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€
UFC 334 goes down this Saturday with two pretty damn intriguing title fights.
In the main event, undisputed* heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane goes for his first defense against, yes, one of the most talked-about fighters of 2026, the undefeated Josh Hokit. Folks, there’s a well-above zero chance that Hokit closes out the year as the UFC’s heavyweight king. Wowza.
Then you have the bantamweight matchup of destiny between champion Kayla Harrison and the GOAT herself Amanda Nunes. Where these two legends and the division go after UFC 334 is anybody’s guess, but this fight had to happen and it’s finally going down in Madison Square Garden.
So what’s your level of excitement as we kick off fight week?
Andre
Galvao is embracing a daunting challenge as he prepares to face
Rousimar
“Toquinho†Palhares at ACBJJ 23 on Nov. 13 in Rio de
Janeiro.
The Brazilian grappler will face Palhares in a rematch of their
2011 ADCC final, this time under rules that permit strikes to the
body.
Andre Galvao prepares for Rousimar Palhares at ACBJJ 23 under
rules allowing body strikes
Galvao, 44, told Sherdog that a renewed desire to compete and an
attractive offer from the promotion prompted his return. He
initially expected the rematch to follow the rules of their
previous encounter, but the format changed as plans developed.
“First they got my yes, then came the surprises,†Galvao said.
“Later on they told me it would be up to 100kg (220 pounds); then
that it would be nine minutes of fighting instead of seven; and
finally they informed me that punches and kicks would be
allowed.â€
The prospect of facing Palhares under those conditions concerned
some of Galvao's friends and students. However, the Atos Jiu-Jitsu
leader believes his MMA experience has prepared him for the
challenge.
“Several friends came to me and said, ‘You're crazy, coming back
right away against Toquinho and with strikes allowed?'†Galvao
recalled. “The fact is that since I built my career more in
Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling, the youngsters forget that I've already
had seven MMA fights, and during that period I was training with
champions like Anderson, Rafael Feijão and Ronaldo Jacare, so
taking punches isn't exactly something that scares me that
much.â€
Galvao nevertheless recognizes the threat Palhares poses.
“Toquinho is a monster, he's incredibly strong. I joke that I'm
prepared to face a monster on Friday the 13th,†Galvao said. “That
fight of ours in the ADCC final in London in 2011 is still
considered one of the best in history. I'm sure we're going to put
on another great fight and make history again.â€
Galvao won their first meeting 9-4 in the under-88-kilogram ADCC
final in Nottingham, England. Their rematch will headline ACBJJ 23
at Farmasi Arena.
Johnny
Walker's heavyweight run is going faster than he planned.
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweights Sean Brady
and Gabriel
Bonfim were originally scheduled to headline
UFC Vegas 124 on Nov. 7 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. However,
Brady pulled out because of a severe staph infection and the
promotion didn't book a replacement to keep Bonfim on the card.
Walker then accepted the headlining matchup against Waldo
Cortes-Acosta on nine days' notice.
What a victory over Waldo Cortes-Acosta could mean for Johnny
Walker
Walker (23-10, 1 NC) made his heavyweight debut against Mick Parkin
in October, scoring a bonus-winning first-round knockout. The
former light heavyweight recently revealed he originally wanted to
take things slow in his new weight class.
“I was thinking to take small steps and go slow in the division,â€
Walker said at media day ahead of UFC Vegas 124. “See how I feel at
heavyweight. That was my plan. God had different plans than me. God
has better plans for me.â€
Cortes-Acosta (17-4) was riding a three-fight win streak before
losing to Alexander
Volkov and Curtis
Blaydes this year. A win over “Salsa Boy†will launch Walker
into the heavyweight Top 10 in just his second appearance in the
division.