ONE Championship News

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

ONE Championship has added a whopping fourth title fight to its March 31 debut in Tokyo, Japan, and it’s a big one. In addition to the three title fights already on the ONE: A New Era bill, the card will now also feature the first title defense of new bantamweight champion Kevin Belingon. Belingon will defend the title against the man he won it from at ONE: Heart of the Lion in November, bantamweight legend Bibiano Fernandes.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2019

ONE Championship made some major moves in 2018 with the additions of Eddie Alvarez, Demetrious Johnson, and Sage Northcutt among others. In addition to those big names, ONE Championship also signed atomweight Bi Nguyen, a JacksonWink MMA product and a contestant on the last season of the hit reality TV series Survivor. Unfortunately for Nguyen, she suffered a knee injury which forced her to pull out of the popular TV show. Although the doctors said she could still compete, Nguyen didn’t want to risk suffering further damager to her knee.

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2019

On Friday night ONE Championship returns to beautiful Manila with the exciting ONE: Hero’s Ascent card. This ONE: Hero’s Ascent event is topped by a flyweight title fight between reigning champ Geje Eustaquio and former champion Adriano Moraes, who have fought twice previously, going 1-1.

Thomas Taylor - January 24, 2019

In April of 2015, at ONE: Global Rivals, Hawaii’s Lowen Tynanes improved to an impressive 9-0 with a unanimous decision defeat of respected Japanese veteran Koji Ando. The future looked very bright for the young Hawaiian, as a ONE Championship lightweight title shot seemed to be just around the corner. Unfortunately, he has not fought since.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 23, 2019

Eduard “Landslide” Folayang is the two-time and current ONE Lightweight World Champion. The Filipino warrior has had to overcome unthinkable poverty and tragedy to ascend to his current level. His story is one of the most triumphant you’ll find in the sports world. Folayang was born in Baguio City, in the Philippines where his family was impoverished. Folayang was one of nine children, but five of his siblings passed away from illnesses. Access to proper health care could have remedied the dire situations, but it wasn’t available. Folayang’s father worked as a laborer and part-time farmer. His mother worked at a laundromat. Though neither of Folayang’s parents learned to read or write, they made sure their children didn’t grow up with the same limitations. “My parents sacrificed a lot to bring us to school,” Folayang said. “Sometimes, they even borrowed money just for us to pay our tuition fees. In their daily lives, they didn’t focus on just one job; they found extra work that they could do so that it would compensate for the needs that we had.” Folayang’s parents were eyeing a career in law enforcement for him, but he chose martial arts instead. After accepting a scholarship for wushu, partly to lessen the financial burden on his parents, Folayang’s career in martial arts was on its way. He won 11 major medals as a member of the Philippine Wushu team. In 2007 at the age of 23, Folayang turned pro as a mixed martial artist. He started his career on a five-bout win streak. All but one of the victories came via first-round stoppage, and two of them took less than a minute. Just as he was flying high, Folayang faced a young, up-and-coming martial artist named Jon Tuck in 2009.

Tom Taylor - January 19, 2019

On Saturday night in Jakarta, Indonesia (Saturday morning in North America), ONE Championship made i’s long-awaited return with the exciting ONE: Eternal Glory card. In the main event, Japan’s Yosuke Saruta scored a close but impressive defeat of Team Lakay‘s Joshua Pacio, capturing the ONE strawweight belt in the process.

Tom Taylor - January 16, 2019

By now, you’ve probably encountered the 10 year challenge dozens and dozens of times on your social media accounts. This craze, which encourages people to share a picture of themselves from 10 years ago and a picture of themselves from this year, side by side, has swept the Internet. Even MMA stars like Conor McGregor have gotten in on the fun. Here are some MMA fighters who have done the 10 year challenge over the last few days.

Thomas Taylor - January 15, 2019

At just 21 years old, Stamp Fairtex is already the ONE Super Series Kickboxing Atomweight World Champion. When she battles Janet Todd at ONE: Call to Greatness in Singapore on February 22, she’ll look to capture the ONE Super Series Muay Thai Atomweight Title and become the first two-sport champion in ONE Championship history. As this potentially history-making challenge towers on the horizon, Stamp has her nose to the grindstone.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 14, 2019

Zebaztian Kadestam is a 28-year-old martial artist from Sweden, and he’s the ONE Welterweight World Champion. Over the course of his MMA career, Kadestam has compiled an 11-4 record with nine victories coming by KO and another by submission. When “The Bandit” comes to the cage, he is looking to steal away his opponent’s consciousness. Kadestam is just the third man in history to hold the ONE Welterweight World Title. The other two are Nobutatsu Suzuki and Ben Askren. Kadestam began his reign in November 2018 at ONE: Warrior’s Dream when he scored a fifth-round KO victory over Tyler McGuire to capture the strap that was vacated when Askren was traded to the UFC for Demetrious Johnson. Kadestam’s stamina and constant pressure wore down McGuire, and as the latter retreated following a fifth-round exchange, Kadestam caught him with a power shot that dropped him.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 11, 2019

Reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio is not deterred by the sudden change of opponent he has to face in his first title defense. A highly-anticipated rematch against Hayato Suzuki was supposed to take place at ONE: Eternal Glory to be held at Istora Senayan, Jakarta on 19 January.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 11, 2019

If 2018 was momentous for ONE Championship, 2019 is shaping up to be even bigger. There are already a series of significant events planned through till March that are likely to capture the attention of the combat sports world. January 19 – ONE: ETERNAL GLORY

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 11, 2019

Eduard Folayang has vowed to make a statement when he defends his crown at ONE: A New Era on March 31 in Tokyo. Taking on the legendary Japanese grappler Shinya Aoki, the man he stopped back in 2016 to claim the ONE Lightweight World Title for the first time, Folayang has promised to deliver another beating of the No.1 contender.