Johan Ghazali-Josue Cruz Booked For ONE 168: Denver

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After suffering the first defeat of his fresh ONE Championship tenure, teenage phenom Johan Ghazali is wasting no time getting back to action at ONE 168: Denver later this year.

"Jojo" meets Josue Cruz in a flyweight Muay Thai tilt on Saturday, 7 September, inside Denver, Colorado's Ball Arena as the world's largest martial arts organization returns to U.S. soil.

The 17-year-old knockout artist's stint in ONE Championship got off to a raucous start. He began his run in phenomenal fashion, earning back-to-back knockouts over Padetsuk Fairtex in February 2023 at ONE Friday Fights 6 and Tai Sor Jor Piek Uthai in May at ONE Friday Fights 18.

Ghazali then continued to wreck the competition with his heavy-handed approach. That earned him a massive US$100,000 contract with ONE. His young career reached its crescendo with a 36-second knockout of Edgar Tabares in his official promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 17 last December.

The win marked Ghazali's fourth knockout in five fights. But when this blissful youth met a veteran in Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat at ONE 167, Ghazali's momentum came to a screeching halt.

His Vietnamese foe tactically fought his way to a unanimous decision over Ghazali, teaching the youngster some valuable lessons over the three rounds of action inside Bangkok, Thailand's Impact Arena.

Now, Ghazali wants to make sure the comeback is better than the setback. But Cruz will be planning to dampen the 17-year-old's spirit much more at ONE 168 in September.

"Tuzo" entered ONE Championship with an unblemished record of 17-0. But much like Ghazali, he learned valuable lessons after suffering consecutive defeats in both of his flyweight Muay Thai outings.

Looking to make the third time a charm, Cruz has taken tutelage from ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion Alexis Nicolas and Elias Mahmou to take his talents to the next level.

For Ghazali, it's an opportunity to prove defeat last time around was merely a bump in the road. Meanwhile for Cruz, toppling the young phenom gives him a chance to enter the division's upper echelon and show he belongs amongst the world's best strikers.

ONE 168 Card (As it stands)

• Women's Strawweight World Championship Bout: Xiong Jing Nan (c) vs. Stamp Fairtex
• Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship Bout: Jonathan Haggerty (c) vs. Superlek Kiatmuu9
• Lightweight Submission Grappling World Championship Bout: Kade Ruotolo (c) vs. Mikey Musumeci
• Catchweight (140 lbs) Muay Thai Bout: Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang vs. Liam Harrison
• Middleweight Bout: Aung La Nsang vs. Shamil Erdogan
• Women's Atomweight Bout: Alyse Anderson vs. Victória Souza
• Flyweight Muay Thai Bout: Johan Ghazali vs. Josue Cruz