ONE Announces First Title Fight of 2017

ONE Announces First Title Fight of 2017

ONE Championship officially announces the first title bout of its 2017 campaign.

Dec 14, 2016 by Jim Edwards
ONE Announces First Title Fight of 2017
After announcing a massive 24-event lineup for 2017, ONE Championship unveiled its first title fight of the year on Wednesday. 

ONE Championship CEO Victor Cui revealed that ONE middleweight world champion Vitaly Bigdash will defend his belt against Polish fighter Marcin Prachnio as the main event of ONE: Quest For Power at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 12.

Bigdash is making the first defense of his title since winning the belt back in October 2015 when he defeated the former champion, Igor Svirid. Bigdash showcased tremendous heart and resolve, overcoming a strong performance by Svirid to rally and score the upset victory early in the second round.

Prachnio has an impressive 12-2 professional MMA record and is currently riding a seven-fight win streak, with five wins coming via TKO. He is currently unbeaten in ONE Championship, overcoming three tough challenges in Alexandre Machado, Leandro Ataides, and most recently American Jake Butler. Prachnio is now ready for his biggest challenge--a shot at the undefeated champion, Bigdash.

Also announced for ONE: Quest For Power, 27-year-old Martin "The Situ-Asian" Nguyen of Sydney, Australia, will take on Kazunori Yokota in featherweight action.

Nguyen (7-1) is coming off a big win after beating highly touted prospect Christian Lee in August at ONE: Heroes Of The World. A win against former title contender Yokota could well put him in line for a title shot and the opportunity of revenge against current champion Marat Gafurov, who is the only person to have defeated him to date.

ONE: Quest For Power

Vitaly Bigdash vs. Marcin Prachnio
Kazunori Yokota vs. Martin Nguyen
Anthony Engelen vs. AJ Lias Mansor
Vincent Latoel vs. Vaughn Donayre
Stefer Rahardian vs. Jerome Paye
Andrian Matheis vs. Rene Catalan
Sunoto vs. Chan Heng