MMA
ONE Championship releases full card for ONE Friday Fights 162
Published
3 weeks agoon
A nine-bout card returns to Lumpinee Stadium this week. The thread connecting its two biggest fights runs straight through one of Muay Thai's most beloved figures.
Southpaw powerhouse Kongklai Sor Sommai meets Moroccan puncher Adam Benwarwar in a bantamweight Muay Thai main event on Friday, July 17 at ONE Friday Fights 162. The card broadcasts live in Asia primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Kongklai's story is the kind Muay Thai was built to tell. He lost his first ten professional fights and kept going anyway. Eventually, he strung together an 18-bout winning streak that included the only knockout of Seksan Or Kwanmuang ever recorded in the big gloves.
The 27-year-old carries that legacy into Friday's fight looking to get back on track after a tough loss to Julio Lobo at ONE Friday Fights 152. Benwarwar needs no extra motivation of his own, having announced himself with a first-round knockout and an explosive striking arsenal.
Khunponnoi aims to step out of his brother's shadow at ONE Friday Fights 162
The co-main event brings the Seksan connection full circle. Khunponnoi Sor Sommai, the younger brother of “The Man Who Yields To No One,†takes on Scotland's Gregor Thom in a flyweight Muay Thai matchup on the same card that headlines the man who once knocked his brother out.
The 33-year-old Sor Sommai product has 127 professional wins, including 28 knockouts, and has spent years working to step out of the most beloved shadow in ONE Championship. Thom's own story is one of the series' great origin tales, a fighter who started training during pandemic lockdown boredom and forged himself into a legitimate threat with a powerful low-kick game.
Rounding out the card, seven further bouts span Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA, with every fighter chasing the same prize: a life-changing US$100,000 contract and a permanent spot on ONE Championship's global roster.
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43 minutes agoon
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Bo Nickal vs. Olympic champion Shirvani Muradov set for RAF Moscow
Published
4 hours agoon
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Nickal will remain active on the wrestling mats while awaiting
his next
Ultimate Fighting Championship bout.
The UFC middleweight has been booked for another Real American
Freestyle matchup, as the promotion recently announced that Nickal
will face Olympic gold medalist Shirvani Muradov.
Bo Nickal prepares for Real American Freestyle matchup against
2008 Olympic gold medalist Shirvani Muradov
Nickal has booked another RAF appearance shortly after his RAF 12
bout with Max McEnelly, which will take place on Aug. 22. He will
face Muradov in Moscow on Sept. 5, according to an announcement
from RAF on X.
Nickal last competed at
UFC Freedom 250, where he earned a first-round victory over
Kyle
Daukaus to extend his winning streak. Instead of waiting for
his next fight, Nickal is continuing to hone his wrestling
skills.
The 30-year-old made his RAF debut at the promotion’s inaugural
event in August 2025, defeating Jacob Cardenas on points. This new
challenge could be a difficult one for Nickal. Muradov previously
won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Games in
Beijing in the 96kg (212 pounds) category. He also has far more
experience than the American collegiate wrestling standout.
RAF Moscow streams live on Fox Nation on Sept. 5.
3x NCAA Champ and Dan Hodge Trophy winner
Bo
Nickal will face Olympic Champ Shirvani Muradov SEP 5 at RAF
MOSCOW.Tickets coming soon. Join the presale list at the link in bio.
Watch live on @foxnation in the
U.S. Additional international broadcast details to be announced.
pic.twitter.com/YCyQiP4thk— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA)
August 4, 2026
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Joe Rogan advises Rico Verhoeven to choose boxing over the UFC
Published
7 hours agoon
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Verhoeven will financially benefit more from boxing than from
joining the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Verhoeven recently asked for Rogan's suggestion about competing
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podcast.
Joe Rogan says boxing makes the ‘most sense' as next career
move for Rico Verhoeven
The former Glory Kickboxing champion noted that Conor
McGregor had reportedly earned a massive payday for his return
fight last month, which lasted 69 seconds. However, Rogan advised
the 37-year-old against signing with the UFC at this point in his
career.
Rogan believes Verhoeven can earn more money in boxing. He also
claimed that Verhoeven's friend and training partner Tom
Aspinall could have a career in boxing in the future and that
the Brit will benefit from working with Eddie Hearn.
“For you, boxing makes the most sense, especially at this point in
your life, financially,†Rogan told Verhoeven. “For Tom, he has a
potential career in boxing as well. And now that Eddie Hearn is
managing him, which is very exciting because Matchroom being behind
him is gonna have a gigantic hype machine, gigantic promotion. They
are at odds with the UFC. For me, I care about the fighters making
the most money possible, and that's how [Tom] is gonna make the
most money possible.â€
Verhoeven vacated his Glory heavyweight title last year after
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Pereira in kickboxing. The Dutchman then challenged former
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the later rounds.
Seemingly en route to a potentially monumental upset win, he was
knocked down late in the 11th round. While Verhoeven returned to
his feet, Usyk followed up and the referee bizarrely stopped the
fight with a second left in the stanza.
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