Three months after creating history by becoming the first Indian fighter to earn a USD 100,000 contract with Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion ONE Championship, Nazareth Lalthazuala will face the toughest test of his career when he takes on USA’s Gilbert Nakatani.
It is learnt that Lalthazuala, who currently holds an unbeaten 8-0 record, will take on Nakatani in a strawweight contest at ONE Fight Night 47 on September 5 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lalthazuala, who hails from Aizawl in Mizoram, heads into the fight on an impressive run. Over the past nine months, he has beaten the previously unbeaten Masaki Suzuki (3-0), Jake Bron (5-2 before the fight) and the Philippines’ Jhon Brutas (5-1) in ONE Championship.
All three victories came inside the opening round. Suzuki was stopped due to punches, while Bron submitted to an arm-triangle choke. His most recent fight against Brutas, on June 5, was stopped by the referee after unanswered ground-and-pound, with a minute still remaining in the opening round.
That victory earned Lalthazuala both a USD 100,000 contract with ONE Championship and a USD 10,000 performance bonus, life-changing sums for the fighter, who trains at Guwahati’s Dojang MMA studio and previously worked as a cleaner, truck driver and vegetable vendor while pursuing his combat sports career.
Lalthazuala, however, isn’t resting on his accomplishments.
He will face the toughest opponent of his career in Nakatani. The California native is Lalthazuala’s most experienced opponent to date. While the 25-year-old Indian has been competing professionally for less than two years, his 32-year-old opponent from Covina, California, owns a 9-4 record and has been fighting since 2019.
Despite the significant step up in competition, Lalthazuala has accepted the fight with little turnaround time following his last contest. The fighter, who goes by the moniker “The Northstar”, has set himself an ambitious timeline. Speaking to reporters after his first-round finish against Brutas a couple of months ago, he said his goal over the next two years was to climb the divisional rankings, shock the world and wrap a ONE World Championship belt around his waist.
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Published on Aug 03, 2026
