5 Electrifying Reasons To Watch ONE Fight Night 48: Erdogan Vs. Elliott
ONE Championship opens its American primetime slate for the fourth quarter of 2026 with ONE Fight Night 48: Erdogan vs. Elliott on Prime Video.
Airing live from the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, October 2, the card plays host to nine entertaining bouts across Muay Thai, MMA, kickboxing, and submission grappling.
The lineup brings together World Title hopefuls, finishers, and martial artists with plenty on the line – the kind that rewards fans willing to watch from the first bell to the last.
Here are five reasons this one belongs on your radar.
#1 A Heavyweight MMA Storm With World Title Stakes
Undefeated Turkish powerhouse Shamil Erdogan has bulldozed his way past everyone on the global stage, and he is fired up to keep that streak intact in his heavyweight MMA main event showdown against Paul “King of the North” Elliott.
Erdogan has wrapped up all his assignments on the global stage in highlight-reel fashion, including a pair of sub-minute statement knockouts over “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang and Gilberto Galvao.
He started his career at middleweight before moving up in search of bigger challenges, and his hands have remained just as destructive at heavyweight as they ever were lower down the scale.
Add in a granite chin that has never once been tested, and it is easy to see why the 36-year-old sits at a perfect 13-0 heading into this one. Another massive win could push him on the brink of a shot at the vacant ONE Heavyweight MMA World Championship, though Elliott might have other ideas come ONE Fight Night 48.
“King of the North” shares an identical 100 percent finish rate inside the promotion and looks to have hit top form leading up to this fixture. After a rough start, the 34-year-old strung together back-to-back finishes over “Rising Rock Star” Ryugo Takeuchi and Regan Upshaw, the latter coming via a six-second head kick at ONE Fight Night 44 this past June.
When two men built like this collide, the impact alone should be worth the price of admission.
#2 A Lineup Built For Chaos
Beyond those two heavyweight colossals who own 16 career knockouts between them, the rest of the ONE Fight Night 48 lineup hits just as hard.
Brit striker Charlie Guest brings 15 career knockouts into the mix. He lived up to that reputation in his promotional bow at ONE Fight Night 44, finishing Sam Fitzgerald in round two via the three-knockdown rule – the final blow arriving via combination at the turnbuckle.
Before he gets his chance to display that same finishing power in the co-main event, Lee “The Flash” Seung Cheol and Karen Ghazaryan share the global stage in a strawweight MMA clash that has finish written all over it.
The South Korean boasts seven knockout wins, while the Armenian dynamo has five of his own. Needless to say, fans can expect a fast-paced affair where a single shot could change the entire trajectory of the fight.
Elsewhere, Nakrob Fairtex and Parham Gheirati bring the same finishing instincts into their own bantamweight Muay Thai clash, with five promotional finishes apiece and no shortage of danger between them.
Rounding things out is Yu Yau Pui, who has made a habit of the spectacular throughout her time on the global stage. The Hong Kong star will be on the hunt for her fifth highlight-reel moment under the ONE banner when she meets English-Irish standout Marie “The Celtic Queen” McManamon in atomweight Muay Thai.
#3 Featherweight Muay Thai Under The Spotlight
The featherweight Muay Thai division gets a rare double feature on this card, and both matchups have real teeth.
Luke “The Chef” Lessei and Charlie Guest meet in the co-main event, and neither man is short on motivation heading into this one. The American striker has yet to string together consecutive wins since joining the promotion, and he is eager to finally build the kind of momentum that has stayed just out of reach so far.
Guest, meanwhile, is riding a wave of confidence after a scintillating promotional debut. He sees this fight as the next step in what he hopes becomes a rapid climb toward the top of the weight bracket.
Elsewhere on the card, Arian “Destroyer” Esparza and Sam Fitzgerald offer an equally compelling clash of styles, two technical fighters capable of countering and stepping on the gas when the moment calls for it.
A victory for the 23-year-old American would push him back into the winner’s column, while a triumph for the New Zealander would help him put his June setback to Guest in the rearview mirror.
Whatever the results, reigning ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion “King of the North” Nico Carrillo will undoubtedly have his eyes locked on both outcomes.
#4 ONE World Title Contenders Could Emerge
A handful of names competing at ONE Fight Night 48 have a genuine opportunity to push themselves into the World Title mix if they leave Lumpinee Stadium with their hand raised.
Iranian slugger Parham Gheirati has quietly become one of the most exciting names in the division, tearing through the competition en route to a 7-1 run in the promotion, a stretch marred only by a knockout loss to Rambolek Chor Ajalaboon.
Speaking earlier this week, the 22-year-old talent made clear that he is eager to run it back with the Thai, beat him, and challenge reigning ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Yod-IQ Or Pimolsri.
Meanwhile, Lee Seung Cheol, unbeaten at 6-0 in ONE, faces another difficult test in Karen Ghazaryan, and a win here could be exactly what he needs to book his ticket toward ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.
Elsewhere, Elbrus “The Samurai” Osmanov returns to kickboxing following a dominant 3-0 run in Muay Thai over the past year. The Russian machine enjoyed a blistering start to life in the world’s largest martial arts organization in the discipline, before suffering a career-first setback to former K-1 Champion Yuki Yoza.
However, a statement performance against Yi Yuxuan could position him for a shot at the bantamweight kickboxing gold, whether that belt remains with Jonathan “The General” Haggerty or changes hands when he faces Hiroki Akimoto at ONE SAMURAI 4 in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, October 17.
#5 A Ground War Of Patience And Precision
Most world-class warriors at ONE Fight Night 48 have hands for days, but Shoya Ishiguro and Ruan Alvarenga bring a different kind of danger to the Thai capital this Friday – one built on leverage, positioning, and the constant hunt for a finishing hold.
Ishiguro has already banked four wins under the promotional banner, a run built on genuine technical range. The 30-year-old has beaten fellow Japanese black belts on pure technical volume, but he has also shown he can end things early, submitting Bruno “Macaco” Azevedo with a tight inside heel hook and forcing Denny Sisti to tap to a neck crank.
His resume outside the promotion is just as decorated, having claimed silver at the 2025 IBJJF European Championship and bronze at that year’s IBJJF World Championship.
Alvarenga, meanwhile, made an immediate statement in his own promotional debut, outpointing two-time IBJJF World Champion Meyram Maquine, a familiar rival he had already gotten the better of once before on the regional circuit.
He carries a 21-6 record and a dominant top game built on relentless positional control, though he proved against Maquine that he can grind out a win through scrambles just as easily.
Whichever way this featherweight submission grappling tilt goes, expect a genuine tactical battle between two wizards who can craft a submission on the canvas in the blink of an eye.
