UAE’s Al-Katheeri and Iraq’s Salem shine at ONE 171: Qatar

DOHA: ONE 171: Qatar saw Zayed Al-Katheeri of the UAE and Iraq’s Hussein Salem pick up impressive wins on Thursday night.

Al-Katheeri beat Mohammad Aburumuh of Jordan via submission while Salem captured a first-round knockout victory against Italy’s Walter Cogliandro.

The ONE Championship show also saw several big knockouts and surprises at the Lusail Sports Arena.

While Ilias Ennahachi’s fight against Petchtanong was cancelled after the Moroccan star kickboxer failed to remain within the weight limit, Turkiye’s Shamil Erdogan captured a knockout victory against former two-division MMA world champion Aung La N Sang in less than half a minute. His compatriot, Dagi Arslanaliev, fell to a knockout loss against Croatian star Roberto Soldic.

But the biggest shock of the evening came during the main event, when Joshua Pacio of the Philippines clinched the ONE Strawweight MMA world championship with a big technical knockout win against American rival Jarred Brooks.

In the co-main event, Jonathan Haggerty successfully defended his ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing world title against Wei Rui, snapping the Chinese veteran’s 21-win streak that dates back to 2018.

ONE 171: Qatar is the second ONE Championship event to take place in the country, following its debut with ONE 166 in March 2024.