ONE Championship: Jackie Buntan v Anissa Meksen at ONE 23 called off because of injury
- Interim lightweight MMA title fight between Ok Rae Yoon and Alibeg Rasulov bumped up to headline bout at Lumpinee Stadium event
Ok Rae Yoon’s interim lightweight MMA title clash with Alibeg Rasulov has been bumped up to the main event at ONE Fight Night 23 after Jackie Buntan’s fight with Anissa Meksen was cancelled.
Buntan suffered a broken toe in sparring as she prepared to face the Filipino-American in a bout that had the strawweight kickboxing title on the line at Lumpinee Stadium on July 6.
A replacement opponent for Meksen could not be found so the fight between Ok and Rasulov was named the new main event.
The two had been booked to face off in a three-round non-title fight so they should be well prepared despite the late change.
Christian Lee is the lightweight champion but is taking some time off following the death of his younger sister, so in his absence an interim champion will be crowned who is likely to fight Lee at a later date.
Ok (17-4) is a former lightweight champion and one of only three fighters to ever defeat Lee, even if he was well beaten in the rematch. The Korean has won six out of his past seven fights.
Defeat is something that Rasulov (13-0) has yet to experience. The Russian-born, Turkish-based fighter will compete on a ONE Championship card for the first time after making his name in Europe.
The rest of the card remains intact with a submission grappling bout pitting Tye Ruotolo against Jozef Chen the most recent addition.
Ruotolo is the reigning welterweight submission grappling champion but will not be putting his title on the line in this bout. The bout is set for 186 pounds (84 kilograms) and both men enjoyed success on the international Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene before signing with ONE Championship.
The event will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime in North America and is available to view on YouTube in Hong Kong.
