Casablanca – Morocco’s Zakaria El Jamari will face Japanese fighter Hyu at ONE Championship’s upcoming event ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23.
El Jamari and Hyu meet in an exciting flyweight kickboxing matchup inside the Saitama Super Arena on the global martial organization’s return to Japanese soil.
The 35-year-old Moroccan will be desperate to land a big win against his undefeated counterpart in front of his fans as he seeks to arrest his recent slump in form that has seen him lose his last two fights.
After a mesmerizing performance landed him a surprise unanimous decision win against Thai fan favorite Thongpoon PK Saenchai in May 2024, El Jamari suffered two consecutive knockout defeats at the hands of Malaysian Thai star Aliff Sor Dechapan and Colombia’s undefeated fighter Johan Estupinan.
However, El Jamari will hope his combative style, diversified attacking arsenal, and never-say-die attitude will help him claim another big win in the organization and break his rival’s winning streak.
Beating the 23-year-old Japanese fighter will be far from easy as he has captured 10 wins in 10 professional bouts, including a pair of victories at ONE Championship’s weekly fight series, ONE Friday Fights.
Hyu defeated Algeria’s Youcef Saad via unanimous decision in September 24 and followed his debut win with an eye-opening second-round technical knockout victory against Portugal’s Leandro Miranda at ONE Friday Fights 96 just last week.
ONE 172 marks ONE Championship’s return to Japan where it last held the highly successful ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru in January 2024.
