ONE Championship News

Tom Taylor - April 12, 2019

On Friday, ONE Championship returned to The Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines with the stacked ONE: Roots of Honor card. This card was topped by a featherweight title fight between long absent champion Martin Nguyen and former champion Narantungalag Jadambaa, one of the most experienced veterans on the ONE roster.

Tom Taylor - April 10, 2019

Former UFC welterweight star “Super” Sage Northcutt is set to make his debut in the ONE Championship cage at ONE: Enter the Dragon on May 17 in Singapore. He’ll make this debut opposite kickboxing export Cosmo Alexandre, who has carved out an impressive 7-1 MMA record, primarily in the Bellator cage. Sage Northcutt is excited to get this new phase of his fighting career underway.

Tom Taylor - April 9, 2019

When Kevin Belingon and Bibiano Fernandes stepped into the cage to battle for the ONE Bantamweight World Title at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Japan, the expectation was that their fight, no matter how it ended, would settle their long-time rivalry. Fernandes had won their first fight by submission. Belingon had won their second by decision. And there, under the bright lights of Ryōgoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, we finally had our tie-breaker. Much like their second fight, which occurred in November, this third fight looked like it would be a fun one from the get-go. First, Belingon rocked Fernandes. Then, Fernandes rocked Belingon. All signs pointed to a riveting, back-and-forth war.

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

In the world of MMA, ‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson has essentially done it all. And as he now moves on to the next chapter of his illustrious career overseas, that’s where it looks like his story will end. Johnson made the transition from the UFC to ONE Championship in the groundbreaking first-ever MMA ‘trade’ that saw him get swapped for ONE’s former welterweight king, ‘Funky’ Ben Askren. Both have since made their respective and successful promotional debuts.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

On March 31, at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon met for what was expected to be a third and final time. Regrettably, this bout ended in controversy. Mid-way through the third round, Fernandes completed a takedown on Belingon. Belingon responded by unleashing a salvo of elbows, most of which seemed to land in the forbidden zone on the back and top of Fernandes’ head.

Tom Taylor - April 5, 2019

ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Japan was so stacked that some fans worried ONE Championship might be overdoing it; that the promotion’s next few cards might suffer as a result. That doesn’t seem to be the case.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2019

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez is one of several high profile free agents to sign an exclusive, multi-fight deal with ONE Championship of late. “The Underground King” made his debut with the Singapore-based martial arts powerhouse on at ONE: A New Era on Sunday night in Tokyo, Japan. Unfortunately for Eddie Alvarez and his throngs of dedicated fans, this debut ONE Championship fight didn’t go quite as he planned, as he was pummelled to a first-round stoppage by his dangerous opponent, Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2019

ONE Championship has signed a host of high profile free agents over the last few months, such as former UFC champions Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez and Vitor Belfort, former UFC stars Sage Northcutt, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Yushin Okami, Muay Thai star Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex, and kickboxing ace Nieky Holzken. Speaking at the ONE: A New Era post-fight press conference on Sunday, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong promised the free agent signings will continue. One possible future ONE signing, he claimed, is kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa, who was cage-side for the event.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

On Sunday night, in one of four title fights on the ONE: A New Era bill, ONE atomweight champ Angela Lee experienced her first pro loss, coming up short in a wild fight with strawweight champ Xiong Jing Nan. Speaking on Instagram on Monday, Angela Lee reacted to her first taste of defeat.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

Many fans expected former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to blow through former Pancrase champion Yuya Wakamatsu in his ONE Championship debut. Yet while Johnson ultimately earned himself a second-round submission win, the first frame of his fight with the young Japanese knockout artist was actually quite competitive. Demetrious Johnson opened up on his entertaining scrap with Yuya Wakamatsu at the ONE: A New Era press conference in Tokyo.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

Nobody expected Eduard Folayang to beat Shinya Aoki on the night of their first meeting in 2016, but the Filipino ONE Championship veteran did just that, clocking the Japanese veteran in the third round, and winning the lightweight title. In the years since that first fight, both fighters have enjoyed some huge wins and endured some tough losses. Their respective paths led them to a 2019 rematch, at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Japan. This time around, it was Shinya Aoki attempting to take the lightweight belt from Eduard Folayang.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

At ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, which marked the first ONE Championship in Japan, ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee moved up a weight class to battle ONE Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan in a bid to become the first female two-division champion in the promotion’s history. This bout was originally expected to occur at ONE: Heart of the Lion in Singapore in November of 2018, but was unfortunately postponed when Angela Lee was forced out of the bout with a back injury. After this delay, anticipation for this bout was extra high.