Another pivotal matchup has been added to ONE Championship’s second show in the United States.

At ONE 168: Denver on Friday, September 6, Hiroyuki “Japanese Beast” Tetsuka will face Isi “Doxz” Fitikefu in a welterweight MMA bout inside Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, in what is expected to be an explosive pairing between two of the best in the division. 

Hiroyuki Tetsuka and Isi Fitikefu set to fight at ONE 168

Tetsuka has been on a rampage in the world’s largest martial arts organization, winning his last five fights by finish to amass an overall record of 6-1. Along the way, he has shown he is dangerous anywhere, with three victories coming by submission and two via knockout. 

The Japanese star submitted talented ground specialist Valmir Da Silva in his latest outing ONE Fight Night 21 this past April, after which he immediately called out reigning ONE Lightweight and Welterweight MMA World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee. 

Though he won’t be meeting Lee on September 6, his upcoming opponent should give him a significant challenge. Fitikefu is a former rugby player who transitioned to martial arts and quickly armed himself with knowledge of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, and kickboxing.

An undefeated 7-0 record led him to be signed with ONE Championship – the first Tongan to join the promotion’s roster.

Unfortunately, “Doxz” was edged out by Kyrgyztan’s Ruslan Emilbek Uulu via split decision in his debut at ONE on Prime Video 4 in November 2022, but he returned at ONE Fight 9 in April 2023 to score a first-round submission over Da Silva. He’ll look to make it back-to-back wins in his meeting with Tetsuka in Colorado, and a win could drop him right into World Title contention.

Christian Lee soon expected to return to ONE 

Their pairing comes at an interesting time for ONE’s welterweight MMA division. Reigning king Lee has expressed his interest in returning to action soon, and he may even compete at one of the promotion’s two scheduled shows in the United States over the next five months. 

“The Warrior” may have already found a challenger for his lightweight crown, as Alibeg Rasulov defeated former titleholder Ok Rae Yoon at ONE Fight Night 23 this past weekend, but who is next in line for the welterweight strap is up in the air. 

As such, Tetsuka or Fitikefu could emerge as a genuine contender with an impressive performance at ONE 168. So fans shouldn’t blink when their meeting goes down.