ONE Championship News

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

At long last, 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 Italy’s Mauro “The Hammer” Cerilli. This news was first reported by MMA-Today’s Al Zullino, and subsequently announced by the promotion. 

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 25, 2018

Every current titleholder with ONE Championship has had to battle their way to the top. Some are young and undefeated, others are seasoned martial artists who hit their strides later in their careers.  Today, we look at each of their careers and identified the signature victory in their ONE Championship journey.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 25, 2018

“The Underground King” Eddie Alvarez, the most recent signing by ONE Championship, comes to the promotion with an impressive resume. The 34-year-old has competed in various countries and for a number of organizations. In each of his stops, Alvarez has reached the pinnacle.

Thomas Taylor - October 24, 2018

Earlier this month, we learned that former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez had signed with Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE Championship. Alvarez was instantly hailed as the biggest free agent signing in ONE Championship history — and from the sounds of it, he could soon be joined by another massive name: former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN reported that the UFC and ONE Championship were close to finalizing an unprecedented fighter trade. This trade would see the UFC send Johnson, widely regarded as the best fighter of all time, to ONE Championship, and ONE Championship offer up its former welterweight champion in return.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2018

ONE Championship and the UFC are close to finalizing a history-making fighter trade, per ESPN. This potential trade would see the UFC send former flyweight champion and pound-for-pound great Demetrious Johnson to the Singapore-based promotion in exchange for former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. While this trade is reportedly on the table, it is not official yet.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2018

ONE heavyweight champion Brandon Vera has not defended his title since December of 2016, when he authored a devastating knockout of Japan’s Hideki Sekine. The reason for his long absence since then is not due to injury or illness, but to a budding film career in The Philippines. “It’s been my calculated choice,” Brandon Vera said of his layoff on episode 102 of BJPENN.COM Radio. “When I say calculated choice, I asked permission before I went away for so long, from everyone, so that I could shoot a movie in the Philippines. It was called BuyBust. It was a huge action film from The Philippines, shown all over the world. It was a really good project. Even if I had to do it all over again, I would. The time versus sacrifice, yeah, it was definitely worth it. It was an experience.”

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 24, 2018

Following an impressive performance against Brazilian arch-nemesis, Adriano Moraes to unify the ONE flyweight world titles this past June, Geje ‘Gravity’ Eustaquio puts his rivalry with the former champion behind him as he looks for more intriguing matchups in his nascent reign as the division’s kingpin. The thought of returning to action and defending the gold-plated strap jolts the competitive spirit of the 29-year-old Baguio City native.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 23, 2018

Early last week, ONE Championship announced that it had locked a multiple-bout contract with free agent Eddie Alvarez. Known as “The Underground King”, Alvarez’s arrival at ONE instantly sent shockwaves into the martial arts industry, sparking conversations about not only who about possible matchups for Alvarez under the ONE banner, but also other potential free agent signings ONE could announce. ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong hinted that Alvarez isn’t the only big name to be joining the promotion, and that he has plans of announcing other big names in the near future. This had fans immediately speculating.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 23, 2018

There are few martial artists in the world who have accomplished as much or more than Eddie Alvarez has in his 15-year, 36-bout career. That’s why ONE Championship’s recent signing of the Underground King was such a big deal. The 34-year-old has won multiple championships with a number of different organizations, but he hasn’t conquered a division in ONE. During a global press conference to promote the upcoming ONE: HEART OF THE LION event in Singapore in November, and to introduce Alvarez, the 34-year-old talked about his upcoming challenge, new opportunity, and organization.

Tom Taylor - October 22, 2018

The first time Filipino knockout artist Kevin Belingon met Bibiano Fernandes in the ONE Championship cage, things didn’t go the way he planned. Instead, he was submitted by the dominating ONE bantamweight champion in the very first round. On November 9, at ONE: Heart of the Lion in Singapore, Kevin Belingon, who now wears the ONE interim bantamweight belt, will have a second chance to topple the seemingly unstoppable Bibiano Fernandes. This time around, he’s confident he can pull it off. A lot has changed since their first fight, after all.

Tom Taylor - October 22, 2018

Brandon Vera has been a ONE Championship fighter since 2014. In the years since he joined the ONE Championship roster, he’s fought in his ancestral homeland of The Philippines, become one of the promotion’s biggest stars, and even captured its heavyweight title. To say Brandon Vera has enjoyed his time with ONE would be understatement. Speaking on episode 102 of BJPENN.COM Radio, Vera heaped praised on the Asian MMA powerhouse.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 22, 2018

Angela Lee, Aung La N Sang, Bibiano Fernandes, Ben Askren, and Martin Nguyen are the names most synonymous with ONE Championship today. There is no end in sight for most of them, but top-tier talent continues to make its way into the organization. The current champions and most recognizable figures will likely have to make room for the next wave of superstars. Obviously, anything can happen in martial arts, but there are at least four competitors with a good chance to become the next main-event level members of ONE Championship’s roster.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 18, 2018

There are a handful of top-tier, seasoned titleholders on the ONE Championship roster, and Aung La N Sang is one of them. He is one of the promotion’s most beloved, revered and respected martial artists. N Sang will put his middleweight title on the line against Mohammad Karaki in the main event at ONE: Pursuit of Greatness on October 26 in Myanmar.

Tom Taylor - October 18, 2018

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who recently signed with Singapore’s ONE Championship, hasn’t had the chance to thoroughly examine the promotion’s lightweight division just yet. That being said, he expects to get very familiar with his peers in the division very soon. “No I’m not entirely familiar,” Eddie Alvarez said in response to BJPENN.COM on Wednesday’s ONE: Heart of the Lion media conference call. “Today when I’m on Twitter they put a poll out for possible opponents to fight. That was kind of the first time I understood who the top contenders there are.”

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 18, 2018

On Thursday, October 11 we saw Mark Fairtex Abelardo earn the $100,000 ONE Championship contract when he scored a TKO win over Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg at the ONE Warrior Series Season 3 show in Singapore. The bantamweight had already put together a memorable performance in his first appearance on the ONE Warrior Series stage. Those two wins were enough to secure him a roster spot and the lucrative contract.

Thomas Taylor - October 17, 2018

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez appeared on ONE Championship’s Thursday evening media conference call, alongside ONE women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee, ONE women’s strawweight champion Xiong Jing Nan, ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes, ONE interim bantamweight champion Kevin Belingon, and ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong. Among the highlights of this call was Eddie Alvarez’s announcement that he plans to stick to ONE Championship’s lightweight division (169 pounds), and that he will not be heading north to the promotion’s welterweight division (185 pounds). Because ONE Championship does not allow extreme weight cutting, this would seem to rule out a widely desired fight with the promotion’s ostensibly retired former welterweight champion Ben Askren.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 16, 2018

Singapore is a place where martial arts dreams can come true, and 34 competitors had an opportunity to use the location as a springboard in their professional careers on Thursday, 11 October. Placed neatly between the ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES show from Bangkok, Thailand, on 6 October, which drew 25 million viewers, and ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS in Myanmar on 26 October, the ONE Warrior Series scratched the itch for fans of martial arts and the promotion.

Christopher Taylor - October 15, 2018

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez has found a new home. “The Underground King” announced tonight that he has signed with ONE Championship. ONE Championship’s Chatri Sityodtong shared the following video adding the caption “Please join me in welcoming Eddie Alvarez to @ONEChampionship! I am super excited for our fans to witness Eddie’s high octane, explosive dynamite KO style. Stay tuned for more big news! @Ealvarezfight”