KUCHING: Sarawak’s Johan “Jojo” Ghazali is locked in for an entertaining high-stakes flyweight Muay Thai match-up against undefeated Colombian star Johan “Panda Kick” Estupinan at ONE 170 inside Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan 24.
Johan is out to secure his seventh win from eight appearances in ONE Championship, and the Rentap Muaythai Gym star vows to entertain his compatriots while continuing to make his nation proud in the world’s largest martial arts organisation.
“The fans can expect a crazy fight, that’s for sure,” he told Berita Harian shortly after the match was announced.
“It’s going to be very entertaining. A battle of the young guns,” said ONE Championship in a press release issued on Thursday (Nov 28).
In his last outing in ONE Championship, the 18-year-old bounced back from his Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat loss with a statement first-round knockout of Josue Cruz at the organisation’s second on-ground event in the United States, ONE 168: Denver.
He was also rewarded with a USD50,000 (RM223,199) performance bonus for his fifth stoppage win in ONE Championship, which took his overall career record to 25-7.
Before that highlight-reel moment, the teenage phenom racked up four knockouts, including his 16-second finish of Padestuk Fairtex in his debut at ONE Friday Fights 6 in February of last year and a second-round KO of dangerous Russian striker Temirlan Bekmurzaev that earned him the coveted USD100,000 (RM446,081) contract to compete on the global stage.
While he has been nothing short of entertaining, Johan can expect to be tested to the fullest against Estupinan, who spots a perfect 25-0 career slate.
The 22-year-old upstart — ONE Championship’s first athlete from Colombia — has enjoyed a blistering campaign in the organisation thus far.
Like Johan, the JCFernandez and Team CSK affiliate has been flying the flag high for the promotion’s talented up-and-coming young warriors.
“Panda Kick” has amassed three knockouts against Kouta Omori, Sean Climaco, and Zakaria El Jamari to go with his sole unanimous decision triumph over Zafer Sayik to move 4-0 in ONE.
With both martial artists possessing show-stopping power, expect fireworks when they go toe-to-toe at ONE 170, which will broadcast live in Asia primetime on Astro Sports Plus on Jan 24.
