ONE: The Inner Circle Staff Picks: Four Thrilling Fights on Deck May 15
ONE Championship's The Inner Circle returns with a four-pack of fights to kick off the weekend Friday. Here are our staff picks.
ONE Championship gets the MMA weekend going bright and early Friday morning with another edition of ONE: The Inner Circle. Topping the action from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok this week is the battle for the ONE Heavyweight MMA Championship between Oumar Kane (7-1 MMA, 6-1 ONE Championship) and Anatoly Malykhin (14-1 MMA, 6-1 ONE Championship) in a rematch of a fight from November of 2024.
In the second fight of four on The Inner Circle on Friday, it'll be lightweight action (170 lbs) matching undefeated Kade Ruotolo (3-0 MMA, 3-0 ONE Championship) against Hiroyuki Tetsuda (15-6 MMA, 7-3 ONE Championship,) formerly of Pancrase.
ONE: The Inner Circle Main Event
Oumar Kane and Anatoly Malykhin first met inside the ONE Circle in November of 2024 in the main event of ONE 169. After five rounds of action, "Reug Reug" emerged victorious by way of split decision on the scorecards.
A rematch was set for November of last year, serving as the main attraction of ONE 173 in Tokyo. A few weeks before the contest was to have been scheduled to take place, Kane suffered injuries from an automobile accident and the fight was postponed to allow him to recover.
Malykhin is already the champion in ONE's middleweight (205 lbs) and light heavyweight divisions ahead of this week's edition of The Inner Circle but is hungry to reclaim his seat at the head of the table in the heavyweight division., A convincing performance in the headlining fight of ONE: The Inner Circle on Friday will see him return to triple-champ status.
ONE: The Inner Circle Co-Main Event
Kade Ruotolo is a decorated grappler, staking claim to the ONE Lightweight World Submission Grappling Championship since 2022 and having defended it twice over. Upon transitioning to the sport of MMA in the spring of 2024, his success has only continued with a perfect record.
Going into his fourth such bout in ONE: The Inner Circle on Friday, he's maintained a 100 percent finishing rate, with all three of his victories in MMA coming by way of submission. When Ruotolo enters the ring on Friday for his first bout since recovering from a torn ACL last year, he'll be looking to drop Tetsuda as soon as he can.
Hiroyuki Tetsuda, the former Pancrase Welterweight Champion, will be making his 22nd ring walk on Friday during The Inner Circle looking to build off of his victory last time out against Shinya Aoki in a lightweight bout during ONE 173 inside the second round with a flurry of punches and knees.
A similar finish in this week's Inner Circle card could open doors for him as far as championship opportunities are concerned down the road.
More Bouts on the Card
Also on ONE: The Inner Circle this week, The Art of Eight Limbs, Muay Thai, takes center stage for a contest between Superlek and Abdulla Dayakaev in the bantamweight (145 lbs) ranks. Immediately beforehand, the atomweight (115 lbs) division will be featured as Mia Trevorrow battles Kokoz.
ONE: The Inner Circle Predictions and Staff Picks:
MMASucka staff picks are composed of four of the world's leading mixed martial arts organizations: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC,) the Professional Fighters League (PFL,) ONE Championship (ONE FC,) and Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS.)
- UFC picks will include main card fights ranging from four to six matchups per event.
- PFL picks are from main card fights for both pay-per-views and regular events.
- DWCS will feature all MMA fights from the event with a minimum of three matchups.
Staff picks in 2025 were won by Hank Strandberg with a record of 216-119.
Find our ONE: The Inner Circle picks and odds below.
Staff records after UFC 328:
- Hank Strandberg: 69-35
- Frazer Krohn: 60-45
- Drew Zuhosky: 50-53
- Andrew Benjamin: 14-13
Note- not all staff pick for every event.
Anatoly Malykhin -205 vs. Oumar Kane +155- HEAVYWEIGHT
| Staff Member | Pick |
| Drew Zuhosky | Kane by First-Round Knockout |
| Frazer Krohn | Malykhin by Unanimous Decision |
| Staff Picking Kane: 1 | Staff Picking Malykhin: 1 |
Kade Ruotolo -900 vs. Hiroyuki Tetsuka +500- LIGHTWEIGHT
| Staff Member | Pick |
| Drew Zuhosky | Ruotolo by Third-Round Submission |
| Frazer Krohn | Ruotolo by First-Round Submission |
| Staff Picking Ruotolo: 2 | Staff Picking Tetsuka: 0 |
Muay Thai: Superlek -155 vs. Abdulla Dayakaev +135- BANTAMWEIGHT
| Staff Member | Pick |
| Drew Zuhosky | Superlek by Unanimous Decision |
| Frazer Krohn | Superlek by Unanimous Decision |
| Staff Picking Superlek: 2 | Staff Picking Dayakaev: 0 |
Muay Thai: Mia Trevorrow -150 vs. Kokoz +115- ATOMWEIGHT
| Staff Member | Pick |
| Drew Zuhosky | Trevorrow by Unanimous Decision |
| Frazer Krohn | Kokoz by Unanimous Decision |
| Staff Picking Trevorrow: 1 | Staff Picking Kokoz: 1 |
