ONE Fight Night 35: Buntan vs. Hemetsberger Preview and Predictions

ONE Championship is back at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand this Friday for a card featuring Muay Thai, kickboxing and MMA, showcasing some of the promotion’s most watchable stars. The main event is for the vacant ONE women’s strawweight Muay Thai championship. That pits Jackie Buntan, who already holds the ONE women’s strawweight kickboxing title, against Austria’s Stella Hemetsberger. The card also features the MMA debut of BJJ ace, and ONE welterweight submission grappling champ, Tye Ruotolo, facing ONE MMA royalty Adrian Lee.

The event airs live on Amazon Prime Video starting at 9 p.m. ET. Let’s take a look at the preview and predictions.

Jackie Buntan has a chance to become a two-sport champion; can she get past Stella Hemetsberger to earn the strawweight Muay Thai belt?

Jackie Buntan is the star ONE wants us all to know about. And, in usual ONE fashion, they’ve put her up against someone she is pretty heavily favored to beat.

Buntan will have the power advantage in this fight and also a lot of size on Hemetsberger. That power could really make the difference in a fight like this, where both women are unloading on each other. I’m expecting Buntan’s power advantage to be most evident with body shots and I think she’s going to go to those to really wear Hemetsberger down.

Hemetsberger is the faster fighter, and she throws fun combinations, often including leg kicks. I don’t think her shots will be powerful enough to slow Buntan down, though, let alone finish her. Buntan has shown a lot of toughness and durability in her career, including when going up in weight.

I think this is going to be a fun one with both women landing combos, but with Buntan landing with more oomph, perhaps on the counter. I think those hard shots will add up down the stretch. I don’t think there’s a finish coming, but I think the final two rounds could be pretty lopsided in Buntan’s favor.

Shadow Singamawynn has not lost in his last six bouts; can he keep his unbeaten streak alive and defeat Bampara Kouyate?

This is going to be a great fight between two very good, and violent, fighters. Shadow is a flamethrower who is going to bring a ton of pressure and intensity to this match as he hunts to keep his streak going and set up a title fight with ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champ Tawanchai PK Saenchai.

If Shadow can’t hurt Kouyate when he blitzes forwards, though, he might leave himself open for some big shots on the counter from the French-Malian fighter. So far Kouyate has shown that he can hang against guys who utilize the ultra-aggressive and fast-paced Thai style that Shadow employs. I think Kouyate’s defense is probably good enough to avoid a quick onslaught. And, in turn, I think this will allow Kouyate to showcase his more technical and clean striking.

Kouyate has a heck of a jab, too, and I can see that demoralizing Shadow and maybe even making him second guess about bombing forwards. I think Kouyate will then be able to transition to more offense off his jab and pick up a decision. This won’t be as fun as a Shadow highlight reel KO, but it seems the more likely outcome, with the more accomplished striker coming out on top.

Tye Ruotolo makes his MMA debut at this event; how does the submission grappling ace do against fellow American Adrian Lee?

The Ruotolo brothers are two of the more exciting grapplers in the sport right now and I’m surprised to see Tye Ruotolo move over to MMA at such a young age, 22 years old. His accomplishments on the mat are unquestionable and he’s likely capable of submitting anyone he can drag down to the ground. But can he drag guys to the ground?

We’ve seen a long host of BJJ pros move over to MMA and struggle to implement their submission grappling. Look at the ups and downs of Rodolfo Vieira and the recent struggles of Marcus Buchecha. It’s just not the same game and if you aren’t able to hide a takedown attempt behind good striking, a lot of guys in MMA are going to be too good to get taken down.

Adrian Lee is a good young fighter, and his family, which includes Angela Lee and Christian Lee, have had a lot of love from ONE in the past. I don’t think he’s been brought in as a sacrificial lamb for Ruotolo. Instead, he’s an appropriate test and potential surprise package should he get the win.

Lee is a former high school state wrestling champ, so he should be able to stuff a few takedowns. Lee has good grappling and has scored some nice submissions in his young 3-0 MMA career. However, you’ve got to resist the temptation of thinking he can hang with Ruotolo on the ground – he’s just not on that level.

I think Ruotolo will ultimately win this, but I don’t think he’s going to get a submission in the first minute. I think Lee is going to make him work for it and might be stubborn about getting taken to the ground.

If Ruotolo struggles when shooting for takedowns, we might see him go for more unconventional moves, like guard pulls, imanari rolls and maybe even flying attacks. He could also get a front choke from the standing position. Ruotolo is so good in this department, and Lee is so raw, that I think Ruotolo is eventually going to find something that gets through Lee’s defenses.

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

Akbar Abdullaev vs. Ibragim Dauev has the makings of an epic contest.

Abdullaev has looked like a destroyer so far in his MMA career, going 12-0 with all finishes (11 by strikes). Last time out Tang Kai lasted into the fifth round before Abdullaev took him out with ground-and-pound. It had been a pretty one-sided contest up until then. That was the longest fight ever for ‘Bakal’, who has nine first round finishes on his record.

Dauev has looked very good, albeit not as sensational as Abullaev. The Dagestani is 3-0 in ONE and 10-1 overall, with that lone loss happening in his second pro fight. Daeuv fights as you’d expect from someone who is from that part of the world. His striking is OK, but he’s much more of a wrestler.

I think he’ll have some trouble with Abdullaev. Abdullaev doesn’t rely on his wrestling, too much, since his striking is so lights out, but he’s very well versed in the grappling arts and I think he’ll be able to keep this fight where he wants it – on the feet.

If this fight is spent mostly standing, then I think Abdullaev’s one-shot KO power could make a big difference.