ONE Championship News

Adam Martin - April 23, 2020

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is already thinking about retirement and says he has “four of five more years” left of fighting in MMA. Johnson is universally regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters to ever compete in mixed martial arts. The ONE Championship Flyweight Grand Prix champion is next set to take on the promotion’s flyweight champ Adriano Moraes at a ONE event on May 29 in Manila, though that event is doubtful due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2020

ONE atomweight champion Angela Lee, like many other fighters, is currently playing a bit of a waiting game. While she was recently linked to a title defense opposite the undefeated Denise Zamboanga, that plan was put on ice when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. “Everything is up in the air,” Lee told BJPENN.com from her home in Hawaii. “I’m definitely still training with Denise in mind, but anything can happen.

Tom Taylor - April 20, 2020

Vitor Belfort says his ONE Championship debut was in the works before the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Belfort revealed that his debut was nearly finalized in an interview with MMA Junkie.

Tom Taylor - April 15, 2020

Rich Franklin wears many hats. He’s a former UFC champ. He’s a ONE Championship executive. He’s the President of ONE Warrior Series and the host of the web series of the same name. And now, he’s a podcast host. Last week, the former UFC middleweight champion announced the launch of his new podcast, Franklin Speaking, which is co-hosted by his ONE Warrior Series co-star Jonathan Fong.

Tom Taylor - April 6, 2020

ONE Championship has been forced to postpone two April events due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. These ONE Championship events were most recently scheduled to occur behind closed doors in Singapore, but were originally targeted for other territories in Asia. Unfortunately, the promotion has been forced to delay them outright, citing new restrictions from the Singaporean government, and increasing travel restrictions, which of course makes it difficult to move fighters around.

Tom Taylor - April 3, 2020

Chatri Sityodtong is keen to pit some of the best fighters in ONE Championship against the stars of the UFC. Speaking during a live Q&A on Facebook, Sityodtong was asked about potential ONE Championship vs. UFC super fights and quickly suggested a battle between ONE strawweight champ Xiong Jingnan and her countrywoman, UFC strawweight champ Weili Zhang.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2020

Demetrious Johnson is gearing up for a May 29 fight with ONE flyweight champ Adriano Moraes: a deadly Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist with power to boot. Needless to say, this would be an opportune time for Johnson call on his long-time friend and training partner, ONE bantamweight champ Bibiano Fernandes, who bears many stylistic similarities to Moraes. Unfortunately, Johnson and Fernandes will probably be unable to reach one another anytime soon. Living in Bellevue, Washington and Vancouver, B.C respectively, they’re only about 120 miles apart as the crow flies. Yet they’re also separated by the US-Canada border, which has become an almost insurmountable hurdle in the time of the coronavirus.

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2020

Got a hankering for some combat sports action? Looking to kill twenty-something minutes of your self-imposed quarantine? Either way, we’ve got you covered with this action-packed highlight of the best finishes in ONE Championship history.

Adam Martin - March 17, 2020

Former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler will test free agency after his next fight and is targeting opponents in the UFC and ONE Championship. Chandler is one of the best home-grown Bellator fighters of all time and is a three-time lightweight champion in the promotion. He has one more fight left on his contract with the promotion against Benson Henderson and will become a free agent afterward.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2020

This Saturday’s UFC Brasilia card has been closed to the public, meaning the fighters on the bill will compete in an arena completely devoid of fans. This is an experience a number of ONE Championship fighters are already familiar with. Late last month, amid growing concerns surrounding the coronavirus, ONE Championship elected to convert its ONE: King of the Jungle card to a closed-door event—just as the UFC has decided to do with the UFC Brasilia card.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2020

ONE Championship has responded to the growing threat of the coronavirus pandemic by converting all of its cards until May 29 to closed-door events. ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced this news on Facebook on Thursday morning.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2020

ONE Championship and ARES Fighting Championship have both elected to postpone upcoming events due to concerns about the rapidly-spreading novel coronavirus. Early on Friday morning, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that the upcoming ONE: Heart of Heroes card, originally scheduled for March 20 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has been postponed until June 26.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2020

Stamp Fairtex is no longer a two-sport champ. In the main event of Friday’s ONE: King of the Jungle card in Singapore, Stamp sought to defend her ONE atomweight kickboxing title against California’s Janet Todd — who she defeated by decision to win the ONE atomweight Muay Thai title roughly one year ago. It was an extremely competitive fight, with Todd finding success with her boxing and volume, and Stamp bludgeoning her challenger with a steady diet of leg kicks. Ultimately, however, the judges handed Todd a split decision victory. She’ll return to California with a ONE world title belt in her luggage, while Stamp’s dreams of becoming a three-sport champ are dashed for the time being.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2020

Yoshihiro Akiyama picked up an incredible knockout victory at Friday’s ONE: King of the Jungle card in Singapore. Akiyama appeared on the event’s main card, battling Egypt’s Sherif Mohamed in a 185-pound scrap.

Tom Taylor - February 27, 2020

Troy Worthen was in line to ride Doctor Doom’s Fearfall at Universal Studios in Orlando when he got an email that changed his life. Several weeks prior, he applied to try out for Evolve MMA, a famed fight team based in Singapore — a world away from his Central Florida home. As he waited to get on the ride, he finally heard back.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2020

In late February of 2019, Janet Todd battled Stamp Fairtex for the inaugural ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Championship. Todd lost that fight by decision, but in a few short days, she’ll get a second crack at Stamp under slightly different circumstances. This Friday, in the main event of ONE: King of the Jungle, Todd will challenge Stamp for the ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship — the other belt in the Thai’s trophy case.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2020

ONE Championship announced Thursday that it will be launching a spinoff of the popular reality television show The Apprentice, under license from MGM Television. Per a press release from the promotion, The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition “will feature 16 contestants handpicked from around the world in a high-stakes game of business competitions and physical challenges where the winner will receive a US$250,000 job offer to work for a year directly under Chatri Sityodtong as his protege at the ONE Championship Global Headquarters in Singapore.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2020

ONE Championship has announced multiple title fights for the upcoming ONE: Infinity 1 and 2 events. The second event will also feature the return of former UFC and Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez. ONE: Infinity 1 goes down on April 10 in Jakarta, Indonesia. As we already know, the card will feature a flyweight title fight between challenger Demetrious Johnson and champion Adriano Moraes.