The MMA weekend will kick off early on Friday morning for North American fans, as ONE FC 27 takes place from Kallang, Singapore. There will be a pair of title belts on the line, headlined by Shinya Aoki making the second defense of his lightweight title against Koji Ando. The event will also feature the inaugural ONE FC strawweight champion decided, as Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke (and yes, I just copy and pasted that name) puts his undefeated record on the line against Roy Doliguez. Aoki hasn’t lost since his last trip over to North America, when Eddie Alvarez knocked him out in Bellator. He has reeled off seven straight wins since then, with six coming by way of submission. To the surprise of no one, that will be the path he takes in this fight as well. Ando isn’t the most recognizable opponent Aoki has faced, but he has made some significant strides in his game over the past few years, and possesses a marked striking advantage should this bout stay on the feet. He sports his own five fight winning streak heading into this title bout, with four finishes amongst those victories. The strawweight title challengers are definitely more anonymous than Aoki and Ando. Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke is a converted Muay Thai kickboxing champion who now trains out of Evolve MMA. Like most Thai fighters, Dejdamrong started his career in MMA a bit later than would be ideal, taking his first pro bout last June, at 35 years of age. He has emerged victorious in all four of his bouts thus far, with none getting past the midway point of the bout. All of those bouts have been contested under the ONE FC banner, and at 125lbs, but 115 should be a good fit for him. Doliguez has seen all of his action come in the URCC and PXC organizations, and this will mark the first time he’s competed outside of his native Philippines. He has competed at strawweight in his last two bouts, and avenged his only career loss in his last outing. Doliguez will be an underdog here — as ONE FC will likely want the fighter they’ve built up to hold their first belt in the division — but he has proven capable of dragging fights into deep water in the past, and that’s not a place Dejdamrong has been in his MMA career. Also on the card, undefeated Ukrainian Marat Gafurov takes on New Zealand’s Ev Ting in a solid featherweight bout, while Hong Kong’s Eddie Ng makes his first appearance in nearly a year to face Ariel Sexton. Each of these bouts will have betting odds as well as the two title fights. While this next two bout won’t be lined, it is worth watching. Undefeated Hawaiian Lowen Tynanes makes his third appearance in ONE FC going up against Kazakhstan’s Kuat Khamitov. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for the top four fights on ONE FC 27 today at Several Bookmakers. Check them out: ——————– MAIN CARD (Internet PPV, 7am ET) ONE FC Lightweight Title Shinya Aoki -705 Koji Ando +435 ONE FC Strawweight Title Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke -385 Roy Doliguez +265 Marat Gafurov -705 Ev Ting +435 Eddie Ng -385 Ariel Sexton +265 ——————– Brad’s Analyis: I obviously favor Aoki to drag this fight down to the ground and either control position or lock in a submission on Koji Ando, but to me this feels like the best shot anyone has had against Aoki since the Alvarez fight. Ando has solid wrestling and good power in his hands, and sometimes that’s all it takes against Aoki. If the public decides that they want to parlay Aoki with some of the chalk from UFC 187 and push this line even further, I could be persuaded to put a small bet on Ando. If you just look at the circumstances behind this bout, you can guess how ONE FC wants it to go. Dejdamrong trains at the gym most closely aligned to the organization, he’s fought all his fights in ONE FC, they’re bringing in a fighter who has never competed with them, and they want to open up a new weight division. Those all seem like positives for Dejdamrong, and then if you add on top that he’s actually a solid fighter, I like his chances to become the first 115lb champion in ONE FC. But there’s no way I’m laying nearly 4-to-1 on a guy with as little MMA experience as he has. Gafurov has already beaten some fighters who I think of more highly than Ev Ting, and that’s not a slight on Ting. Ting may actually be the more dangerous of the two if this fight stays standing, but Gafurov should be able to win the majority of the exchanges. On the ground is where Gafurov has his biggest edge here, and I think he utilizes it to potentially find a submission and continue bolstering his record. I don’t trust Eddie Ng, but facing a short-notice Ariel Sexton I expect him to come through without too much issue here. Sexton can make this interesting if it hits the ground, but I’m not sure it ever gets there, as Ng will want it standing and has solid enough takedown defense to keep it there. Sexton has never been knocked out, so it could be a case of him getting battered for 15 minutes, but either way I don’t expect it to be the best of nights for the Canadian.
