Muay Thai icon Nong-O Hama is still hungry for world title glory.
The Thai legend will attempt to plot his path back to the top of ONE's bantamweight Muay Thai division when he faces Vladimir Kuzmin at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.
Nong-O finds himself in rare air at Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar, as he looks to reverse a two-fight losing streak in a must-win encounter.
The 37-year-old reigned as the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion from 2019 until 2023, when a rampaging Jonathan "The General" Haggerty shocked the world by recording three knockdowns in a one-round demolition job at ONE Fight Night 9.
Nong-O returned to action this past December, when he absolutely battered the lead leg of Scotland's Nico Carrillo in the opening round before a well-placed elbow ended his night in the second.
A win would put Nong-O, who still stands at No.2 in the bantamweight Muay Thai rankings, back to within touching distance of a blockbuster rematch with Haggerty.
"The General" does have his hands full, however, with a title defence against Brazilian knockout artist Felipe Lobo set for ONE Fight Night 19 on Feb 17.
But before Nong-O can set his sights on the winner of that match-up, he must get past a man with everything to gain.
Kuzmin is currently knocking on the door of the bantamweight Muay Thai elite after recording an impressive win over Fabio Reis in November.
The unanimous decision win was his first appearance since giving Haggerty everything he could handle in late-2022 before falling short in a razor-thin majority decision.
The 26-year-old Russian holds an impressive 18-3 professional record overall, and a win over a living legend in Nong-O would send his stock sky-high and put the top-five athletes in the divisional rankings on notice.
ONE 166: Qatar marks the promotion's long-awaited debut in the Kingdom, and it has duly assembled a stacked card headlined by a bevy of world title contests.
At the top of the bill, Anatoly Malykhin will look to become the first fighter in MMA history to claim world titles in three weight classes when he rematches ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder.
"Sladkiy" relieved De Ridder of the light heavyweight strap with a crushing first-round knockout in 2022 before adding the ONE heavyweight MMA world title to his collection with a victory over Arjan Bhullar last year.
