Full Card Revealed For The Inner Circle 23 On July 24
· Yahoo Sports
ONE Championship lights up the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, July 24, with The Inner Circle 23, another exclusive card streaming live for members at live.onefc.com.
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A ONE World Title fight between one of Muay Thai’s all-time greats and the most exciting young star in the strawweight division leads a card that also features one of Thailand’s most decorated legends making his case in kickboxing.
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In the main event, former two-sport and two-division ruler Sam-A Gaiyanghadao races for the ONE Interim Strawweight Muay Thai World Title against Aliff Sor Dechapan in a five-round bout that spans generations.
Sam-A is 42 years old and holds 13 Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Titles. He won the first-ever Muay Thai bout in ONE history, claimed the inaugural ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title, then added kickboxing and strawweight gold to a resume that defies comprehension.
He came out of retirement to prove he still belongs at the highest level, and his last three ONE outings have made that case emphatically, surviving knockdowns against Thway Lin Htet, beating Jaosuayai Mor Krungthepthonburi via decision in a war, and stopping Elmehdi “The Sniper” El Jamari with a second-round head kick.
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Standing across from him is Aliff, who wasn’t even born the first time Sam-A fought for a Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Title in 1999. The 22-year-old Malaysian, raised in Kota Bharu and now based at Sor Dechapan in Bangkok, has built one of the most impressive streaks in the strawweight division.
He arrives here on five consecutive wins that include a bonus-winning body punch knockout of Zakaria El Jamari, a first-round TKO of Shamil Adukhov, and a commanding unanimous decision over Ramadan “The Scorpion” Ondash. In that performance, he dropped the Lebanese knockout artist with a flying scissor knee.
He is tall, athletic, dangerous in multiple ranges, and is chasing history as the first Malaysian ONE Muay Thai World Champion.
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In the co-main event, “The Angel Warrior” Panpayak Jitmuangnon continues his kickboxing campaign against Mexico’s Anuar Cisneros in bantamweight action.
Panpayak is one of the most decorated fighters Thailand has ever produced. He’s a seven-time Muay Thai World Champion who is the only fighter in history to win the Sports Writers of Thailand Fighter of the Year award three times in a row.
He is now 3-0 in kickboxing in ONE and looking to build momentum under the bigger gloves, using his devastating left kick and surgical left straight to add to a record that already reads 251 wins from 298 professional bouts.
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Cisneros is the dangerous dark horse. The 25-year-old Mexico City native is 2-0 in ONE and brings a sharp jab, creative combinations, and the kind of aerial confidence — flying knees, head kicks — that can change a fight in a single second.
He has the size to be awkward at bantamweight and the finishing instinct to threaten anyone on his night. Panpayak knows what a win over a legend does for a career. Cisneros is coming here to take it.
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The Inner Circle 23 July 24 Full Card
- Sam-A Gaiyanghadao vs. Aliff Sor Dechapan (ONE Interim Strawweight Muay Thai World Championship)
- Panpayak Jitmuangnon vs. Anuar Cisneros (kickboxing – bantamweight)
- Michel Dirlenbach vs. Mahan Fotouhi (Muay Thai – strawweight)
- Ryujin Nasukawa vs. Thongpoon PK Saenchai (kickboxing – strawweight)
- Yoshida Kosei vs. Liu Junchao (kickboxing – flyweight)