Vinay Nayudu
Doha
There is palpable excitement with regards to the ONE Championship’s second event in
Qatar.
Spotlight One Championship, the world’s largest martial arts organization, have added another marquee bout to ONE 171: Qatar, presented by Visit Qatar, scheduled for Lusail Sports Arena on Thursday, February 20.
English-Canadian star Jake Peacock will face Japanese veteran Shinji Suzuki in a three-round bantamweight Muay Thai contest.
ONE 171: Qatar will also feature two massive World Title showdowns. ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Haggerty will defend his gold against No 1 ranked contender Wei Rui, while ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua Pacio will face interim titleholder Jarred Brooks for the third time in a World Title unification bout.
In a media discussion on Sunday, the organizers said they aim for the event to “change the narrative” surrounding combat sports while providing a platform for local talent.
The event will be headlined by a fight between ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion, Jonathan “The General” Haggerty, who will make his first title defence, and China’s kickboxing megastar Wei Rui, who is on an impressive 21-fight winning streak.
Peacock who has been the first to make it to ONE Championship’s global stage despite a limb difference, was present at the roundtable alongside Filipino martial arts legend Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Qatar Boxing Federation’s President Sheikh Fahad Khalid Al Thani.
Sheikh Fahad said, “In partnership with Visit Qatar — the second edition of the event in Doha is also as much an attempt to grow the fan base to attract combat sport lovers.”
The first event in Qatar – ONE 166 – saw 10 matchups across four different disciplines of combat sports last year on March 1.
Sheikh Fahad insisted that the main aim is to break the stigma around combat sports and to establish it as a form of expression just like other sports.
Peacock, who has only a half developed right forearm due to a congenital condition, won his first ONE Championship contract after a stunning win in the 2024 Road to ONE: Canada tournament.
The 31-year-old Peacock said combat sports, and his stint at ONE, has been a way to stand up for himself and to keep up with challenges. But added that despite his good work, the focus has always been more on his limb. “The headlines are always along the lines of ‘One handed fighter knocks out the other fighters’ even when I’m on the winning side. By now, I know what is going to be written,” he said.
The goal in every fight he gets on is to change that, he said, adding it will be the same case in Qatar when he faces Suzuki. “After all, I want to be known as a great fighter who happens to have one arm — not the other way around,” Peacock added.
The event is a part of the hosts’ wider push to grow various disciplines of martial arts and combat sports, according to Al Thani, who heads Qatar’s wrestling, MMA, and jiu-jitsu committees in addition to boxing.
“Bringing a big platform like ONE Championship, helps in motivating local fighters,” Sheikh Fahad, a former boxer himself, said. “They [ONE] have believed in Qatar since the very beginning and we are in talks with them for long-term partnership to take the country’s fighters from amateur level to professional level.”
ONE 171: Qatar fight schedule
ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship: (C) Jonathan Haggerty vs. (1) Wei Rui
ONE Strawweight MMA World Championship: (C) Joshua Pacio vs. (IC) Jarred Brooks
Welterweight MMA: Roberto Soldic vs. Dagi Arslanaliev
Bantamweight MMA: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Kevin Belingon
Featherweight MMA: (3) Shamil Gasanov vs. (4) Martin Nguyen
Atomweight MMA: (5) Ayaka Miura vs. Ritu Phogat
Bantamweight Muay Thai: Jake Peacock vs. Shinji Suzuki.
