ONE Championship’s Fight Night 28 card has been reduced to 10 bouts after Jeremy Pacatiw’s bantamweight MMA clash with Ibragim Dauev fell through.
Russia’s Dauev failed five attempts at passing a hydration test during the three-hour testing window at Thursday evening’s official weigh-ins.
He later gave a hydrated sample in the early hours of Friday morning but the Filipino Pacatiw and his Lions Nation MMA coaching team decided against accepting a catchweight.
Neither fighter appeared at Friday morning’s ceremonial weigh-ins and face offs at the Cielo Sky Bar in Bangkok’s Phra Khanong district.
“All Glory to God. It is what it is,” Pacatiw told the Bangkok Post soon after the face offs ended.
“All is set, but sometimes not everything that seems to be an opportunity is good for us.
“All I need to do is to stay focused, in top shape and entrust everything to God.”
The rest of Saturday’s card at Lumpinee Stadium will go ahead as planned, with headliner Prajanchai PK Saenchai narrowly avoiding a hydration scare himself.
The ONE strawweight Muay Thai champion passed on his second attempt with just five minutes left on the clock on Thursday.
“I feel excited to be matched with someone on my level,” Prajanchai said on stage at the ceremonial weigh-ins.
“Every fight for me, I dedicate myself. I feel like every fight is important for me, and I have put 100 per cent into this fight as well. Let’s see in the ring this Saturday.”
Challenger Ellis Barboza is confident of causing an upset despite the two-sport champion’s five-fight win streak.
“I feel amazing. This is years of hard work, sacrifice and self belief,” he said. “Now I’m here. This has been my one dream since I was a young boy. I’m one day away. This is my time.
“They can call him the favourite, but I’m here to take everything – his status, the belt, all of it. Inshallah, on the weekend the belt is coming back to the UK.”