The combat sports event will return to Qatar on February 20 for its second event following its maiden voyage in 2024.

ONE Championship’s second event in Qatar aims to “change the narrative” surrounding combat sports while creating pathways for local talent, according to a roundtable discussion held on Sunday.

The combat sport’s return event will see the ONE 171: Qatar take place in Lusail Sports Arena on February 20, after almost a year of its debut in the Gulf country.

The event will be headlined by a fight between ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion, Jonathan “The General” Haggerty, who will make his first title defence, and China’s kickboxing megastar Wei Rui, who is on an impressive 21-fight winning streak.

Seven fight cards for the event have been announced so far, including a women’s fight and the Bantamweight Muay Thai clash between Jake “The One” Peacock and Shinji Suzuki.

Peacock, the first to make it to ONE Championship’s global stage with a limb difference, was at the roundtable alongside Filipino martial arts legend Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Qatar Boxing Federation’s President Sheikh Fahad Khalid Al Thani.

In partnership with Visit Qatar — the marketing and promotional arm of the country’s tourism — the second voyage of the fight night is as much an attempt to grow the fanbase as it is to attract combat sport lovers to land in Doha, according to Sheikh Fahad.

The first event in Qatar – ONE 166 – saw 10 matchups across four different disciplines of combat sports last year on March 1.

But, the bigger goal, Sheikh Fahad added, is to break the stigma around combat sports and to establish it as a form of expression just like other sports, alluding to Peacock’s journey to the global stage.

Missing his right forearm due to a congenital condition, Peacock earned the ONE Championship contract after a stunning win in the 2024 Road to ONE: Canada tournament — a fitting moment for a career which started with punching a bully in school.

While the 31-year-old has had to improvise — hence making for a unique technique in the ring — Peacock said combat sports, and his stint at ONE, has been a way to stand up for himself and to keep up with challenges.

However, the narratives around his performances have remained the same due to his limb difference, according to Peacock.

“The headlines are always along the lines of ‘One handed fighter knocks out the other fighters’ even when I’m on the winning side. By now, I know what is going to be written,” he said.

The goal in every fight he gets on is to change that narrative, he said, adding it will be the same case in Qatar when he faces Suzuki.

“After all, I want to be known as a great fighter who happens to have one arm — not the other way around,” Peacock added.

On the flip side, the event is a part of the hosts’ wider push to grow various disciplines of martial arts and combat sports, according to Al Thani, who heads Qatar’s wrestling, MMA, and jiu-jitsu committees in addition to boxing.

“Bringing a big platform like ONE Championship, helps in motivating local fighters,” Sheikh Fahad, a former boxer himself, said, hinting at a potential future collaboration.

“They [ONE] have believed in Qatar since the very beginning and we are in talks with them for long-term partnership to take the country’s fighters from amateur level to professional level.”

ONE events are versatile in nature, featuring Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling, and MMA bouts. This diversity makes them an ideal platform to grow the combat sports scene, according to Filipino legend Folayang, a Wushu medalist from the 2006 games in Qatar.

“The diversity of disciplines is what makes ONE events special and enjoyable. There are many things in one and allows local fighes to progress to a higher level,” he said.

Sandwiched between the two ONE events in Qatar was a reported investment interest from the Qatar Investment Authority, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund.

A Bloomberg report from October 2024 pinpointed the QIA as one of the investors in $50m – equivalent to QAR 183 million – of funding round raised by Group One Holdings, the company behind the ONE Championship brand.

Qatar’s motivation to grow and host these tournament also comes from mixed martial arts (MMA)’s inclusion in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

It is yet to be included in the summer Asian Games, however, and only a rapid successful push in the coming years will potentially land a spot in the 2030 Asian Games in Doha.

Tickets to the February 20 event can be bought here.