ONE: Winter Warriors II Main Card Preview And Predictions

ONE: Winter Warriors II will be happening in a few hours, highlighted by a Team Lakay showcase.

Check out what to expect from the card.

Jhanlo Sangiao vs. Paul Lumihi

The promotional debut of Jhanlo Sangiao has been heavily talked about in recent weeks, and he gets to face Indonesian MMA veteran Paul Lumihi.

Sangiao is the first of four Team Lakay fighters to be featured and he believes that his youth and overall skills will be enough to overcome Lumihi.

With his father and Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao in his corner, all signs point to the 19-year-old having a very explosive debut.

Prediction: Jhanlo Sangiao def. Paul Lumihi in round one via knockout.

Prediction Probability: 80%

Stephen Loman vs. Yusup Saadulaev

Next up on the card is fellow promotional debutant Stephen Loman who will face 36-year-old Russian Yusup Saadulaev in the bantamweight division.

Loman remained undefeated throughout his five-fight run with BRAVE Combat Federation, even holding the Bahrain-based promotion’s bantamweight title for two years before making the jump to ONE Championship last February.

Though Saadulaev is a punishing wrestler with 11 victories by submission and two by knockout, Loman’s pedigree is expected to shine through against the 36-year-old veteran.

Loman’s precise and stiff hands are more than capable of finishing the fight early if Saadulaev is not able to quickly take him down to the ground.

Prediction: Loman def. Saadulaev in round one via knockout.

Prediction Probability: 70%

Zebaztian Kadestam vs. Murad Ramazanov

Just before the co-main event, heavy-handed welterweights Zebaztian Kadestam and Murad Ramazanov will go toe-to-toe to find out who possesses more knockout power.

Kadestam has been knocking out fighters left and right since he started his pro career in 2011, but he has been on the receiving end of some nasty losses as of late, punctuated by his loss to Gadzhimurad Abdullaev via neck crank.

The 31-year-old from Sweden has an opportunity to stop his two-fight skid when he faces Russian all-around fighter Ramazanov, who remains unbeaten throughout his entire seven-year career.

Due to this, it would be hard to bet against Ramazanov and his track record of being able to finish fighters with his hands or by submission.

Prediction: Ramazanov def. Kadestam in round two by submission

Prediction Probability: 60%

Vitaly Bigdash vs. Fan Rong

Vitaly Bigdash is looking to continue his winning ways when he meets Chinese submission specialist Fan Rong in a catchweight bout.

Fan’s debut fight did not turn out particularly well as current ONE middleweight and light heavyweight champion Reinier de Ridder forced him to tap out to a brabo choke back in 2019.

Since then, Fan went on a two-fight winning streak which he hopes to extend to three when he faces Bigdash, who is coming off a submission victory over Yuki Niimura.

Bigdash’s victory over Niimura happened back in 2018, and his three-year absence from the fight game may become his downfall against Fan.

The six-foot Chinese middleweight has eight submission victories to his name and will look to add another victim to his resume in 37-year-old Bigdash.

Prediction: Fan def. Bigdash in round three by submission

Prediction Probability: 75%

Kevin Belingon vs. Kwon Won Il

No. 2-ranked bantamweight Kevin Belingon will look to make his way back to the win column when he does battle with South Korea’s Kwon Won Il.

Belingon is currently riding a three-fight losing skid that features back-to-back setbacks to current ONE bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes and a TKO loss to No. 1 contender John Lineker.

The Team Lakay standout explained that his year-long layoff is due to his loss to Lineker and that he took a few weeks off to get his mind right and was waiting for a fight to be offered to him.

The South Korean knockout artist is no stranger to the Philippines’ style of boxing as he trained in the country to improve on his striking, as is seen in his back-to-back knockout victories over Bruno Pucci and Rui Chen.

Belingon is creeping ever closer to the wrong side of 30 and though his experience is vast, he may not have an answer for Kwon’s speedy strikes.

Prediction: Kwon def. Belingon in the second round via knockout

Prediction Probability: 70%

Danny Kingad vs. Kairat Akhmetov

The main event features a bout that was originally scheduled for 2019 but was pushed back due to circumstances, with Danny Kingad and Kairat Akhmetov settling their differences in the main event.

Both fighters have not entered the ONE Championship cage for quite some time, two years for Kingad and a year for Akhmetov.

However, ring rust should not be an issue for either man as they both know that a potential shot at the ONE flyweight title could be on the line.

Akhmetov possesses the undisputed advantage on the ground as evidenced by his 10 victories by submission, while Kingad would have the slight advantage on the feet thanks to Team Lakay’s bread-and-butter specialty in striking.

All things considered, no one should not discount Akhmetov’s power as the Kyrgyz fighter has proven that he can put people to sleep, picking up five victories by knockout.

Similar to Belingon’s year-long layoff, Kingad’s in-competition inactivity is the major x-factor in their fight and could tip the balance in favor of Akhmetov.

Prediction: Akhmetov def. Kingad by way of unanimous decision.

Prediction Probability: 60%

ONE: Winter Warriors II will be streaming on the ONE Super App and official ONE Championship YouTube channel for fans in Asia on Friday, December 17 at 8:30 PM.

Meanwhile, the North American audience can catch the entire card via B/R Live at 7:30 AM ET.