SUMMARY
- K1 star Masaaki Noiri will make his ONE Championship debut on June 7.
- He will fight Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong at ONE 167.
K-1 star Masaaki Noiri will make his highly anticipated ONE Championship debut next month. The Japanese kickboxing superstar competes at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on Prime Video on June 7. The blockbuster event goes down at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Noiri made a splash when he signed with ONE, and the former two-division K-1 Champion could hardly hide his excitement at the opportunity to represent Japan on the global stage.
“As ONE officially announced, I have signed a contract with ONE Championship, the highest stage for striking. If I want to pursue being the strongest in the world that I believe in, this is a stage I had to challenge,” he said.
View this post on Instagram
“I’ve finally arrived here. This marks the start of the final chapter for me as a martial artist, Masaaki Noiri. I’m nothing but excited to be on a stage filled with formidable fighters. Let’s see how far I can go. Please look forward to it. I’ll be fighting while carrying Japan on my back, so I appreciate your support more than ever!”
Now, Noiri has the first assignment of a journey that he hopes will lead to featherweight kickboxing gold.
Masaaki Noiri gets his first ONE Championship test
Masaaki Noiri faces perennial featherweight kickboxing contender Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong in his promotional debut at ONE 167. The 30-year-old Noiri sports an impressive 49-11 professional record, with more than half of his wins coming by knockout. He is widely regarded one of kickboxing’s top pound-for-pound athletes.
But Sitthichai is no easy mark. “Killer Kid” is a veteran of nine fights under the ONE banner, during which time he has faced some of the sport’s top stars such as Superbon Singha Mawynn and Tawanchai PK Saenchai.
View this post on Instagram
The 32-year-old is one of the best featherweight strikers on the planet, occupying the number three spot in the kickboxing rankings while remaining the number two contender under Muay Thai rules. Noiri follows fellow former K-1 king Wei Rui to the pinnacle of the kickboxing world. Wei made a successful debut at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3, where he outpointed former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Hiroki Akimoto.