Olivia Bahsous And Malia Weaver Take Their Online Rivalry Into The Ring At The Inner Circle 35
Weeks of videos and sharp words online have built a genuine rivalry. Now Olivia “Diamond” Bahsous and Malia Weaver, both just 16, get to settle it with their fists.
The pair meet in a three-round women’s atomweight Muay Thai bout at The Inner Circle 35 on Friday, October 16, live in Asia primetime from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. The event streams exclusively for subscribers at live.onefc.com.
Bahsous does not see their exchanges as harmless fun. The Canadian won three consecutive IFMA Junior World Championships before arriving in ONE, and she believes Weaver’s call-out suggests a newcomer can skip the work it took to get there.
“Beef? What beef? That’s just me. She called me out, and I take that very personally because she thinks that she could skip steps to be where I am,” Bahsous said.
“And because of that, she’s letting other people know that you can just call me out and be able to get onto this stage, ONE Championship, when they haven’t put the same hours in that I have.”
Weaver sees it differently, explaining that the “Olivia Slayer” nickname came from a fan and that she simply reposted it.
“We have been making videos back and forth, but at the end of the day, I don’t know how she feels on her part,” Weaver said.
“None of the videos I make are to put her down. If you look at my videos, none of them are rude or disrespectful toward her. They’re more just funny.”
Bahsous has backed up her words so far. She stopped Phontip Khlongtoeiyouthcenter in 89 seconds at The Inner Circle 19 in June, then finished Nonglek Krudamgym 48 seconds into the second round at ONE Friday Fights 164 in July.
Weaver, a 2024 TBA Classic World Championships titleholder with an unbeaten professional record, makes her promotional debut after sharpening her game at Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya. Despite it being her first fight in 4-ounce gloves, she has no intention of taking a backward step.
“Obviously, I’m going for the knockout, like everyone would. I just know that I’m not going to back away. It’s going to be pressure, pressure, pressure the entire fight,” Weaver said.
“That’s my plan. It’s just going to be pressure. There’s no going back.”
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