Ben Tynan will be back sooner than expected, and fans will, undoubtedly, be thrilled to see the charismatic giant in action again.
It was confirmed this week that the undefeated Canadian has been booked to square off against Mauro “The Hammer” Cerilli in heavyweight MMA at ONE 167: Stamp vs Zamboanga on Friday, June 7, inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ben Tynan has a lot to prove in his next fight against Mauro Cerilli
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Tynan has been riding high since arriving in ONE last year. He has improved his perfect record to 6-0 with back-to-back finishes against South Korean heavy hitter “Mighty Warrior” Kang Ji Won in his debut last November and Australia’s Duke Didier in his latest outing at ONE Fight Night 21 earlier this month.
Each win netted him a cool US$50,000 bonus, and he called out reigning three-division World Champion Anatoly Malykhin to defend his heavyweight strap soon after besting Didier.
View this post on Instagram
Despite his impressive run of form, “Vanilla Thunder” will still need to prove himself further before being seriously considered for a World Title shot, and Cerilli may be the perfect way to do just that.
The Italian behemoth is a veteran of 20 professional MMA fights, which include six appearances in the world’s largest martial arts organization.
He challenged longtime divisional king Brandon Vera for the belt in his promotional bow in 2018 but fell short on that occasion. Since then, he has had mixed results, but his three wins in ONE have come by knockout, proving that he has the power to shut an opponent’s lights off with a punch.
Can Ben Tynan stop ‘The Hammer’ in his next fight?
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Evidence of this came in Cerilli’s latest performance at ONE Fight Night 14 last September, when he took out Paul “King of the North” Elliott in the first round of their battle.
The winner of this brawl at ONE 167 will throw their name into the hat as potential challengers to Malykhin’s reign, and fans will get to see what they want – a pair of behemoths throwing heavy in search of a knockout.
The thrilling event will be headlined by ONE Women’s Atom weight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex defending her belt for the first time against friend and former teammate Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
In the co-main event, Tawanchai PK Saenchai will put his ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title on the line against the always-dangerous “Smokin” Jo Nattawut.
More fights are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.