ONE Championship News

Tom Taylor - October 9, 2018

Over the last few years, trash talk and bravado have become a huge part of the sport of mixed martial arts. The bushido spirit has been mostly pushed aside and replaced by constant posturing and saber-rattling. Singapore’s ONE Championship is working on changing that. Where other promotions encourage trash talk and showmanship, ONE Championship preaches traditional martial arts values like respect, integrity and honor.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 8, 2018

Asia-based martial arts organization ONE Championship just announced through a press release that it has raised an additional US $166 million in the latest round of its funding. Led by major investor Sequoia Capital, who had already invested in the company in 2017, ONE Championship now has a total capital base exceeding US $250 million. Other investors who participated in the Series D funding round include Temasek, Greenoaks Capital, and other leading institutional investors. The equity investment further solidifies ONE’s dominant market leadership position in the sports media industry in Asia.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 6, 2018

On Saturday, 6 October, ONE Championship heads back to the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand for what figures to be an eventful and diverse show of martial arts. WBC Super Flyweight champion and Thai legend Srisaket Sor Rungvisai will make his promotional debut as he defends his title against Iran “MagnifKO” Diaz in the main event of ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES. It will mark the first time a boxing match has headlined a ONE Championship show. Also, ONE Super Series Atomweight Kickboxing champion Kai Ting Chuang will defend her title against Thailand’s own Stamp Fairtex. It should be a memorable night of action in Bangkok, but it won’t be the first noteworthy event ONE Championship has brought to the Impact Arena. The first ONE Championship event at the venue took place just two years ago, but it hasn’t taken a long time for the promotion and the city of Bangkok to create magic.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 5, 2018

The stage is set for the ONE Championship’s first-ever boxing match tomorrow night as WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand and challenger Iran “MagnifiKO” Diaz of Mexico have both made the contracted weight limit at today’s official weigh-in Srisaket tipped the scales officially at 52kgs (114.6lbs), while Diaz comfortably came in for the first world title contest of his professional career at 52.1kgs (114.8lbs).

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 3, 2018

ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES on October 6 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand will feature one of the organization’s biggest promotional debuts. WBC World Super Flyweight Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1, 41 KO) will defend his title against Iran “MagnifiKO” Diaz (14-2-3, 6 KO). It will be Srisaket’s first bout under the ONE Championship banner. The bout also represents the first time a boxing match will headline a ONE Championship event. While Srisaket’s title defense is obviously a major introduction for the organization, it’s not the first huge debut in ONE Championship history. Here are five of the promotion’s biggest debuts:

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 3, 2018

ONE Championship returns to Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday, October 6 for ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES. There will be a number of intriguing matchups and martial arts styles on display with an especially significant main event featuring WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defending his title against Ivan “MagnifKO” Diaz. The stories of the martial artists and each contest run deep, but the following 10 concepts will get you up to speed on the major points ahead of the event.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 3, 2018

BANGKOK, Thailand – After making their grand arrivals in Bangkok, Thailand, The Ring Magazine and 2-time WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand faced off with opponent Iran “MagnifiKO” Diaz of Mexico for the very first time ahead of their main event clash this Saturday night. The two are scheduled to lock horns on the headline offer of ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES, which is set for 6 October at Bangkok’s Impact Arena. The 12-round boxing match is ONE Championship’s first dip into world-class boxing, as it pairs the bout with a series of mixed martial arts, kickboxing, and Muay Thai contests.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 3, 2018

WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1, 41 KO) is as battle-tested as any world champion in boxing. On 6 October, the 31-year-old Thai boxing superstar will face his next test in the form of Mexico’s Iran Diaz (14-2-3, 6 KO) in the main event of ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Srisaket’s stock has seen a meteoric rise over the past two years. As it stands, he’s eighth on Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings, and many other boxing pundits may argue he deserves to be ranked even higher.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 1, 2018

Filipino spitfire Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon is getting the opponent that he has wanted for a very long time, as he is booked to lock horns with Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes in a highly-anticipated bantamweight title unification bout at ONE: HEART OF THE LION, set for the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 9 November. Belingon and Fernandes squared off inside the ONE Championship cage in January 2016, with the latter pulling off a quick submission victory over the hard-hitting member of the fabled Team Lakay.

