Liu Mengyang faces Gabriel “Pumped Up” Pereira in a featherweight kickboxing bout at The Inner Circle, streaming live for members at live.onefc.com from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday, May 22.
ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion Superbon withdrew from their originally scheduled title showdown due to injury. The contest has now been postponed.
Liu remains on the card. The 23-year-old Shunyuan Fight Club product owns wins over former interim champion Masaaki Noiri. He also defeated Shadow Singha Mawynn and reigning ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Tawanchai. This established him as the most dangerous contender in the division.
Pereira is no placeholder. The Venezuelan from Eagle Muay Thai arrives in Bangkok with a professional record of 40-1 and two straight promotional wins. He scored a unanimous decision over TAKU at ONE Friday Fights 131 and a majority decision over Hiroki Suzuki at ONE Friday Fights 139. A win over Liu would place him directly in the title conversation.
Yod-IQ Or Pimolsri and Kiamran Nabati headline The Inner Circle on May 22 with bantamweight Muay Thai showdown
With the featherweight kickboxing title fight off the table, the headline slot now belongs to a bantamweight Muay Thai matchup between Thai sensation Yod-IQ Or Pimolsri and undefeated Russian knockout artist Kiamran Nabati.
Yod-IQ earned his roster spot with a first-round head kick knockout of Alexey Balyko at ONE Friday Fights 137 in December. That win earned him a six-figure contract.
The 24-year-old carries a 126-36 professional record and 11 ONE Championship victories into the fight. Nabati enters with a pristine 22-0 slate and back-to-back high-profile wins. This includes a decision over former longtime ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama. His only blemish is a no-contest ruling against Ferrari Fairtex at ONE Friday Fights 95 in January 2025.