ONE Championship is ready to go, and so are our MMASucka staff picks.
Kicking off tonight, July 11th, sees ONE Fight Night 12 set for action from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, the organization’s fourth visit to the venue for a “Fight Night” this year. All fights will be available to watch at 8:00pm ET (5:00pm PT) on Amazon Prime Video.
Live results from ONE Fight Night 12 will be available here at MMASucka.
Two fight cards take place this weekend for our staff picks as UFC on ESPN 49: Holm vs. Bueno Silva takes place tomorrow, July 15th, from Las Vegas, Nevada. Stay tuned.
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The Fights
In the night’s featured mixed martial arts bout, Garry Tonon and Shamil Gasanov will meet in featherweight fight at 155 pounds. World class grappling ace, Tonon, returns for the second time in 2023 following a quick first-round kimura over Johnny Nunez in January. A win for the 31-year-old would be his eighth professionally and second in-a-row after losing his one-and-only MMA fight in March of last year to former divisional champion Thanh Le. Tonon’s opponent, Gasanov, gets his biggest test to date in only his second ONE Championship appearance. The 27-year-old remains undefeated with eleven of his 13 professional victories coming by finish with each inside the very first round.
Heavyweights will clash in an important divisional fight between Iran’s Amir Aliakbari and Canada’s Dustin Joynson. Former Greco-Roman wrestler, Akbari, snapped a two-fight skid upon his 2021 promotional debut with back-to-back knockouts in 2022 over Mauro Cerilli and Brandon Vera. 2019 Dana White Contender Series competitor and former Battlefield Fight League Heavyweight Champion, Joynson, returns to the ONE cage for the first time over 17 months removed from his split decision victory over Hugo Cunha.
Three additional MMA fights make up the ONE Fight Night 12 event. 2019 ONE Warrior Series contract winner Wei Xie is set to fight former Pancrase and ONE Championship title challenger Yuya Wakamatsu on the main card at a catchweight of 135.5 pounds after Wakamatsu missed weight. A meeting in the featherweight class sees promotional newcomer Aaron Canarte and March debutant Akbar Abdullaev put their undefeated streaks on the line. Lastly, 25-year-old Muay Thai specialist Walter Goncalves makes his MMA debut against the two-year younger Chinese talent of Duoji Banma at another catchweight fight after Goncalves missed the mark by a pound and three quarters (135.75 pounds).
Although not included in our staff picks, a Muay Thai matchup between current ONE Flyweight Kickboxing Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 and rising Russian talent Tagir Khalilov will take place in the night’s main event.
Find out who the MMASucka staff are taking to win in each of the five MMA fights further below.
We’re less than ONE week away from another night of martial arts madness at ONE Fight Night 12 on @primevideo! Which fights are you tuning in for on July 14?#ONEFightNight12 | Jul 14 at 8PM ET
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch Live on Prime
🌍 Live TV broadcast in 170+ countries (check local… pic.twitter.com/j1Nd1qfR9t— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) July 8, 2023
2023 Staff Picks
MMASucka staff picks are composed of five promotions: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). UFC and Bellator events feature picks from only main cards. PFL will feature select fights from the main and preliminary card while DWCS sees all fights counted from the event. ONE Championship returns to picks for the first time since 2020 and will feature only mixed martial arts (MMA) fights selected from cards with a minimum three matchups.
The WINNER of staff picks at the end of 2023, who picked the most victorious fighters, will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.
See below for our ONE Fight Night 12 picks and predictions.
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Staff Records after UFC 290:
1. Michael DeSantis: 153-75
2. Ben Jamieson: 152-76
3. Nate Freeman: 148-80
4T. Jeremy Brand: 147-81
4T. Frazer Krohn: 147-81
6. Wesley Riddle: 145-83
7. Julio Monteros Jr.: 130-76
8. Jack Goodwillie: 121-66
9. Andrew Benjamin: 113-90
10. Brian Knight: 111-62
11. Tim Wheaton: 105-60
12. Roemello Reyes: 62-34
13. Jonathan Andrade: 31-24
14. Brandon Joint: 12-9
15. Andrew Benjamin: 10-7
16. Joshua Yule: 7-6
17. Antwyn Jackson: 2-3
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
Walter Goncalves (MMA debut)
vs.
Banma Duoji (14-2, 1 NC)
Catchweight Fight
– 135.75 LBS. ~ 61.6 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Goncalves via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Goncalves via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Duoji via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Goncalves via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Duoji via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Duoji via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Goncalves via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Goncalves: 4
Staff picking Duoji: 3
Aaron Canarte (10-0)
vs.
Akbar Abdullaev (9-0)
Featherweight Division
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Canarte via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Abdullaev via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Abdullaev via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Abdullaev via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Abdullaev via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Abdullaev via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Abdullaev via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Canarte: 1
Staff picking Abdullaev: 6
Xie Wei (17-5)
vs.
Yuya Wakamatsu (15-6)
Catchweight Fight
– 135.5 LBS. ~ 61.5 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Wei via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Wei via Round 3 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Wakamatsu via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Wakamatsu via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Wei via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Wakamatsu via Split Decision
Ben Jamieson: Wakamatsu via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Wei: 3
Staff picking Wakamatsu: 4
Amir Aliakbari (12-3)
vs.
Dustin Joynson (7-1, 1 NC)
Heavyweight Division
– 265 LBS. ~ 120.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Aliakbari via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Aliakbari via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Aliakbari via Round 1 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Aliakbari via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Joynson via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Aliakbari via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Aliakbari via Round 3 TKO
Staff picking Aliakbari: 6
Staff picking Joynson: 1
Garry Tonon (7-1)
vs.
Shamil Gasanov (13-0)
Featherweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Tonon via Round 1 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Gasanov via Round 2 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Tonon via Round 2 SUB
Andrew Benjamin: Tonon via Round 1 SUB
Frazer Krohn: Tonon via Round 1 SUB
Nate Freeman: Tonon via Round 1 SUB
Ben Jamieson: Gasanov via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Tonon: 5
Staff picking Gasanov: 2
ONE FIGHT NIGHT 12 FEATURED IMAGE:
Shamil Gasanov walking out to the cage ahead of his ONE Championship debut at ONE Fight Night 3 in October of 2022 versus Jae Woong Kim. Gasanov fights Garry Tonon at ONE Fight Night 12 on Friday, July 14th (photo credits to ONE Championship).
