Elias Mahmoudi stoked to be back ‘in the race’ for flyweight Muay Thai gold

Algerian standout Elias Mahmoudi is thrilled to be back in the hunt for the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world championship.

Mahmoudi was originally scheduled to scrap with Russian knockout artist Tagir Khalilov at ONE Fight Night 12, but a quick change of the card moved him to ONE Fight Night 13 on August 4. On that night, ‘The Sniper’ will square off with one-time ONE world title challenger Edgar Tabares.

With an impressive win over Tabares inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium next month, Elias Mahmoudi could find himself on the cusp of a shot at reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai world titleholder Rodtang Jitmuangnon:

“Thanks to God, everything has finally returned to normal, and I hope to return where I belong – in the race for the title,” Mahmoudi told ONE Championship ahead of his return to the circle.

‘The Sniper’ looked to be on the fast track to a title fight after scoring back-to-back wins in his first two appearances with the promotion, but a loss to Mongkolpetch Petchyindee halted his progress.

Now, Mahmoudi will have a chance to get back into the conversation, but that will be much easier said than done when he meets Mexico’s first-ever WBC Muay Thai world champion, Edgar Tabares.

Tabares made his promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 10 in May and immediately stepped into the spotlight, challenging Rodtang for the flyweight crown. Tabares suffered a devastating second-round loss via KO.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 13 live and for free in U.S. primetime on August 4.