What's at Stake for the Fighters of ONE: UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS

In a quick turnaround for ONE Championship, having just completed a spectacular fight card in Jakarta, ONE: UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS goes down a week later, Friday, 2 September, at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.

There are eight Malaysian fighters ready to showcase their skills in front of a raucous hometown crowd that always comes to support their local heroes.

The card features a couple of solid matchups, from the main event to the supporting card. And as such, we’ll take a look at what could be in store for a few fighters in key bouts.

Bruno Pucci

“Puccibull” is coming off an impressive victory over Indonesia’s Anthony “Archangel” Engelen in his last bout – one that he was overcome with emotion once the result was read. The 26-year-old Brazilian jiu jitsu no-gi world champion has battled health issues in the past, having to overcome a bad back for the majority of his young career.

He’s a hundred per cent healthy now and grateful after getting surgery. He says he’s ready to become a more active fighter, and will make his name known in ONE Championship’s stacked featherweight division.

Nevermind the knockout loss to Major Overall a few years ago, Pucci’s grappling skills cannot be denied. He’s one of the few fighters that can finish bouts as soon as they hit the ground, which makes him a constantly dangerous fighter.

A lot is at stake for Pucci here, who could make a statement in his bout against Nuerdebieke Bahetihan.

Gianni and Keanu Subba

Alongside Christian and Angela Lee in Singapore, the Subba brothers are Malaysia’s sibling combo in the same way that we have two highly-skilled athletes from one family. Both Gianni and Keanu are extremely talented martial artists and train together at Bali MMA in Indonesia.

They are both coming off losses though, with Gianni dropping a unanimous decision to the Philippines’ Geje Eustaquio and Keanu losing to rising Chinese MMA star Li Kai Wen. As such, the brothers will have to make their mark in their upcoming bouts and send a message to the others in their respective weight divisions.

Keanu is taking on Waqar Umar, a tough Pakistani workhorse. There is no doubt Keanu is the more talented fighter, but Umar is one of those battlers who can make you look bad if you give him the chance. 

However, Keanu is an extremely determined fighter, so look for Keanu to give fans a showcase of his skills, stopping Umar in exciting fashion.

Gianni on the other hand has a much tougher opponent in Brazil’s Yago Bryan. Bryan is best remembered for his remarkable five-round battle against former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke last year.

The systematic Bryan should provide a stiff challenge for Gianni, but since the Brazilian is moving up to flyweight for this one, it’s a matter of how he’s able to handle the weight. Gianni is a tall and lanky flyweight whose height and reach has caused problems for his opponents thus far.

Agilan Thani

The young Malaysian middleweight prospect may just turn out to be the most talented of all. “Alligator” is unbeaten at five wins and no losses, and has decimated everyone that’s been put in front of him so far. Of his five victories, three have come by knockout and two by submission.

He likes to invest his fight earnings to go train with high-level wrestlers in the United States – a wise decision from a young man with aspirations of greatness. Furthermore, the knowledge and skills he acquires from his elevated training is brought back to Malaysia and shared with his teammates at Monarchy MMA.

Thani is taking on the hard-hitting Filipino fighter Trestle Tan in his next bout, and it will be interesting to see how his defense will hold up against a monstrous puncher. If he can get past this test with flying colors, expect to see Thani make his entrance into the big leagues.

Peter Davis vs Shannon Wiratchai

This could be a potential show-stealer. Peter Davis is absolutely loved in Kuala Lumpur and you can see his face pretty much anywhere you turn, from TV commercials to street ads, apart from his usual stint inside the ONE Championship cage.

Over the course of his career, Davis has competed against the cream of the crop in ONE Championship’s lightweight division, and has most of the time been successful. Before losing in his most recent bout, Davis strung together four straight stoppage victories and appeared to be ready for a big fight.

That was until he met the thunderous puncher Adrian Pang. Now Davis is taking on an equally dangerous fighter in Thailand’s Shannon Wiratchai, who is maybe not as powerful and as inherently durable as Pang, but absolutely more dynamic.

Wiratchai is one of the most creative offensive forces in ONE Championship, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say he’s probably the guy with the widest range of striking techniques.

Peter Davis is in for a rough battle, and will come into this match-up the slight underdog. One thing is for certain though, this fight will rival the main event in terms of action and drama.

Ev Ting vs Rob Lisita

There won’t be another fight more anticipated on this card than the main event battle between Malaysia’s Ev Ting and Australia’s Rob Lisita. The two lightweights are premier fighters in the organization, and provide an interesting clash of dynamic offensive fighters.

Ting is coming off two scintillating submissions over top Filipino fighters Honorio Banario and Eric Kelly, after getting submitted himself by reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov.

Lisita, on the other hand, is on a three-fight skid, but the three losses have come against the best and most dangerous fighters in the division. He’s dropped three straight against Marat Gafurov, Eric Kelly, and Timofey Nastyukhin – that’s a murderer’s row of featherweights.

Furthermore, regardless of where Lisita is at in his career, “Ruthless” will always remain to be an extremely dangerous fighter.

A lot is riding on this for Ting, who if he wins impressively against Lisita could land a big fight against a top five featherweight. If Lisita wins, that would shoot him right back into the mix.