Five Blockbuster Bouts Bolster The Inner Circle 25 On August 7
ONE Championship returns to Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium this Friday, August 7, for The Inner Circle 25, streaming live exclusively for subscribers.
The headline attraction pits former divisional king Nabil Anane against Suakim Sor Jor Tongprajin in a ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title eliminator, with the winner in line for the next crack at gold.
Anane authored one of the finest seasons in the sport last year. He stopped Nico Carrillo for interim gold in January, avenged a loss to Superlek two months later, and was elevated to undisputed champion in June, all before his 22nd birthday.
He then dropped a competitive five-round decision to Rambolek Chor Ajalaboon this past March, losing the belt in the process.
Suakim arrives with the opposite trajectory. The three-division Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Champion endured a difficult start to his ONE run before turning it around completely, and has not lost since April 2024, riding a seven-fight winning streak that includes four knockouts.
The co-main event brings Abdulla Dayakaev and Superlek back together in a bantamweight Muay Thai rematch. Their first meeting at The Inner Circle 14 this past May produced a razor-thin, hotly debated split decision in Dayakaev’s favour, after the Russian dropped Superlek early and survived a furious two-round comeback.
Superlek, the reigning ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion, has since been stripped of his bantamweight Muay Thai gold, beaten by Anane, and outclassed by Yuki Yoza in a kickboxing bout, leaving him in need of a decisive result. Dayakaev, the 24-year-old Russian out of Team Mehdi Zatout and Team Chingiz Allazov, sits at 16-3 and is aiming to prove his first win was no fluke.
Rounding out the card, Marat Grigorian meets Mamuka Usubyan in a ONE SAMURAI Featherweight Kickboxing Tournament quarterfinal, with the winner earning a shot at Superbon’s world title.
Grigorian, a three-time Glory World Champion riding a three-bout finishing streak, enters as the favourite and has his sights set on a fourth encounter with Superbon, a man he has previously knocked out in 29 seconds. But Usubyan brings a seven-fight winning streak and a record unblemished by a single knockout loss, setting up three genuinely distinct fights, each carrying its own path toward divisional gold.
The Inner Circle 25 August 7 Full Card
- Nabil Anane vs. Suakim Sor Jor Tongprajin (Muay Thai – bantamweight)
- Abdulla Dayakaev vs. Superlek (Muay Thai – bantamweight)
- Marat Grigorian vs. Mamuka Usubyan (kickboxing – featherweight)
- Tahaneak Nayokatasala vs. Dabdam Por Tor Tor Thongtawee (Muay Thai – strawweight)
- Peng Zihao vs. Tsubasa (kickboxing – strawweight)
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