ONE Fight Night 7 results and recap: Andrei Stoica vs. Françesko Xhaja

Romanian kickboxing champion Andrei Stoica got things started on the ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video main card on Friday night against Albanian heavy hitter Francesko Xhaja.

The pair squared off in a light-heavyweight kickboxing showcase. Xhaja went into the contest seeking his first win under the ONE Championship banner while Stoica was aiming to score his fourth win in his last five fights.

Both fighters came out trading heavy kicks to the legs and body. Xhaja appeared to have a bit of a speed advantage to match his height and reach advantage, but Stoica was clearly looking to offset that with his power.

The first round was fairly close with Xhaja landing a solid head kick followed by a flurry of strikes in the center of the ring.

Round two started similarly with both fighters standing in the pocket and trading power shots. Stoica lumbered forward through the majority of the round but neglected to move his head, leaving himself open to counterstrikes from Xhaja. Attempting to get a little fancy, Xhaja threw a spinning heel kick but failed to hit the mark thanks to the continuous forward pressure of Stoica.

With the fight up for grabs, Xhaja came out throwing early in an attempt to get ahead on the scorecards. Stoic appeared to be slowing down as he had little answer for Xhaja’s pressure aside from putting his hands up and protecting himself. Xhaja clearly ran away with the third and final rounds, but the first two rounds were anyone’s guess.

Official Result: Francesko Xhaja def. Andrei Stoica via split decision

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Francesko Xhaja gets his first win in ONE Championship at ONE Fight Night 7 Against Andrei Stoica

With his split decision win over Andrei Stoica at ONE Fight Night 7, Francesko Xhaja finally has himself a win under the ONE Championship banner. Previously, Xhaja came up short inside the circle at ONE: Only the Brave in January 2022, suffering a second-round knockout against Rade Opacic.

With the loss, Stoica fell to 3-3 inside the circle and 54-14-0 overall. The Romanian kickboxing world champion previously scored victories over Ibrahim El Bouni, Anderson Silva, and Giannis Stoforidis. Prior to Friday night, his latest loss came against reigning ONE heavyweight kickboxing world champion Roman Krylkia.

It will be interesting to see if this win helps Xhaja build momentum as he climbs the light heavyweight kickboxing division ranks to make a run at the dominant titleholder, Roman Kryklia.