Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will host the ONE FC 25 “Age of Champions” card on March 13. The main event of the card features the flyweight champion Adriano Moraes making his first title defense against Asuka Mikami, aka Riku Shibuya.
Moraes captured the belt in his last fight, defeating Geje Eustaquio of the Phillipines with a guillotine choke in the second round of their fight last September. It was a third submission victory in a row for the 25-year-old Brazilian, who is now 12-1 overall and 3-1 under the ONE FC promotion.
Shibuya is impressive in that he has not lost a fight in more than five years. However, he has fought exclusively in his home country of Japan, and this is his first trip out of the country. Stepping into a main event against an efficient fighter like Moraes for his first fight will be a difficult task, and the books will install him as the underdog heading into this one.
It is interesting that ONE FC and matchmaker Matt Hume have granted Shibuya a title shot in his first fight with ONE FC, but it is an example of the out of the box thinking that has made ONE FC successful. They are looking to keep Moraes active and they talent pool needed new blood, which Shibuya represents in spades. Moraes has one loss, to Yusup Saadulev, but he has since lost and the guy that beat him lost as well, so Moraes faces a challenge from the outside, and he will be favored.
The co-main event features 155-pounders as Peter Davis (9-3) is taking on India’s Rajinder Singh Meena (8-1). Meena brings a fine record over from India’s Super Fight League and he has finished all his fights within the distance, but this is his first fight under the ONE FC banner. In Davis he faces a tall order, as the Malaysian fighter has won three in a row with ONE FC. The books may see this one for Meena, however, as his finishing ability on paper looks very solid.
The books traditionally carry lines for ONE FC events, so check back closer to fight time to see where the lines come in for this event.
