Ben Askren to Defend Welterweight Title vs. Agilan Thani at One ‘Dynasty of Heroes’

Ben Askren will defend his welterweight crown against Agilan Thani in the One “Dynasty of Heroes” co-main event on May 26.

One Championship announced the matchup on Friday. One ‘Dynasty of Heroes’ takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, and is headlined by an atomweight championship tilt between reigning titlist Angela Lee and Istela Nunes.

A former NCAA national champion wrestler and 2008 Olympian, the 32-year-old Askren is unbeaten in 16 professional bouts. That ex-Bellator MMA 170-pound titlist made his One Championship debut in 2014 and captured the promotion’s welterweight strap with a first-round TKO finish of Nobutatsu Suzuki in August 2014. Most recently, “Funky” earned a five-round unanimous verdict against Nikolay Aleksakhin at One Championship 41 “Global Rivals” on April 15.

The 21-year-old Thani enters the matchup with a 7-0 mark, with all but one of his triumphs coming under the One Championship banner. The Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, native last appeared at One Championship “Throne of Tigers,” were he submitted Jeff Huang with a rear-naked choke 2:25 into the second round. Thani has finished all of his opponents within two rounds.