Preview: One Championship ‘Reign of Kings’

Lightweights
Shannon Wiratchai (9-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (40-8)

Shannon Wiratchai has built a reputation as an exciting counter striker with knockout power. His decision loss to Russian Rasul Yakhyaev in December put a temporary damper on the hype surrounding him, but a 21-second knockout victory over Rahul Raju in March reignited talk of Wiratchai and his abilities. The 29-year-old lightweight trains out of Tiger Muay Thai and Bangkok Fight Lab. Unlike most Thai fighters his initial introduction to martial arts was not muay Thai, but judo and Kung Fu. Wiratchai’s bout with veteran grappler Aoki is his chance to demonstrate why he deserves to get a shot at the lightweight title. Four of his last five wins have occurred in the first round, but none of those opponents could be considered in the same class as Aoki.

For former lightweight champion Aoki, Wiratchai represents an opportunity to firmly re-establish himself as a force in the division. The 35 year-old has had a couple of tough years fighting for One Championship. At the tail end of 2016, he lost the lightweight championship to Eduard Folayang and 2017 started with a loss to Garry Tonon in a grappling match. He then returned to challenge Ben Askren for the welterweight title; however a TKO stoppage less than a minute into the fight ended any dreams Aoki had of being a two-division champion.

2018 so far has been much kinder to the submission expert who trains out of Evolve MMA in Singapore. In January Aoki defeated Marat Gafurov in a grappling contest before submitting Yakhyaev, who was fresh off his victory over Wiratchai, with a picture-perfect triangle choke in the first round in May. Aoki comes into this contest confident that whatever Wiratchai brings, he has seen and dealt with before. Wiratchai in turn knows precisely what to expect from Aoki, so all that remains to be seen now is whether he has the skills to stop him.

Continue Reading » Gracie vs. Kondo