Five key takeaways from an incredible night at ONE 171: Qatar

Sport360 · 2 years ago · 1,832 views

If ONE Championship’s foray into Qatar a year ago surpassed all expectations, last night at the Lusail Sport Arena they were blown out of the water. ONE 171: Qatar was a night of incredible fights, spectacular finishes, and stories that a scriptwriter would struggle to pen. It was a treat for the packed out arena, and those watching the magic unfold from all around the world. Here are the key takeaway from a night that will live long in the memory Pacio survives an onslaught to unify the strawweight MMA class The endearing image the last time Joshua Pacio fought in Qatar was him being helped from the cage after being spiked by Jarred Brooks in the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title clash. He may have been the new champ, but looked far from a winner. As the two ran it back last night in their trilogy fight, it looked like a similar fate awaited the man from the Philippines. Interim champ Brooks went off like a rocket in the first round scoring a takedown and hunting submissions. But in not finding a finish, it appeared Brooks’ gas tank quickly started to empty – allowing Pacio to show incredible heart to pick himself back up and score a come-from-behind win with some impressive ground and pound. He now reigns, undisputed, and can look forward to presiding over a division he was absent from for almost a year. Haggerty is the king, plain and simple  Going into this one, some may have been forgiven for thinking Wei Rui was the man with gold on his shoulder. The hype around the Chinese star was justified given his 21-fight win streak, but on this night Jonathan Haggerty showed his truly elite status. ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion took a little time to settle as Wei Rui started quickly looking to assert dominance. But as the fight went on there was only ever going to be one winner. Haggerty found his rhythm, and more importantly his range – finding the target at will, and making his opponent miss more than he hit.  In the end it was a decisive victory for Haggerty who moved to a 23-5 overall striking record. What comes next is up for debate following the late cancellation of Ilias Ennahachi versus Petchtanong – which would have likely served as a number one contender match. Whoever is next in line certainly has a challenge of a lifetime against the Brit, but will Haggerty also hinting at wanting to explore MMA, who knows? Heroes go out in a blaze of glory Two legends of the game bowed out in Qatar after suffering tough losses. Martin Nguyen was the first fighter in ONE Championship history to hold titles across two divisions, but his outing in Qatar would be his last. A unanimous decision loss to the impressive Russian Shamil Gasanov was enough to call time on what has been a spectacular career. Meanwhile when Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon took to the cage there was always a hint this could be a swansong. The pair were facing off for the fifth time, neither had fought since 2022, and between them were 0-7 in their last outings.  None of that should take away from the careers of either man however, both had been ONE bantamweight MMA World Champions – with Bibiano defending for a record eight times.  On this night in Qatar, it was the Brazilian who would once again take the spoils after a back and forth contest that both could have claims on winning. It ended with Bibiano getting his hand raised by split decision – before laying his gloves down in the centre of the cage.  Roberto Soldic arrives in ONE Championship This may have been his third fight, but now Roberto Soldic can finally say he has arrived in ONE Championship – and in spectacular fashion too. Not too many tipped the Croatian heading into his bout with the dangerous Dagi Arslanaliev. Indeed, if the Turk had come out of this one with a win there was a solid argument for him targeting ONE welterweight MMA world title.  We had all seen the explosiveness Soldic possessed throughout his career – that had just not materialised in ONE as yet. However, one earth-shattering left hook was all it took to wipe Arslanliev out and score what will already be one of the most stunning KOs of 2025. Soldic had even dropped down a weight class to welterweight for this one – but whichever division he ends up settling in, they are now on notice. Some big regional wins Shamil Erdogan was out to make sure people didn’t think his win over two-weight world champion Aung La N Sang was a fluke – and a first round KO of the Myanmar hero certainly did that. Expect big things in the future for the Turkish fighter. On the lead card, two regional fighters were also able to make short work of their opposition. UAE BJJ hero Zayed Alkatheeri picked up a first-round submission win over Jordan’s Mohammad Aburumuh, while Iraq’s Hussein Salem kicked the night off in style with a first round KO of Italian Walter Cogliandro.