodkritsada Sor Sommai in March.

Now, Sanpet is challenged with trying to take on Nuengubon Wankhongohm MBK in a 130-pound catchweight bout. Nuengubon will attempt to lean on his experience from fighting in other organizations.

Sanpet is an excellent striker. He would like to lean on his power to add another knockout to his resume.

Old Rivals Ready For Fourth meeting

Sagaengarm Jitmuangnon and Chatpichit SorSor Toipadriew can’t seem to settle the score. Chatpichit gained the upper hand last April when he picked up a unanimous decision with Sagaengarm. Now, the two men will meet for the third time at a 113-pound catchweight.

Chatpichit leads the all-time series between the two men 2-1. Sagaengarm’s time in ONE has been marked with inconsistency. During his first four fights, he has produced two wins and two losses. Chatpichit hasn’t fought since last July.

However, much like Sagaengarm, he has been inconsistent as well. He has split his first two fights in ONE. Trying to develop consistency in Muay Thai is rough. There are so many fighters in the lighter weights that top fighters must be on their toes at all times to try and hold off all of the potential challengers.

Suleymanov seeks to defend undefeated record

Suleyman Suleymanov is nearing the double-digit win total for his career. Along the way, Suleymanov has leaned on his excellent grappling and an ability to hold his cardio to make it all 15 minutes if necessary. Suleymanov still needs to continue stacking wins if he wants to climb the bantamweight rankings in ONE.

One thing Suleymanov could look to develop is more power in his hands. During his nine professional fights, he has only won once by knockout. Suleymanov has also won four fights by submission and four by decision. His opponent this weekend opened his ONE career with an exciting start.

Kazakbai Tilenov, who is 6-1 during his career, picked up his first career knockout win when he stopped Ivan Parshikov 2 minutes, 7 seconds into the third round. Much like Suleymanov, Tilenov prefers to lean on his grappling.

MMAfighting latest news shows Tilenov has four career wins by submission.

Cook Set to Take a Big Jump

British fighter David Cooke advertises himself as having a Muay Thai background. However, when Cooke makes the leap to ONE Championship, he has decided to compete in MMA instead, according to MMA latest updates. Cooke won his first career professional MMA fight when he knocked out Connor Lee in 1:44 at Caged Collision MMA.

Kohei Takegami will also make his ONE featherweight debut to challenge Cooke. Takegami isn’t deep on experience either. He only has seven professional fights under his belt. Those fights haven’t shown Takegami to be in top form right now.

Takegami is 3-3 overall with a no contest but has won his last three fights. Takegami has shown a little bit of power, winning two fights by knockout, but he will have to show that he can continue to do that on a larger stage. Since Cooke is still a fighter with limited experience, this will be an interesting transition to see if Takegami’s power will carry over

Both men will have a lot to prove if they are going to make it on the world MMA stage.

Rak Erawan Excited to Get Back in the Game

Rak Erawan was once a Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Champion. He will now have to prove at a 116-pound catchweight bout with Nicolas Leite Silva that he can still fight at that top level. Erawan is 3-1 in ONE Champion, including a knockout win over Shuto Sato in March.

All three of Erawan’s wins in ONE have come via knockout. Erawan’s one loss was a close defeat to Songchainoi Kiatsongrit. Silva will have a lot to prove in Thailand. He only has one championship so far, which was a defeat to Songchainoi in April.

Fighting outside of your home country can always be tough, especially if a fight goes to the scorecards.

Here’s a look at the other fights on the cards not mentioned above: