ONE Championship News

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2019

Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin (12-4, 6 KOS, 4 Subs) has been competing in combat sports for a long time. He began training in Pankration when he was just a child, and wound up winning a European championship in the sport at a young age. Buoyed by his success in Pankration, he then transitioned into MMA at 18 years old, and after a seven-fight win streak — all stoppages — he was invited to ONE Championship, where he debuted with a jaw-dropping, flying knee knockout of current lightweight champion Eduard Folayang.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 6, 2019

Brandon “The Truth” Vera is the reigning ONE Heavyweight World Champion. The 41-year-old Filipino is one of five Filipino champions under the promotion’s banner. While Vera is a champion today, he has had to endure some significant hardships on his way to his current spot. Overcoming Adversity

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 5, 2019

On 16 February, a ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight World Champion will be crowned. ONE Championship recently announced that Muay Thai legend Nong-O Gaiyanghadao of Thailand will take on Han Zi Hao of China for the ONE Super Series strap. The bout serves as the main event of ONE: Clash of Legends, set for 16 February at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thomas Taylor - January 4, 2019

Yuya Wakamatsu couldn’t believe what he was hearing when he was offered the opportunity to welcome Demetrious Johnson, the former UFC flyweight champion and one of the best fighters ever, to the ONE Championship cage. Wakamatsu has competed just once for ONE Championship so far and came up short in his debut effort, losing a decision to Danny Kingad. As such, he didn’t expect to receive this kind of offer so soon. Nonetheless, this was an opportunity he’d been dreaming of for years, and one he simply couldn’t turn down.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 4, 2019

The highly-anticipated ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix will be underway beginning January 25 at ONE Championship’s anticipated return to Manila. It was announced earlier by the promotion that Team Lakay veteran Honorio “The Rock” Banario will be taking on undefeated American Lowen Tynanes of Hawaii in the quarterfinal. Two months later, former UFC lightweight champion Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez takes his first swipe at the tournament against Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE’s first event in Tokyo on March 31.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 4, 2019

On the surface, they have little in common. One resides in tropical Florida, the other in the hustle and bustle of Sydney, Australia. But Myanmar’s Aung La N Sang and Vietnamese- Australian Martin Nguyen share much more than their passion for martial arts. They are more than just competitors in the world’s largest martial arts promotion.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 29, 2018

ONE Championship’s 20-year-old prodigy Christian Lee has already established himself as one of the best featherweights in the promotion, and his best days are still ahead of him. At ONE: Eternal Glory on January 19, Lee will rematch Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly. In the first meeting, Lee was disqualified after an inadvertent suplex maneuver. Lee wants to erase the sting of that defeat and to launch himself to the next level, which could ultimately lead to a title berth. In many ways, Lee’s career arc is similar to UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway’s journey toward becoming an elite performer.

Thomas Taylor - December 28, 2018

When it was announced that Jon Jones would be allowed to fight at UFC 232 in California, despite trace amounts of turinabol turning up on several of his recent drug tests, a number of his fellow fighters piped up, questioning the integrity of the UFC and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). After Daniel Cormier and Nate Diaz shared their thoughts on the issue, former UFC lightweight champ and current ONE Championship star Eddie Alvarez is now doing the same. Eddie Alvarez campaigned against PED-used in a multi-part speech on Twitter.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 28, 2018

Aung La N Sang has declared his intent to “give back” to his country of Myanmar, unveiling plans for a martial arts academy. “That’s something I want to bring to Myanmar one day,” said Aung La, who was immortalized with a bronze statue at Kachin National Manau Park in his hometown of Myitkyina recently. 

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 27, 2018

ONE Championship is set to debut in Tokyo, Japan on March 31 with the stacked ONE: A New Era card. Even now, when the card is still not fully booked, it looks like it could be one of the best events of 2019. Here’s why: ONE Championship Debuts in Japan

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 27, 2018

It has been a memorable year for Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex. The 21-year-old claimed the ONE Kickboxing Atomweight World Championship in her promotional debut in October at ONE: KINGDOM  OF HEROES and her star looks set to shine even brighter in 2019. Stamp comprehensively outpointed defending champion Kai Ting Chuang throughout their five-round contest on her way to earning a unanimous decision victory. It was the co-main event of the evening and was watched by millions worldwide.

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2018

Back in November, ONE Championship announced that it will be promoting exciting Grand Prix tournaments in its flyweight and lightweight divisions, featuring new signees Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez respectively. On Thursday afternoon, the Singapore-based martial arts powerhouse announced plans for another epic Grand Prix in 2019.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 22, 2018

The biggest stars in ONE Championship aren’t hard to find. Angela Lee, Aung La N Sang, Martin Nguyen and even newcomers like Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez are household names who currently carry the torch for the promotion. As great as those martial artists are, they won’t reign forever. We took a look at performers who really stood out in 2018 and came up with five young and talented martial artists ready to break out in 2019.

Drake Riggs - December 19, 2018

The long-awaited promotional debuts of ONE Championship’s biggest acquisitions to date in former UFC champions Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Eddie Alvarez have been set. On March 31, ONE will host their inaugural event in Japan as they head to Tokyo for a huge show.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2018

Sage Northcutt has big plans for his ONE Championship career. Not only does the eight-fight UFC veteran plan on capturing a ONE Championship MMA title, but he’s also hoping to snag titles in Muay Thai and kickboxing competition as part of the ONE Super Series. “What I think is cool is, they have, not only do they have MMA, but they also have Muay Thai and they have kickboxing,” Northcutt said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour (transcript via MMA Fighting). “So, I want to be the champion in MMA, I want to be the champion in Muay Thai and kickboxing. I want to do it all. And I think that ONE Championship is going to be really cool because I believe that I’m going to display my different skills in each of those and I believe be the champ in each of those. I think it’s the perfect league.”

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 18, 2018

With over 20 exciting events throughout 2018, ONE Championship had its share of memorable bouts. With matches across a variety of disciplines, we’ve taken a look at all of the cards and bouts of the year and selected the following five as the most significant. We start with ONE: Unstoppable Dreams from May. Angela Lee def. Mei Yamaguchi to Retain ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship This bout was a rematch of a 2016 clash at ONE: Ascent to Power. Lee won that bout via unanimous decision, but the Japanese veteran came prepared to take things to the next level in the rematch.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2018

Eduard Folayang is once again the ONE lightweight champion. The Team Lakay representative recaptured the title with a thrilling decision defeat of Amir Khan, which went down in front of his legions of Filipino faithful in Manila in late November. With the belt once again slung over his shoulder, Folayang is looking ahead to his first challenge as champion. That being said, it’s a little difficult to say who will provide that first challenge.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2018

In November, ONE Championship announced that it will it be promoting a flyweight and lightweight Grand Prix in the New Year. On Friday morning, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong took to Twitter to announce the kickoff dates for these two anticipated tournaments.