Doha, Qatar: ONE Championship is just days away from its highly anticipated re-entry into the Middle East, and they’ve brought some heavy hitters out to mark the occasion.
On Thursday, February 20, the promotion returns to Doha’s Lusail Sports Arena, offering a boatload of barnburner matchups across MMA, Muay Thai, and kickboxing clashes.
With that said, there are three unmissable bouts at the top of the billing that deserve as much spotlight as they can possibly handle. Let’s take a closer look.
Joshua Pacio vs Jarred Brooks
Reigning ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua Pacio defends his crown against interim titleholder Jarred Brooks.
The strawweight standouts’ feud dates back to December 2022, when they first met at ONE 164 in Manila, Philippines. Pacio entered as champ, but Brooks’ wrestling prowess saw him dethrone his foe across five rounds of sheer dominance.
The duo then met at ONE 166: Qatar in March 2024. Unfortunately, the rematch ended in less than a minute after Brooks dumped the Filipino on his head. That disqualified him, seeing the World Title return to Pacio in the process.
While Pacio recovered from his injuries, Brooks claimed the interim belt at ONE Fight Night 24 in August with a first-round submission over Gustavo Balart.
Now with the score set at one win apiece, the duo will settle their beef once and for all this Thursday – and neither man sees it going the distance.
Jonathan Haggerty vs Wei Rui
ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Haggerty makes the first defense of his crown against #1-ranked contender Wei Rui.
Haggerty reached the combat sports summit in 2023, becoming a two-sport ONE World Champion. After clinching the bantamweight Muay Thai gold, he tore through bantamweight MMA king Fabricio Andrade to become the kickboxing overlord at ONE Fight Night 16, winning by second-round knockout.
After losing his bantamweight Muay Thai World Title to two-sport, two-division ONE World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9, though, he’s out to prove he’s still one of the greatest strikers alive. But that’s where Wei comes in.
China’s sole K-1 Champion, “Demon Blade,” entered ONE in May 2024, dispatching former bantamweight kickboxing king Hiroki Akimoto across three rounds. In turn, that took his winning streak to a staggering 21 in a row.
He’s won it all in his career. And now that he’s in ONE, his eyes are locked on the thing that’s eluded him so far – the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title.
Roberto Soldic vs Dagi Arslanaliev
Also sitting high on the card is a welterweight MMA showdown between perennial finishers Roberto “Robocop” Soldic and Dagi Arslanaliev.
When Soldic arrived in ONE Championship, he was the hottest free agent on the MMA scene. The Croatian had secured 17 knockouts in 20 professional fights – most notably being the only man to ever knock out UFC Middleweight World Champion Dricus du Plessis.
Life, however, has been tough for the furious finisher in ONE. He received a low blow in his debut resulting in a no contest before suffering a knockout loss to Zebaztian Kadestam in May 2023.
But after rebuilding himself, he’s looking to make a statement against fellow striker Arslanaliev.
It’s been four years since the Turkish star last competed in the all-round sport. Arslanaliev achieved a wealth of success, though, stopping all nine opponents within the distance.
The ONE Lightweight MMA World Grand Prix finalist knows Soldic needs a win now more than ever, so Arslanaliev will look to utilize “Robocop’s” misfortune to re-establish himself as a force in the welterweight MMA world.
