The ONE Championship bantamweight Muay Thai belt will no longer be on the line for Nabil Anane, in what is now a three-round, non-title bout against Superlek at ONE 172.
The pair were set to meet in a high-stakes title unification match inside Japan’s Saitama Super Arena on Sunday night.
But the “Kicking Machine” failed to pass hydration at Saturday’s official weigh-ins, and lost his belt on the scale as a result.
Through no fault of his own, however, interim champion Anane, 20, is now seemingly unable to become the undisputed king of the division, it seems.
“Superlek has been stripped of his world title due to missing hydration and weight,” ONE boss Chatri Sityodtong told the Bangkok Post before Saturday evening’s ceremonial weigh-ins and face-offs at the fight venue.
“The bout is now a three-round, non-title fight. After negotiations, Nabil has accepted 30 percent of Superlek’s purse.
“The fans can expect an absolute war tomorrow night.”
ONE’s chairman and CEO also defended his promotion’s continued use of hydration testing despite some criticism on social media in the wake of the latest big-name scale fail.
Superlek joins an illustrious list of champions who have surrendered their belts after failing to pass hydration in the last three years, which includes Rodtang, Smilla Sundell, Jonathan Di Bella and John Lineker.
“Though it creates more uncertainty at times, hydration remains an important part of ONE’s safety process to ensure that our athletes’ health is always the highest priority,” Chatri added.
Two other fighters missed hydration at Saturday’s weigh-ins, while Marat Grigorian failed to produce a sample during the three-hour window.
But all three affected fights will go ahead after catchweights were agreed with their opponents, after the trio returned to give hydrated samples.