ONE Championship: Hiroyuki Tetsuka v Isi Fitikefu MMA fight added to Denver’s ONE 168 card
- The winner of the Ball Arena fight will be well placed for a shot at reigning champion Christian Lee when he returns from his two-year break
A welterweight MMA fight between Hiroyuki Tetsuka and Isi Fitikefu has been added to the ONE 168 card at the Ball Arena in Denver on September 6.
ONE Championship does not publicise its welterweight rankings, but the winner of this fight will be well positioned for a shot at reigning champion Christian Lee when he eventually returns from his two-year hiatus.
Japan’s Tetsuka (14-4) has won his past five fights with all of those victories coming inside the distance.
The former Pancrase welterweight champion has not lost since 2020 and already has two wins to his name this year.
Australian-Tongan Fitikefu (8-1) saw his undefeated streak marred by a split-decision loss to the experienced Ruslan Emilbek at ONE Fight Night 4 last year. He is coming off a submission win over Valmir da Silva, a Brazilian who also lost to Tetsuka recently.
The other fight confirmed this week is a flyweight Muay Thai contest between Johan Gazali and Josue Cruz.
The hard-hitting Malaysian Gazali saw his five-fight winning streak snapped by Trần Duy Nhất Nguyễn at ONE 167 in Bangkok last month.
His Mexican opponent has yet to win a ONE Championship fight, with both his previous outings ending in a stoppage loss.
ONE Championship’s inaugural event in the US last year took place at the 6,500-capacity 1stBANK Center in Denver. It was a complete sell-out, with Demetrious Johnson beating Adriano Moraes in the main event.
This year’s show in Denver, the second one in the US, will take place at the much bigger Ball Arena, which holds 18,000 and is the long-term home of local NBA team the Denver Nuggets.
This event will be headlined by Englishman Jonathan Haggerty putting his bantamweight Muay Thai title on the line against Superlek Kaitmoo9 – an opponent who has already beaten him once.
There will also be a submission grappling belt up for grabs, with Kade Ruotolo defending his welterweight title against Mikey Musumeci. The challenger currently holds the flyweight belt and will be moving up four weight classes for this clash.
