MMA: Malaysia's Agilan takes shot at world title against Ben Askren
Haider Yutim
April 8, 2017 00:21 MYT
April 8, 2017 00:21 MYT
Agilan Thani (right) will be taking on Ben Askren (left) for the ONE welterweight world championship title, on May 26. - ONE Championship pic
After Ev Ting, another Malaysian mixed martial artist, Agilan Thani will be vying for a shot at a world championship title, soon.
The former MIMMA welterweight champion will be going against ONE welterweight world champion, Ben Askren.
The matter was confirmed by Asia’s largest MMA promotion, ONE Championship in a statement on Friday.
“We are excited to announce that ONE welterweight world champion Ben Askren is back and he’s ready to welcome the young Agilan Thani to the upper echelon of the division,” said its CEO Victor Cui.
Agilan and Askren have been exchanging verbal barbs on social media since Feb after the former called for the shot after obtaining his seventh win.
The two will be battling each other at ONE Championship’s Dynasty Of Heroes in Singapore, on May 26 in the co-main event.
Agilan, 21 years, is a rising star in the Malaysian MMA scene, with a perfect undefeated record of 7-0 in his professional career.
In his previous fight, Agilan beat Taiwanese MMA veteran Jeff Huang via submission (rear naked choke) in the second round.
His opponent, Askren, 32 years, is a former NCAA Division I All-American collegiate wrestling legend and a Bellator veteran who also has an unbeaten record of 15-0.
He is one of the finest mixed martial artist in the world today.
In just a few fights in ONE Championship, Askren was able to seize the ONE welterweight world title with a technical knockout victory over Japan’s Nobutatsu Suzuki, and managed to defend his belt against Russian Nikolay Aleksakhin.
The highly-skilled American wrestler is also widely considered to be the absolute best in his division and one of the best fighters in the world pound-for-pound.
‘Dynasty Of Heroes’ will also feature ONE women’s atomweight world champion Angela Lee taking on challenger Istela Nunes of Brazil in the main event.