Unbeaten phenoms Halil Amir, Akbar Abdullaev can position themselves amongst featherweight MMA elite with a big win at ONE Fight Night 22

There have been some fierce featherweight MMA wars this 2024, and another one could likely be on the cards when Halil Amir and Akbar Abdullaev square off in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 22 on Friday, May 3.

Both unbeaten warriors will have their eyes locked on permanently damaging their rival's perfect record in typical fashion.

With four highlight-reel victories in ONE, split evenly, this scheduled three-round fixture inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, wouldn't possibly need any judges at ringside.

Halil Amir has lived up to his moniker 'No Mercy' through three thrilling fights in the promotion. He scored two sumptuous knockouts over Ahmed Mujtaba and Timofey Nastyukhin and earned a unanimous decision in his firefight with Swiss destroyer Maurice Abevi.

Unfortunately, his win on the scorecards against Nastyukhin dropped his finishing rate to 90 percent from 10 fights.

Though his clash against Abdullaev will mark his debut in featherweight, the 29-year-old Turkish talent will be out to prove that he hasn't lost any power despite a shed in pounds.

Abdullaev, an Al Munar Team and Tiger Muay Thai representative, meanwhile, will be out to make it a hattrick of highlight-reel performances after making quick work of Ecuadorian Aaron Canarte and Oh Ho Taek of South Korea.

The 26-year-old, on the other hand, spots a perfect 100 percent finishing rate. However, it will certainly be thrust under the spotlight against Halil Amir's efficient grappling and striking dexterity when they collide inside the Thai capital on May 3.

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Could a win at ONE Fight Night 22 earn Halil Amir and Abdullaev a spot in the rankings?

Apart from staying undefeated, of course, there's a bigger goal for each fighter on offer — a chance to break into the 155-pound division ranking that houses some of the most lethal finishers across the promotion's roster of world champions.

Leading the way is one of the biggest superstars and reigning ONE featherweight MMA world champion, Tang Kai, who handed Thanh Le a lesson in striking when they ran it back at ONE 166: Qatar this past March.

The Chinese megastar is followed closely by Thanh Le (No.1), Garry Tonon (No.2), Ilya Freymanov (No.3), Martin Nguyen (No.4), and Shamil Gasanov (No.5).

The collection of names mentioned above accounts for 66 stoppage wins, with Tang, Le, and Nguyen owning a bulk of those accumulated highlight-reel triumphs at 41.

Halil Amir and Abdullaev are well on their way there. If anything, they're cut from the same cloth.

And again, it really just goes on to prove why the featherweight division, very much like the bantamweight and lightweight category, houses athletes with deadly pace and one-punch knockout power.

As such, when both men meet in the center of the ring in a couple of weeks, they'll be eager to live up to their exciting reputations and prove why the featherweight MMA weight class is must-watch TV.

Moreover, Halil Amir previously held a spot in the lightweight ranks. So, a statement win inside the Mecca of Muay Thai over Abdullaev might just see him secure a position amongst the featherweight MMA elite.

The same can be said for Russia's Abdullaev, who has been knocking on the door of a world title shot since he opened his ONE account in style at ONE Fight Night 8.

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE Fight Night 22 card live and for free in U.S. primetime on May 3.