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2018

The next ONE Championship card on the calendar is a big one. This card, titled ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES, goes down in Bangkok, Thailand on October 6, and features not only mixed martial arts action, but several Muay Thai and kickboxing bouts, and a WBC boxing title fight in the main event. Here are the key details of this epic ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES card, which will broadcast for free on the ONE Super App.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is reportedly being pursued by Asian MMA powerhouse ONE Championship. The Singapore-based promotion has reportedly been competitive with both Bellator and the UFC in the negotiations for Alvarez’s employment. This interesting news was reported by Tarso Doria of MMABrasil.

Tom Taylor - July 27, 2018

On Friday morning (Friday night in Manila), ONE Championship returned to our screens with ONE: REIGN OF KINGS — undoubtedly one of the promotion’s biggest cards to date. This ONE: REIGN OF KINGS card was headlined by an interim bantamweight title fight between ONE lightweight and featherweight titleholder Martin Nguyen and fearsome Team Lakay star Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon.

Tom Taylor - May 8, 2018

Over the last few weeks, there’s been significant buzz about a potential fight between Bellator welterweight champ Rory MacDonald, and former Bellator and ONE welterweight champ Ben Askren. While this fight is one that most fans want to see, the key roadblock is that, even in his retirement, Askren remains under contract with ONE Championship. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Bellator President Scott Coker divulged that he recently met with ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong to discuss a possible Askren vs. MacDonald matchup. While we already know that Coker isn’t interested in bringing Askren back to Bellator for a one-off fight, it sounds like he is interested in swapping fighters with ONE Championship in the future.

Chris Taylor - March 24, 2018

Current ONE Championship lightweight and featherweight title holder Martin Nguyen (10-1 MMA) moved down in weight to challenge Bibiano Fernandes for the promotions bantamweight title in the headliner of today’s “ONE Championship 68: Ill Will” event in Bangkok, Thailand. After four rounds of closely contested action, it appeared that today’s historic Martin Nguyen vs. Bibiano Fernandes super-fight would be decided by whichever man could win the fifth and final round of action.

Justin Golightly - February 23, 2018

Aung La N Sang made quick work of game contender Alexandre Machado to walk away as your new ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion, and now historic two-division world champion! #QuestForGold #Yangon #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/CFt9Ju2JyG — ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 23, 2018

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

If you’re already itching for MMA and can’t wait until UFC Charlotte, ONE FC’s Global Superheroes went down last night provided enough excitement to hold you over until tomorrow even in just one fight. Featherweight Edward Kelly stepped in to face Meas Meulin the prelims and shocked everyone with his brutal and lightning fast knockout. The victory came at only 21-seconds, which is the fastest knockout in ONE’s featherweight division history. This KO of the Year contender is a highlight that deserves multiple looks. knee ! Edward Kelly KOs Meas Meu in 21 seconds (ONE) pic.twitter.com/1wW2tj3WLV

Russell Ess - October 16, 2017

It’s always interesting to see the evolution of fighters that are standouts in specific disciplines and transition to mixed martial arts. The latest grappling phenom to sign a contract and move on to a career in MMA is New Jersey’s Garry Tonon. Tonon signed a multi-fight exclusive contract with One Championship that was announced via the One Championship website on Monday.

Tom Taylor - September 4, 2017

“Funky” Ben Askren has long been regarded as one of the best welterweights outside the UFC, and perhaps the best fighter outside the UFC period. Over the weekend, in the main event of ONE Championship’s stop in Shanghai, the seemingly unstoppable wrestling specialist added to that reputation with a lopsided mauling of Zebaztian Kadestam. As it turns out, his ferocious TKO of Kadestam will go down as the second last fight of his career.