ONE Championship News

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2022

2020 and 2021 proved that truly any type of combat sports match is possible. Early into 2022 and ONE Championship has already gauged interest in a president vs. president bout. ONE took to its official Twitter account on Tuesday sharing a video of promotional frontman Chatri Sityodtong hitting mitts to ask who wants to see him take on UFC boss, Dana White.

Drake Riggs - November 27, 2021

For the vast majority of the time that John Lineker spent in the UFC, he found himself chasing the all-time great, Demetrious Johnson. Now, he’s chasing Johnson’s teammate. Despite Lineker being the heavier of the two with a new target in sight, “Hands of Stone” remains open to the prospect of taking on “Mighty Mouse”. Training with current ONE Championship flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, Lineker wasn’t too shocked by seeing his fellow Brazilian manage to knock out Johnson.

Andrew Whitelaw - October 25, 2021

When it comes to the various rulesets in MMA, Rich Franklin is a man whose opinion should carry plenty of weight. The former UFC middleweight champion and Hall-of-Famer has fought under the unified rules, competed in Japan, and since 2014 – he’s been the vice president at ONE Championship. Rulesets have been a hot topic in MMA recently, particularly after Petr Yan lost the UFC bantamweight title via DQ for kneeing Aljamain Sterling when he was grounded. In contrast, Adriano Moraes retained his ONE flyweight title in April by knocking out Demetrious Johnson with a knee when DJ was grounded.

Adam D Martin - October 15, 2021

Legendary kickboxer Giorgio Petrosyan was brutally knocked out by a Superbon head kick in ONE Championship on Friday. Petrosyan fought Superbon for the inaugural ONE Championship featherweight kickboxing world title, and Superbon pulled off the victory with an incredible head kick. It was only the second KO loss of Petrosyan’s entire kickboxing career and it’s his first knockout defeat since 2013, which shows you how hard it is to finish him. Check out the video below.

Cole Shelton - October 12, 2021

Demetrious Johnson didn’t have any hesitation when he got the call to have a special rules fight against Rodtang. At ONE X in December, Johnson and Rodtang will fight in a special rules bout. The first and third rounds will be muay Thai will the second and fourth will be MMA. The rounds will also be three minutes and for Johnson, he’s super excited for the fight.

Harry Kettle - October 12, 2021

Demetrious Johnson stands by his thoughts on the “downed opponent” rule despite Aljamain Sterling’s karma remarks. We’ve over six months removed from Aljamain Sterling’s DQ win over Petr Yan that had many questioning Sterling as he went on to claim the UFC bantamweight title. Demetrious Johnson, in the immediate aftermath, said that the knee Yan struck Sterling with should’ve been deemed legal, suggesting Sterling knew where to put his hands as he could feel the momentum of the fight shifting.

Andrew Whitelaw - September 30, 2021

Ok Rae Yoon can rest easy – he’ll remain the newly-crowned ONE Championship lightweight title holder after his win over Christian Lee was upheld. The Korean scored a unanimous decision win against Christian Lee at ONE Championship: ‘Revolution’ last weekend, but the result was called into question. Immediately after the fight, Lee said the decision was ‘bulls**’ and asked for it to be reviewed.

Andrew Whitelaw - September 20, 2021

 At 32 years-old, James Yang has experienced a storied lead-up to his professional debut. The talented featherweight has amassed an impressive 7-0 amateur MMA record and will have Demetrious Johnson in his corner when he makes his bow against Roel Rosauro at ONE: Revolution. He may be a little late to the party, but Yang is fully intent on making a splash in ONE’s featherweight division. Speaking exclusively to BJPenn.com, he said,

Tom Taylor - September 15, 2021

At ONE: Battleground 3 in August, Bi Nguyen lost a competitive decision to rising Filipina talent Jenelyn Olsim. It was Nguyen’s fourth decision loss since joining the ONE Championship roster in early 2019, and like the three that preceded it, it wasn’t exactly cut-and-dry. “Story of my life,” Nguyen told BJPENN.com looking back on her loss to Olsim. “I’m always going to be honest with you, and there’s a lot of factors that go into this fight. If this fight was graded round-by-round, I would win, no doubt. If it was judged in America, I would win, no doubt. But it’s not, and that’s the reality of it—and that’s part of the reason I won the Ritu [Phogat] fight, because it was graded overall.

