The wait is over 🚨 Tickets are on sale now for ONE 169: Atlanta on November 8, featuring three intense World Championship bouts and more big fights to be announced in the future 👉 https://t.co/UzqKRWrAxK
Don’t miss this blockbuster event featuring two-division MMA World Champion Christian Lee… pic.twitter.com/HHa7KlGs0r
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship)
July 12, 2024
ONE Championship will be going all out in Hotlanta in November. ONE 169, which will take place in Atlanta on November 8, will feature three championship bouts. The main event at State Farm Arena will be a battle for the heavyweight title between champion Anatoly Malikin and “Leug Leug” Umar Cain, which has already been announced. The co-main event, first reported by MMA Fighting on Friday and later confirmed by the promotion, will be a battle for the 170-pound belt between two-division beltholder Christian Lee (17-4) and interim champion Alibeg Rasoulov (15-0). Additionally, ONE will announce that Tawanchai PK Saenchai and Natthawut Somkul will square off in a trilogy bout for the 155-pound Muay Thai title.
Lee, who holds gold medals at 170 and 185 pounds in the organization, last appeared in November 2022 to win the vacant 185-pound title after champion Kiamurian Abbasov missed weight, making him one of the few two-division champions in ONE history. “The Warrior” reclaimed the 170-pound belt, which he lost to South Korean Rae Yun-Ok in September 2021, in a rematch in his previous bout. The Hawaiian took some time away from boxing following the death of her sister, Victoria Lee, in early January 2023, but decided to return to defend her title.
The Gorets Fight Club product earned his place among ONE Championship’s executive ranks after beating Oku in a hard-fought five-round bout in July. Raslov competed in various leagues in Russia and Turkey before winning 10 of 14 bouts before joining ONE Championship.
Born in Narongsak Kaewmala, Tawanchai has previously faced Natthawut twice, once in kickboxing and once in Muay Thai. The two first met in 2023 at ONE on Prime 15, where Tawanchai narrowly won by unanimous decision after nine minutes. The rematch was in June with Tawanchai’s 155-pound Muay Thai title on the line, and the two battled it out over five hard-fought rounds. Tawanchai ultimately won by a narrow majority decision, and the two will once again fight for the gold medal.