Undefeated MMA Star Shamil Erdogan Moves Up To Heavyweight, Faces Ryugo Takeuchi At ONE 173
Shamil Erdogan is ready to test himself against the biggest stars in ONE Championship.
The undefeated Turkish sensation will move up to the heavyweight MMA division to face Japanese knockout artist Ryugo Takeuchi at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri, which emanates live from Tokyo’s Ariake Arena on Sunday, November 16.
Erdogan has been flawless so far in his MMA career, racking up a spotless 12-0 professional record with a 67 percent finishing rate. He has also won all four of his ONE Championship bouts via stoppage.
The Turkish phenom made his promotional debut in the middleweight division at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June 2023, where he folded Chinese star Fan Rong with a liver kick just 37 seconds into round two.
That knockout performance led to a short-lived rivalry with former ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight MMA World Champion “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang.
In their first catchweight battle at ONE 168: Denver in September 2024, the Turkish juggernaut unloaded relentless ground-and-pound from the mount position to score a second-round TKO victory.
Then, in their catchweight rematch at ONE 171: Qatar this past February, Erdogan raised the bar even higher by knocking out Aung La N Sang with a head kick in just 28 seconds. That finish also earned him a US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
A month later, the 35-year-old jumped up to the light heavyweight division at ONE Fight Night 29, where he mauled Gilberto Galvao with ground-and-pound to earn another first-round TKO and a second performance bonus.
Now, Erdogan will move up one more division – this time, to the heavyweight mountain, where he will attempt to maintain his perfect slate and begin his charge toward the ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title.
But his first assignment in ONE Championship’s biggest weight class comes against Takeuchi, a young, hungry behemoth who will enter the tilt at ONE 173 with home-field advantage.
Takeuchi burst onto the scene in 2024 with four straight wins in Japan’s DEEP promotion – all by TKO in a combined time a shade past nine minutes. That even includes a shocking five-second blitz of Black Tiger, which immediately stamped him as a name to watch.
After stumbling in his promotional debut against Paul Elliott at ONE Fight Night 30 in April, the Hyogo native bounced back in emphatic fashion.
Takeuchi blasted South Korean hard-hitter Kang Ji Won inside one round at ONE Fight Night 34 this past August to preserve his 100 percent finishing rate and secure a US$50,000 bonus.
Now, the 22-year-old wrecking ball will welcome Erdogan to the heavyweight ranks in front of a raucous home crowd at Ariake Arena.
With reigning ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane defending his belt against two-division king Anatoly “Sladky” Malykhin in a rematch on the same blockbuster card, the winner of the Erdogan-Takeuchi showdown could become the next challenger to the heavyweight crown.
Stay tuned to onefc.com for more news about ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri.
