Vakhaev vs Aliakbari, Hemetsberger vs Diachkova: weekend preview
Weekend preview and predictions for ACA 206 Vakhaev vs Aliakbari, ONE Fight Night 46 Hemetsberger vs Diachkova, and ONE Friday Fights 166 in Bangkok.
Everyone's eyes are on Philadelphia this weekend, and fair enough. But while UFC 330 soaks up the oxygen, three other cards are quietly stacking up across Moscow and Bangkok, and at least two of them carry fights I care about more than half the UFC prelims. Here is your guide to the rest of the weekend, with times in ET so you can plan the binge.
ACA 206: Vakhaev vs Aliakbari, Saturday morning in Moscow
The best pure heavyweight fight of the weekend is not in Philadelphia. ACA 206 goes down at CSKA Arena in Moscow on Saturday, starting 8:30 am ET, and the main event is Alikhan Vakhaev (15-3) against Amir Aliakbari (16-4).
Photo: M.Mahdi Dorani / CC BY 4.0
Vakhaev is the house fighter here, a Russian heavyweight riding wins over Kirill Kornilov and Tony Johnson, and the books make him a firm favorite at around -305. Aliakbari, the Iranian wrestling machine, has rebuilt himself since the ONE Championship days: a first round TKO of Salimgirey Rasulov and a five round decision over that same Tony Johnson since coming over to ACA. The stylistic question writes itself. Aliakbari's entire game starts with putting people on the floor, and Vakhaev has made a career of making heavyweights fight at his pace for five rounds. I keep talking myself into the upset because of the momentum, and then I remember Aliakbari got submitted in a round by Marcus Almeida the last time he stepped up in class. Prediction: Vakhaev by decision.
The undercard has real depth for a regional card. Ali Bagov (35-13), with more cage miles than anyone on the roster, meets Ali Abdulkhalikov (17-4) in a passing-of-the-torch fight the books can barely split, Bagov at -150. And Pavel Vitruk against Mekhroch Mamadshoev at bantamweight is a genuine coin flip, priced at -113 and -123. Prediction: Abdulkhalikov by decision, and I feel bad about it.
ONE Fight Night 46: Hemetsberger vs Diachkova, Friday night US time
ONE Fight Night 46 runs out of Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok at the usual amphetamine hour: 9 pm ET Friday night for US viewers, Saturday morning local. The main event is the fight of the weekend outside Philadelphia: Stella Hemetsberger (5-0 in ONE) defending the strawweight muay thai title against Natalia Diachkova (6-1 in ONE) over five rounds.
Photo: Дьячкова / CC BY-SA 4.0
The Austrian is on the run of her life. She beat Jackie Buntan twice in five months, taking the muay thai belt by unanimous decision in September and then Buntan's kickboxing crown by split decision in February. Diachkova earned this shot the loud way, flattening Fahsai Aor Yutthachai in one round in May. The books call it nearly even with a slight lean to the champion, and that feels right: Diachkova has the one-punch danger, Hemetsberger has the five round championship craft and the recent tape against the division's best. Prediction: Hemetsberger by decision.
Two more reasons to stay up. Nico Carrillo (7-1 in ONE), the Scottish featherweight who has knocked out Sitthichai and Shadow Mavinn since his lone loss, takes a kickboxing bout against Zhou Jiaqiang as a -252 favorite. And the bantamweight muay thai bout between Nontachai Jitmuangnon and the Russian Kiamran Nabati (4-1 in ONE) has violence written all over it, with Nabati priced at -241. Prediction: Carrillo by knockout.
ONE Friday Fights 166: the weekly Lumpinee fix
The other Bangkok show, ONE Friday Fights 166, airs Friday at 7:30 am ET, which is either very early coffee viewing or a replay job depending on your constitution. Fourteen bouts, nearly all muay thai. The headliner is a five round flyweight fight between Khunpon Aekmuangnon (4-1 in ONE) and Panpadej NF Looksuan (5-2), priced as close to a pick'em as the books can manage. The name to know further down is Saya Ito, the Japanese atomweight closing the card against Nongnuk Mor Kor Chor Chaiyaphum. Prediction: Khunpon by decision.
The schedule, all in one place
Friday: ONE Friday Fights 166 at 7:30 am ET, ONE Fight Night 46 at 9 pm ET. Saturday: ACA 206 at 8:30 am ET, then UFC 330 prelims from 5:30 pm ET and the Makhachev vs Machado Garry main card at 9 pm ET, which we have covered in depth all week.
That is roughly nineteen hours of scheduled violence across three time zones. Pace yourselves, and check the full calendar for whatever your region's broadcasters are doing with it.