Drake Riggs - September 8, 2021

Seo Hee Ham remains a winner inside the ONE Championship circle despite a post-fight review. ONE: Empower took place last Friday and featured the highly anticipated eight-woman world atomweight Grand Prix. Among the contestants was promotional newcomer, UFC veteran and former RIZIN super atomweight champion, Seo Hee Ham (24-8).

Drake Riggs - September 7, 2021

Angela Lee had a minor back and forth with a reporter during ONE Championship’s Lee family virtual media day. The 10-2 ONE atomweight champion recently became a mother which has kept her sidelined for all of 2021. On Tuesday, a Philippino media member asked Lee during the media day about how “real champions” typically defend their titles once or twice a year, wondering why Lee only was allowed to take a “two-year vacation” because she’s the “ONE poster girl.”

Andrew Whitelaw - September 5, 2021

The ONE Atomweight Women’s World Grand Prix quarter-finals went down on Friday in Singapore with UFC veteran Seo Hee Ham (24-8) getting the split decision win over Denice Zamboanga (8-1). The result provoked a wave of angry comments online as fans voiced their disbelief at the decision. ONE Championship CEO, Chatri Sityodtong has said that the judges verdict is now under ‘formal review’ by the ONE competition committee.

Tom Taylor - August 18, 2021

ONE Championship atomweight star Bi Nguyen feels like she’s entering the prime of her fighting life. Nguyen fights Filipina prospect Jenelyn Olsim at ONE: Battleground III this Friday in Singapore. The Vietnamese-American striking specialist will enter the fight with arguably the biggest win of her career in the rear-view mirror: a hard-fought decision triumph over Indian wrestling sensation Ritu Phogat.

Adam D Martin - July 26, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic conveyed his interest in joining ONE Championship in a cryptic post on social media. ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong took to social media to ask the fans who they would like for Asia’s leading MMA promotion to sign next. In the comments, Miocic chimed in with a series of emojis, seemingly conveying his interest in joining the promotion. The former UFC heavyweight champion then responded to a fan, where he questioned why he isn’t being given an immediate trilogy fight rematch against Francis Ngannou next.

Andrew Whitelaw - July 15, 2021

Thanh Le became the ONE Championship featherweight champion when he scored an impressive third round TKO against Martin Nguyen in October last year. The TUF 22 alumni is currently riding a streak of four straight finishes since he signed with the Singapore-based promotion back in 2019.

Drake Riggs - May 24, 2021

Eddie Alvarez has gone to war on numerous occasions throughout his legendary career. It now looks like two of his most notable opponents could square off next. Both of Alvarez’s encounters with fellow former Bellator lightweight king Michael Chandler were instant classics. The same can be said for his UFC 218 bout against Justin Gaethje. Now that both have suffered losses in their most recent title opportunities, UFC President Dana White seemingly still likes the idea of matching the two together.

Tom Taylor - May 13, 2021

ONE Championship women’s atomweight star Bi Nguyen is all fired up and motivated ahead of her showdown with Indian wrestling champion Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat. Nguyen and Phogat lock horns at the tape-delayed ONE: DANGAL, a tape-delayed event from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore that airs on Saturday, 15 May,  just weeks before Phogat is scheduled to enter action against No. 2-ranked atomweight contender Meng Bo.

Andrew Whitelaw - May 10, 2021

Gordon Ryan has an opponent for his ONE Championship debut. According to a Facebook post from ONE CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, the BJJ star will take on JMMA lcon Shinya Aoki in “an openweight grappling super match on August 27!”