ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov Preview and Predictions

On Friday, Oct. 6, ONE Championship will host an Amazon Prime Video event airing during U.S. primetime for the second consecutive week. This time, the Chatri Sityodtong-run promotion will travel to Bangkok, Thailand for ONE Fight Night 15, which takes place inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

The main event was initially supposed to be Tawnachai PK.Saenchai defending his featherweight Muay Thai world title in a super-fight against Superbon Singha Mawynn. Unfortunately, the title challenger suffered a severe leg injury, leading to Tawanchai fighting “Smokin'” Jo Nattawut in a non-championship bout earlier in the night.

As a result, Thanh Le and Ilya Freymanov will have the honor of being the ONE Fight Night 15 headliners. Le was expected to face Tang Kai in an instant rematch earlier this year for the featherweight MMA world title. Tang suffered a knee injury, so ONE decided Le and Freymanov would fight for the interim throne on Friday.

In the co-main event, Jonathan Di Bella looks to defend his strawweight kickboxing world title for the first time. The Canadian-Italian will face Danial Williams, a versatile fighter looking to pull off a massive upset to claim ONE gold.

ONE Fight Night 15 also features Mikey Musumeci vs. Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling match and the previously-mentioned kickboxing fight between Tawanchai and Nattawut.

The event airs live on Amazon Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. ET. Let’s take a look at the preview and predictions.

Thanh Le hasn’t fought in over a year since losing to Tang Kai; can the American claim the interim featherweight championship by defeating Ilya Freymanov?

Thanh Le started his ONE Championship tenure with five consecutive wins, all by knockout. Unfortunately, his momentum was halted when Tang Kai dethroned him by unanimous decision. Le now looks to get back on track by regaining a world title.

As for Ilya Freymanov, the Russian has fought under the ONE banner twice. He showcased his well-rounded skillset in those fights by securing a TKO against Martin Nguyen and submitting Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg. It’ll be intriguing to see if Freymanov can impose his will on Le.

Le is one of the most respected fighters in ONE history. With that said, the Vietnamese-American is 38 years old and could be slowing down. Therefore, Freymanov is a perfect test for him to shut down those theories.

Freymanov is going to come out firing to seek a quick finish. It will be Le’s job to weather the storm and test the gas tank of the Russian. Unfortunately for the former world champion, Freymanov will likely take him down and showcase his submission skills with a first-round finish.

Jonathan Di Bella won the strawweight kickboxing championship the last time he fought; how does he fare in his first title defense?

Jonathan Di Bella is an undefeated kickboxer who looked phenomenal in his promotional debut against Chinese teenage sensation Zhang Peimian. The problem is that Di Bella hasn’t returned to action since fighting in Oct. 2022, which could be beneficial or a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Danial Williams has fought in three sports since joining ONE – kickboxing, Muay Thai, and MMA. “Mini T” has endured the highs and lows of being a high-level fighter, but he’s never given up on his dreams of obtaining ONE gold.

Underestimating high-level fighters can be a massive mistake when predicting fights. With that said, Williams is most likely going to have a long night on Friday. Di Bella throws lightning-fast combinations and makes high-level adjustments on the fly. Di Bella should retain his throne with a knockout win in the third or fourth round.

“Smokin'” Jo Nattawut has struggled recently, losing three of his last four; can he get back on track and emerge with a win over Tawanchai PK.Saenchai?

Jo Nattawut is undoubtedly an entertaining fighter to watch. When competing in kickboxing, the Thai Top Team affiliate has a promotional record of 2-3, with all but one of those fights ending by knockout. The trend will likely continue in his next bout.

The reigning ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion Tawanchai competed in his first kickboxing bout under the ONE banner on Aug. 4. Needless to say, things went exactly as he planned, leading to a third-round TKO after he broke Davit Kiria’s arm with a kick.

Nattawut has the power to pull off the massive upset. Unfortunately for him, Tawanchai is on a different level, regardless of the ruleset. Therefore, the featherweight Muay Thai king should be able to secure a knockout win in Round 1 or 2.

Which fight is the sleeper match-up on this card?

The sleeper match-up for ONE Fight Night 15 is a strawweight MMA matchup between Joshua Pacio and Mansur Malachiev. Pacio last fought in Dec. 2022, losing against Jarred Brooks to end his reign as the ONE strawweight MMA world champion. The promotion didn’t give him an immediate rematch, so the Filipino top contender must earn a non-title win.

As for Mansur Malachiev, he made his promotional debut in June of this year, defeating fellow top contender Jeremy Miado with a first-round submission. Since then, the entire division has had Malachiev on their radar.

Pacio and Malachiev could be fighting to determine the next strawweight MMA title contender. Therefore, this match-up has the potential to steal the show on Friday.