ONE Warrior Series 10 Card Preview

This will easily be another three hour event, so we’ll go through all the match-ups and see which ones you need to keep your eyes on, come February 19th.

Joey Baylon vs. Manthan Rane

This catchweight bout is fourth on the card and features a classic striker versus grappler fight. Manthan Rane has been on the Warrior Series stage before, defeating Allan Albindo via Decision on ONE Warrior Series 6. This time, he’ll be getting a momentous step up in competition.

Joey Baylon is an Auckland-based Kickboxer with a threatening resume. Baylon is the 2016 King in the Ring Champion, a National Kickboxing Champion, and a WKBF World Champion. It’s not too much to see an immediate contract if Rane manages to get past a man with that much gold on him.

Marc Grayson vs. Rick Alchin

This is an all-Australia affair, with both fighters coming off wins in their past fights.

Grayson is relatively new to the pro-scene, with one match under his belt that he finished in the first round with a rear naked choke. Alchin, on the other hand, has been fighting since 2009. His latest victory was a Unanimous Decision over Koji Shikuwa (who is also on this card) at ONE Warrior Series 5.

The Middleweight division is in desperate need of new blood. This fight might give us a peek at a possible future contender.

Michael Walker vs. Kanta Motoyama

This bout features two guys we’ve seen before. Motoyama defeated Cep Holik via Unanimous Decision in a Kickboxing match on ONE Warrior Series 8. Walker, meanwhile, is a pioneer of the program and has fought in ONE Warrior Series 1,2,3,4 and 7.

Even though we’re tempted to give Walker the edge because of experience, the fight will be on Motoyama’s terms, being a Kickboxing match. This will be Walker’s first foray into professional kickboxing and it’s his comfort with the transition that will ultimately decide it.

Alan Philpott vs. Ahmed Faress

It’s rare for ONE Warrior Series to feature fighters that have been fighting for nearly a decade, and that’s exactly what we have with this bout. Both Philpott and Faress have been in the fight game since 2011, with varying degrees of success.

Philpott is familiar with winning on the ONE Warrior Series stage, beating Zachariah Lang and Myung Gu Kim on OWS 6 and 7 respectively. Faress, on the other hand, is a veteran from Brave FC and is currently the #1 ranked Featherweight in Egypt. This one has the possibility of being the Fight of the Night.

Byung Hee Lim vs. Kieran Joblin

The last fight of the night is something I can only describe as a match-making head-scratcher.

Lim is currently 3-4, his last win being way back in 2016, and has never fought outside South Korea. Joblin, on the other hand, is a certified MMA vet that’s been fighting since 2009 and was on the cards for ONE Warrior Series 5 and 6.

I get it, anything can happen in the cage and an upset here would grant Lim a legion of new fans. But, just looking at the resumes of these fighters, one wonders what the matchmakers were thinking when they put this fight together.

ONE Warrior Series 10 looks like a card that’s going to be full to the brim with drama, especially with all the experience on display. Let’s see if these fights live up to their billing, or if the other fights deliver something we’ve never seen before.

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