ONE 169 to Host Trio of Title Tilts in ATL, Including Christian Lee vs. Alibeg Rasulov

One Championship is going for broke in Hotlanta this November.

Atop ONE 169 in Atlanta on Nov. 8, three championship affairs will sit on the marquee. The main attraction at the State Farm Arena is already released, in a battle for the heavyweight throne between champ Anatoly Malykhin and “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane. The co-main event, first reported by MMA Fighting on Friday and subsequently confirmed by the promotion, will put the 170-pound strap up for grabs between two-division beltholder Christian Lee (17-4) and interim champ Alibeg Rasulov (15-0). Additionally, Tawanchai P.K. Saenchai and Nattawut Somkhun will settle things in a trilogy match for the 155-pound muay thai crown, per a release from ONE.

Lee, who holds gold at 170 and 185 pounds in the promotion, last appeared in November 2022, where he claimed the vacant 185-pound title against Kiamrian Abbasov after champ Abbasov missed weight. In doing so, Lee became one of a small number of two-division champions in ONE history. “The Warrior” earned his 170-pound belt back in a rematch with Rae Yoon Ok the fight before, as the South Korean snagged it from him in September 2021. The Hawaiian local took time away from the sport after the death of sister Victoria Lee at the beginning of January 2023, and he decided to come back to defend his thrones.

Gorets Fight Club product Rasulov introduced himself to the ONE Championship brass in July when he outworked Ok over five grueling rounds in July. Rasulov made his way to the organization by bouncing around various leagues in Russia and Turkey, picking up 10 finishes across his 14 wins to get there.

Born Narongsak Kaewmala, Tawanchai has met Nattawut on two previous occasions, once in kickboxing and the second in muay thai. Their first matchup came in a nine-minute affair on ONE on Prime 15 in 2023, where Tawanchai earned a close unanimous decision nod. The rematch came for Tawanchai’s 155-pound muay thai title in June, and the two battled it out for five hard rounds. Tawanchai ultimately picked up a razor-close majority decision call, and the two are running it back once more for that gold.

This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com

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