“Locked and loaded” – The most intense staredowns from ONE Fight Night 18’s faceoffs

ONE Fight Night 18 on Prime Video, the promotion’s first U.S. primetime event of the year, is set to go down on January 12 in Bangkok, Thailand. But before the much-awaited show, the marquee players provided a glimpse of the intense action to be expected during the faceoff early this week.

ONE uploaded on Instagram a video of the heated staredowns that took place during the pre-event festivities, including that between Russian Shamil Gasanov and South Korean Oh Ho Taek, who will headline ONE Fight Night 18 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

The promotion captioned the post with:

“Locked and loaded 👊💥”

Both Gasanov and Oh are gunning for a bounce-back win at ONE Fight Night 18 after losing in their respective matches previously.

It is one of five MMA matches on offer at the event, which will air live on US primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.

The others are those of bantamweights Kwon Won Il (South Korea) and Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg (Mongolia); Artem Belakh (Russia) and Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu (Mongolia); and Mark Abelardo (New Zealand/Philippines) and Ibragim Dauev (Russia). South Korean heavyweight Kang Ji Won, meanwhile, collides with Dutch-American fighter Mikhail Jamal Abdul-Latif.

Three Muay Thai fights, meanwhile, will be played, namely, Suablack (Thailand) vs. Stefan Korodi (Ireland) at bantamweight; Rungrawee (Thailand) against Shakir Al-Tekreeti (Iraq) at lightweight; and Liam Nolan (United Kingdom) versus Ali Aliev at lightweight.

Completing the roster is the kickboxing showdown between light heavyweights Beybulat Isaev of Russia and Yuri Farcas of Romania.

ONE Fight Night 18 to be broadcast to the U.K. and Ireland through Sky Sports

ONE Fight Night 18 on Prime Video happening on January 12 in Thailand, will also see the start of the recently signed broadcasting deal between ONE Championship and Sky Sports.

Under the deal, Sky Sports will exclusively broadcast ONE events in the U.K. and Ireland, beginning with ONE Fight Night 18, which will take place at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

In signing the agreement, both parties underscored that it was in line with their common vision of continued growth and bringing top-quality sports entertainment to fans.

ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong said of the deal:

“For years, our UK fans have been clamoring for ONE to be broadcast on one of the region’s major networks…This deal marks an important milestone for the celebration of martial arts and the continued expansion of ONE Championship’s global footprint.”

For their part, Helen Falkus, Sky Sports Director of Multi-Sport, conveyed:

“We’re pleased to partner with ONE Championship to bring their full range of martial arts to Sky Sports for the first time. We hope to bring new fans to the world class competitive formats on our channels, as well as reach new audiences for Sky.”

ONE Championship is the largest martial arts organization in the world, while Sky Sports is the leading sports broadcaster in the United Kingdom and Ireland.