After almost a year on the sidelines, Aussie MMA standout Reece McLaren is back in action at ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova next month.
“Lightning” will face fifth-ranked MMA flyweight Hu Yong at the event, which is set for the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 4.
McLaren was last seen at ONE’s United States debut last May, where he suffered a frustrating unanimous decision loss to former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Kairat Akhmetov.
Akhmetov later tested positive for banned substances out of competition and was suspended.
The deafeat snapped a two-fight winning run for McLaren, who has been a staple of ONE Championship since 2015 and remains in the number four ranking slot.
Hu is snapping at his heels, however, and the Chinese star will be keen to leapfrog McLaren and push his own case for a shot at divisional ruler Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.
“Wolf Warrior” has lost just once in his nine-fight promotional tenure, which dates back to 2019.
Most recently, he dispatched former Indonesian national wrestling champion Eko Roni Saputra in the opening round of their October 2023 battle.
The winner could well find themselves within touching distance of a world title shot, with third-ranked Danny Kingad coming off a loss and first ranked Adriano Moraes inactive since his most recent loss to Johnson last year.
ONE Fight Night 22 is headlined by ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Smilla Sundell. The teenage phenom puts her belt on the line against Russian knockout artist Natalia Diachkova.
The remainder of the fight card is still to be announced.
ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova Announced Fights
Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title: Smilla Sundell (c) vs. Natalia Diachkova
Featherweight MMA: Akbar Abdullaev vs. Halil Amir
Lightweight Muay Thai: Sinsamut Klinmee vs. Dmitry Menshikov
Bantamweight Kickboxing: Hiroki Akimoto vs. Wei Rui
Women’s Atomweight MMA: Chihiro Sawada vs. Noelle Grandjean
Flyweight MMA: Reece McLaren vs. Hu Yong
