ONE Championship News

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 8, 2018

One of Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson’s dreams as a martial artist is set to become a reality when ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced at the press conference of ONE: HEART OF THE LION at the Marina Bay Sands last Wednesday, 7 November the eight-man Flyweight World Grand Prix, which will be composed of eight of the best flyweights of the stacked ONE flyweight division. Though Sityodtong has yet to reveal the detailed set up of the tournaments, one thing is for sure, the winner will determine the undisputed champion one way or another.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

23-year-old Malaysian bantamweight Muhammad Aiman is known for his unpredictable style inside the cage. One moment, he might be biding his time, and the next, you might catch him throwing back-to-back cartwheel kicks or leaping onto his foe’s back chasing a rear-naked choke. Outside the cage, however, “Jungle Cat” is not nearly as wild.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Earlier this week, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor released a rather bizarre Tweet that seemed to blame ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong for the UFC’s choice to close down its flyweight division. You must now take all the 125lbers that have been let go, Chatri.You talk all of this Martial Art and respect talk, yet your greed has directly cost more than half a fighting division it’s chance to earn income for their family. Have respect @YODCHATRI. Sign the division.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 8, 2018

Mixed martial arts stars Eduard Folayang, Angela Lee, and Aung La N Sang were among the big winners at the 2018 Global Martial Arts Awards, held Thursday, 8 November at the JW Marriot in Singapore. The Awards night featured a who’s who of martial arts talent from across the world and the awards were presented by 18 leading broadcasters from all over.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now a ONE Championship fighter, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that he’s a perfect fit for the promotion. Mere weeks into his time as a ONE Championship fighter, he’s already being pushed by the full muscle of the promotion’s substantial marketing department. Given that he occasionally felt a little under-promoted by the UFC, he’s very excited about this. “It feels good,” Demetrious Johnson told BJPENN.COM in Singapore this week. “I think with the UFC, their model is different than ONE Championship’s is. They’re looking for the next big star and trying to push out that next pay-per-view. And that’s what the North American audience wants. They want to see confrontation.”

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Earlier this week, ONE Championship featherweight contender Christian Lee hopped on a plane to Singapore to support his sister Angela in her ONE: HEART OF THE LION main event showdown with Xiong Jing Nan. Unfortunately, the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion was forced out of this main event battle with an injury while her brother was making his transpacific journey. Christian Lee was understandably quite disappointed to hear that his sister would not be able to compete in the ONE: HEART OF THE LION main event as planned. In a strange twist of fate, however, his sister’s bad break ultimately resulted in an interesting opportunity for him.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

ONE Championship has been making all sorts of moves lately and they don’t appear to be stopping anytime soon. UFC lightweight/welterweight prospect ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt appears to potentially be next. Currently a free agent, the 11-2 Northcutt is visiting Singapore where he attended last night’s ONE: Heart of the Lion pre-fight press conference and then is also set to attend the event itself on Friday night.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2018

ONE Champion is welcoming Eddie Alvarez to its roster in style, having recently announced that the former UFC and Bellator lightweight titleholder will make his promotional debut as part of a wild, eight-man Lightweight Grand Prix. Like most combat sports fans, Eddie Alvarez was thrilled to learn about this upcoming tournament.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2018

The end is nigh for the UFC flyweight division. Earlier this week, FloCombat reported that the promotion will soon be pulling the plug on its lightest mens’ division, and that many of the fighters on the promotion’s flyweight roster will not be given the chance to move up to the bantamweight division. Shortly thereafter, UFC flyweights such as Jose Torres, Jared Brooks and Justin Scoggins all reported that they have been released from their contracts.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 7, 2018

Former PXC Welterweight Champion Zebaztian Kadestam knows he has to weather an early storm when he takes on the unbeaten Tyler McGuire for the vacant ONE Welterweight World Title in the main event of ONE: WARRIOR’S DREAM on 17 November at Stadium Istora in Jakarta, Indonesia. Kadestam, 28, is coming off a huge third round stoppage victory over Agilan Thani this past July. Nicknamed as “The Bandit”, the Swedish striker says he’s been training for the kind of style that McGuire brings to the table.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2018

Former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson are far and away the biggest free agent signings ONE Championship has ever made. Both fighters have the potential to become dominant champions in their respective divisions, as well as lucrative stars for the promotion —much like Myanmar’s Aung La N Sang. Aung La N Sang, who currently holds the ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight belts, is one of the biggest and best established stars to emerge from the Singapore-based promotion.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2018

At a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Singapore, ONE Championship announced plans for a Flyweight Grand Prix. This intriguing flyweight tournament is expected to feature stars such as reigning ONE flyweight champ Geje Eustaquio, former champions Adriano Moraes and Kairat Akhmetov, rising contender Danny Kingad, and of course, new ONE Championship athlete Demetrious Johnson. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp3qsDKhUCi/

Cole Shelton - November 6, 2018

Sage Northcutt, a current free agent and once highly touted prospect will be heading to Singapore to take in the festivities at ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion this Friday night. Along with Northcutt, former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and longtime UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson will also be attending the event.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Reigning ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes and former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson are two of the biggest stars on the ONE Championship roster. That being said, we’ll never see the pair fight, as they’re long-time friends and training partners under Matt Hume at AMC Pankration in Kirkland, Washington. While Bibiano Fernandes and Demetrious Johnson will never share the ONE cage, it sounds like we will see a bit of friendly competition between them going forward. Speaking on the latest episode of BJPENN.COM Radio, Fernandes divulged that he plans to best Johnson’s record of 11-straight title defenses.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

At ONE: HEART OF THE LION, which goes down on November 9 in Singapore, five-time EBI Grappling Champion Garry Tonon will look to improve to 3-0 in the mixed martial arts arena as he takes on South Korea’s Sung Jong Lee. Tonon, as always, has done his research heading in to this fight. And having reviewed Lee’s tape, he feels there’s a good chance the South Korean will actually try to drag the fight to the mat — something that many other fighters would likely to find unthinkable, given Tonon’s incredible submission ability. Lee has submitted three of his six opponents (all with heel hooks), and Tonon believes he might look to do the same in Singapore.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 5, 2018

Brazilian grappling dynamo and reigning ONE bantamweight world champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes is easily one of the best to ever set foot inside a ONE Championship cage or ring. On November 9 at ONE: HEART OF THE LION in Singapore, Fernandes faces another tough challenge in reigning ONE interim bantamweight world champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon in a ONE bantamweight world championship unification matchup.

Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

ONE Championship heavyweight kingpin Brandon Vera is once again set to defend his title. The Filipino-American striking specialist will do so on November 23 in Manila, The Philippines, where he will battle Cage Warriors heavyweight champion Mauro “The Hammer” Cerilli. Given the skill of his upcoming opponent, Brandon Vera knows that victory is not a certainty. What he is certain of, however, is that the bout will be thrilling, and that it could end at any second. For that reason, he urges his fans to save their bathroom breaks for after the fight.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 2, 2018

ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee believes that having the hometown advantage will play a huge factor when she tries to become the first two-division women’s world champion in history this November. Lee is scheduled to challenge ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan for the strawweight strap in the main event of ONE: HEART OF THE LION at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 9 November.