Darren Till gets honest about his performance in win over Yoel Romero
ONE Championship
ONE's heavyweight MMA throne sits empty, and an undefeated Turk believes he knows exactly how to claim it. The plan, he says, starts with pulling his next opponent into deep water.
Shamil Erdogan meets Paul “King of the North†Elliott in the heavyweight MMA main event of ONE Fight Night 48 on Prime Video on Friday, October 2. The bout airs live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 36-year-old is 13-0 as a professional, and his five ONE appearances include two finishes of Aung La N Sang. He moved from middleweight up to heavyweight, stopping Ryugo Takeuchi with first-round ground-and-pound at ONE 173 in Tokyo.
Elliott presents a very different kind of danger. The Englishman enters on the back of a third-round finish of Takeuchi. He also has a six-second head kick knockout of Regan Upshaw.
Erdogan has spent long nights studying tape, and he believes the answer lies in the grappling.
“As far as I know, his wrestling isn't that strong. And as we all know, I am very good at that, and I'll try to neutralize his strengths to beat him. I'll try to show everyone the beauty of this sport,†Erdogan said.
“I'm predicting that this fight will end in the second round. In the first round, I'll drag him into deep water, and in the second round I'll try to finish him.â€
Shamil Erdogan eyes the vacant heavyweight crown
With the ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title currently vacant, Erdogan sees a clear path toward the one achievement missing from his spotless career. A decisive win over a finisher of Elliott's caliber would make his case difficult to ignore.
The Kremost Fight Club and Tiger Muay Thai standout has solved every problem placed in front of him so far. Friday is his chance to prove that pattern holds under the brightest lights yet.
“Becoming a World Champion in ONE Championship [will be] a huge accomplishment, because I think this organization is the best in the world,†Erdogan said.
“I'm focused on winning the belt, and I can't wait for the moment when [ONE Chairman and CEO] Chatri [Sityodtong] puts the belt around my waist.â€
Here’s your chance to get your questions in, early and often. Show will go live around 6-6:30-ish p.m. ET, depending on my fun day of travel. Fire away, and we’ll see you tomorrow.
Alexander
Volkanovski is brimming with confidence ahead of his next title
defense.
Volkanovski (28-4) is scheduled to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title against
Movsar
Evloev (20-0) at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The Australian
champion believes he can deliver a career-best performance against
the undefeated Russian.
Alexander Volkanovski doubts Movsar Evloev can outgrapple him
for 25 minutes at UFC 333
Evloev has won all 10 of his UFC bouts by decision, but Volkanovski
doubts the challenger can outgrapple him for five rounds. “The
Great†believes Evloev would need to catch him with a decisive
strike to win.
“Trying to outgrapple me for 25 minutes, I can't see it,â€
Volkanovski told MMA Junkie. “I believe that the only chance that
any of these guys have is for them to catch me… If he thinks he can
beat me by decision or he thinks he can outgrapple me, I'm sure
he's gonna try, we'll see. I'm just very confident in my skills and
the fighter I still am… I think I can do it in pretty wild fashion.
I believe I can get a finish. I believe I can do it inside five… A
lot of people are going to go say after this fight, ‘Is that the
best Volk we’ve ever seen?'â€
Volkanovski first won the title against Max
Holloway in 2019 and defended it five times before losing to
Ilia
Topuria in 2024. He reclaimed the vacant championship against
Diego
Lopes last year after Topuria moved up to lightweight, then
defended it in their rematch in January.
Alexander
Volkanovski forecasts a spectacular finish of Movsar
Evloev at #UFC333. “I think I can do it in pretty wild fashion.
… A lot of people are going to go say after this fight, ‘Is that
the best Volk we’ve ever seen?'” (via @Farah_Hannoun)
https://t.co/YEnSuG15WK
Joaquin
Buckley remains undeterred after his third consecutive defeat
in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Buckley faced Mike Malott in the Canadian's home country at
UFC Edmonton on Saturday. Malott landed a knee in the second
round and followed with a punch before the referee stopped the
bout. Despite the setback, “New Mansa†remains optimistic about his
future.
Joaquin Buckley plans to document his rebuild after Mike
Malott’s UFC Edmonton knockout
Buckley won six straight fights before his current skid. He now
plans to livestream his efforts to rebuild, inviting fans to follow
the process.
“Right now, we rebuilding and I want y'all to see the process, not
just the results,†Buckley wrote in the caption of his postfight
Instagram post. “The highs, the lows, and everything it takes to
become who God called me to be.â€
In the accompanying video, Buckley said he wants to share his
training and introduce fans to his team.
“I realize that I want to document everything,†Buckley said. “I
want to document the process, I want to document the work, I want
to document the team. This is really just starting back over from
scratch; creating a new foundation and making something happen… I'm
not going to stop; I'm going to keep working. And I'll make sure
that everybody remembers that name.â€