Preview: One Championship 'Pursuit of Greatness'

Featherweights
Rafael Nunes (11-2-0) vs. Movlid Khaibulaev (13-0)

The co-main event of the evening will be a featherweight bout between Brazilian Nunes and undefeated Russian Khaibulaev. Both men will be viewing this matchup as a chance to put their names into the hat for whenever Martin Nguyen returns to defend his featherweight title. After an almost four-year break, Nunes returned to ONE at the start of 2018 and claimed his first win fighting for the promotion with a second-round submission of Eric Kelly. The former Premier FC Lightweight Champion followed up his victory over Kelly with a second-round stoppage loss to Tetsuya Yamada back in June. Nunes is a talented submission artist, but due to his time away from the sport, it is tricky to gauge if he is ready to compete for the title.

Khaibulaev also is returning after a hiatus, albeit a less lengthy one than Nunes. After a strong showing in February 2017 in his ONE debut where he won a unanimous decision victory over the previously undefeated Brazilian of Herbert Burns, the 28-year-old sambo specialist returned to Russia to complete in Fight Nights Global. A year between his ONE bouts may blur the memory of some fight fans, but if Khaibulaev can record a dominant victory over Nunes, those blurred memories should quickly regain their focus. Khaibulaev, like Nunes, is only a couple of wins away from being within his right to call for a title fight, but a lot will depend on how he performs in his return bout.

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