Reece McLaren says he will call for a world title shot if he beats Kairat Akhmetov

Reece McLaren believes a ONE world title opportunity will be within reach with a win over Kairat Akhmetov.

‘Lightning’ will return to the Circle determined to score his third straight win after securing victories over Xie Wei and Windson Ramos in his last two appearances. Standing in his way will be No. 2 ranked flyweight contender Kairat Akhmetov. ‘The Kazakh’ will roll into the 1stBank Center riding a five-fight win streak which began in 2018.

In an interview with MMA Sucka, Reece McLaren believes that if he has his hand raised at ONE Fight Night 10, he will be the next man in line for a ONE flyweight world title opportunity.

“Yeah, I’m not good at standing in line, I don’t wanna wait in any lines. All the stones have been stepped, yeah it’s go time. This is the year to do it.”

In addition to earning a potential shot at flyweight gold, Reece McLaren will also look to avenge a 2018 loss to Kairat Akhmetov inside the Circle. Squaring off at ONE: A New Era, ‘The Kazakh’ earned a unanimous decision victory over the Aussie striker, ending his three-fight win streak in the process. McLaren would go on to drop a second-straight bout against Danny Kingad before getting his career back on track.

Since those back-to-back losses, McLaren has won four of his last five, securing his spot as the No. 4 ranked contender in the division.

The fate of the ONE flyweight world championship will be determined in the ONE Fight Night 10 main event as reigning titleholder Demetrious Johnson defends his title against the man he took it from, Adriano Moraes.

The winner will likely find themselves squaring off with the winner of Reece McLaren vs. Kairat Akhmetov, which will go down just hours before the highly anticipated flyweight championship trilogy bout.