Nabil Anane thankful to ONE Championship for including him in stacked ONE 173 card: “I might miss out”

Nabil Anane (L) vs Hiromi Wajima (R) | Photo by ONE Championship
Nabil Anane (left) vs. Hiromi Wajima (right) [Image courtesy: ONE Championship]

Reigning ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nabil Anane was saddened after Jonathan Haggerty pulled out of their supposed title match at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri.

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But Hiromi Wajima stepped in to the rescue and agreed to take ‘The General’s' place on short notice.

Anane will now face the promotional debutant in a three-round featherweight kickboxing bout on Nov. 16 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

With 17 bouts of martial arts excellence across MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling, ONE 173 is undoubtedly the most historic card in the promotion’s history.

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Anane expressed how delighted he was that he won’t miss out on the biggest martial arts event of 2025. The Thai-Algerian superstar said during the ONE 173 final press conference:

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“First of all, I would like to thank ONE Championship for giving me the opportunity to still fight at ONE 173. My original opponent, [Jonathan] Haggerty, had some injury. He had to pull out. I thought to myself that I might miss out on ONE 173."

The Team Mehdi Zatout prodigy added:

“Now with this opponent, with this new opportunity in featherweight kickboxing, I’m very excited because I thought that one day I have to move up to featherweight anyway, and I would like to try this featherweight kickboxing. I think it’s going to be interesting.”
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Hiromi Wajima excited to match up against Nabil Anane

Hiromi Wajima has been thrown into the lion's den right away after matching up with the reigning ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion in his promotional debut.

Still, the Japanese star is thrilled to match up with an exemplary opponent like Nabil Anane.

'The Purple Comet' said during the ONE 173 final press conference:

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"For Nabil, he’s very tall, of course. I think he’s the tallest opponent of my career, but it’s just short notice, but I studied well enough to be victorious against him. I’m looking forward to fighting him."

Witness Anane's featherweight debut - follow this link to purchase the ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri PPV.

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Edited by Aziel Karthak
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