A closer look at the underdogs at ONE 159

ONE 159 is shaping up to be a blockbuster card from start to finish. Featuring two world title bouts and a myriad of exciting fights across MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai, ONE's July 22 card will be a night fight fans will not soon forget.

Headlining ONE 159, two-division ONE world champion Reinier 'The Dutch Knight' de Ridder will defend his ONE middleweight world title against former ONE world champ Vitaly Bigdash.

After utterly decimating ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov earlier this year and going the distance with grappling icon Andre Galvao at ONE X, de Ridder is looking unstoppable. Now, all eyes are on ‘The Dutch Knight’ as he puts his middleweight strap on the line.

In the co-main event, ONE atomweight kickboxing world champion Janet 'JT' Todd will be vying for a second belt in a second sport by competing for the ONE interim atomweight Muay Thai world title. After reigning world champ Allycia Hellen Rodrigues went on hiatus due to pregnancy, ONE decided to create an interim belt.

Against Todd will be ONE Championship newcomer and WBC Muay Thai flyweight world champion and ISKA super featherweight world champion Lara 'Pizza Power' Fernandez. Though she is a newcomer to the promotion, Fernandez is far from a novice as the fighting Spaniard is a force inside the ring.

Since the spotlight will mostly be on the champions and favorites at ONE 159, we will focus today on the underdogs in the event.

Everybody loves a good underdog story. Fighters who go against the odds and achieve the unlikely. We will look deeper into their fighter profiles and see their chances at achieving an upset come July 22.

---

ONE 159 main event world title challenger Vitaly Bigdash

Let's start with the man who will be facing undefeated two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder in the main event, former middleweight king Vitaly Bigdash. The Russian MMA stalwart won the middleweight world title in perhaps the greatest comeback effort in ONE Championship history against Igor Svirid in 2015.

After winning the belt, Bigdash defended it against Aung La N Sang and then lost the strap in an immediate rematch. In four fights and five years since losing his belt, Vitaly is back in world title contention after winning his trilogy bout against Aung La last February.

This is perhaps the most compelling aspect of this main event clash. De Ridder and Bigdash have one thing in common: they both beat Aung La twice. They also beat 'The Burmese Python' in almost the same way: relentless grappling.

Both main event fighters are powerful grapplers who tend to go the same route: take their opponents down, then dominate from top control until they get the sub. When clashes between strong grapplers like this happen, it can go one of two ways.

This ONE 159 main event could become a stand-up battle or a dominant dismantling of whoever gets the takedown first. Bigdash may have a slight edge in the striking department and seems to be able to handle himself off his back.

We all know that he is tough as nails as shown in his fight with Svirid, but what we want to see is if he can be technical enough to go against de Ridder's legendary grappling barrage.

---

ONE 159 co-main event title challenger Lara Fernandez

On to the co-headlining spot of the night. ONE debutant Lara Fernandez will be introduced to the Circle against one of the best world champions on the roster, Janet Todd.

Todd is on a six-fight winning streak and has beaten and decimated every single woman put in front of her in ONE Championship. It is understandable that she is the favorite coming into this fight.

Don't be fooled by the underdog status of the challenger, Lara Fernandez. The ONE newcomer has more wins than Todd in kickboxing and is a world champion in her own right, having won world titles with the WBC and ISKA. This bout is going to be more competitive than you think.

If you look at their fight footage, there's not a lot that you can say that separates Todd from Fernandez, skill-wise. Fernandez is a highly technical striker who employs strategic aggression to overwhelm her opponents. Todd is a well-rounded tactician as well, employing fast counters in the pocket and blitzing combinations.

One key factor that might make a difference here is the use of fingerless gloves. Todd has more experience punching with the 4oz gloves, while Fernandez might be lacing them up for the first time at ONE 159. The difference in the dynamics, angles and overall impact those gloves can make could cause a huge momentum swing in the co-main event.

---

ONE 159 main card strawweight kickboxer Zhang Peimian

The 18-year-old ONE strawweight kickboxing phenom Zhang 'The Fighting Rooster' Peimian is on the rise right now. His underdog status against Aslanbek Zikreev might be due to the fact that he is not as experienced or established in the sport yet.

This doesn't mean, however, that the Chinese-born slugger does not have a strong chance at ending the night of ONE 159 in his favor. In his ONE debut against Josh Tonna last March, Zhang went scorched-earth on the Aussie kickboxer.

Zhang used crisp striking, throwing swift roundhouse kicks to the legs and body coupled with stiff right crosses and powerful left hooks. This could spell well for him against Zikreev, who tends to throw looping overhands inside the pocket and brawl inside. There is also a slight difference in speed and explosiveness between the two, mostly favoring the Chinese warrior.