On Nov. 22, it was reported that Ecuador’s Aaron Cañarte would be back in action against Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE Fight Night 27 on Jan. 10. in an exciting match-up in the ONE Championship featherweight MMA division. However, a month later, it was announced that Cañarte would now face a new opponent in Mongolia’s Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu.
The bout with Baatarkhuu will serve as Cañarte’s third fight inside the ONE Circle. Entering the promotion with a perfect 10-0 record in Jul. 2023, he suffered a first round TKO at the hands of Akbar Abdullaev. His second bout was last August when he lost a unanimous decision to Shamil Gasanov. Cañarte, a former soccer player, is looking to score his first win in ONE. In a recent interview with ONE, Cañarte discussed his thoughts after his last fight.
“I was disappointed because as an athlete, you always want to win and I was already coming off a loss, so it wasn’t good for me,“ Cañarte said. “This is how the sport goes when competing in the world’s best organization. Every fight is going to be difficult but I’m going to get the win in my next fight.”
Baatarkhuu will arguably be a step-up in competition from Nastyukhin. The Mongolian entered ONE in 2023 after back-to-back stoppage wins in Road to ONE in 2022, which brought his pro record to 7-2. One of his Road to ONE wins was by submission and one by knockout. Since joining the ONE roster in Apr. 2023, he has fought five bouts, winning two by submission, one by knockout and one by decision. He only suffered one loss by second-round knockout to Artem Belakh one year ago. Baatarkhuu last fought in August, when he submitted Carlo Bumina-ang with one second left in their fight. He will prove to be a tough opponent for Cañarte.
With Cañarte in need of a win, and Baatarkhuu firing on all cylinders, this bout could have Fight of the Night written all over it.
ONE Fight Night 27 takes place Friday, Jan. 10, and will air live and free to Amazon Prime subscribers on Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. ET.