ONE Championship News

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 1, 2018

It is instinctive for people to look for someone to idolize, look up to and imitate. Someone from whom they draw strength and inspiration from, to go on with their lives towards where they want to go and what they want to be. This is the reason why people look up to the rich and famous, celebrities who grace the celluloid movie screens, athletes who have made names and millions, wealthy business tycoons, and the list goes on and on.

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.

Drake Riggs - July 25, 2018

Asia’s premier MMA organization is ONE Championship. And always looking to expand their brand, they now have their sights set on boxing. Already Asia’s best when it comes to MMA, ONE has already begun expanding when it comes to putting on other types of fights rather than just MMA. As just recently their founder, Chatri Sityodtong announced that they signed a co-promotion deal with Thailand’s WBC world super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

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 - November 10, 2017

Martin Nguyen KTFO’s Eduard Folayang. When spinning ish goes wrong. Now LW and FW champ. #ONEFightNight pic.twitter.com/HKhisHEXS6 — caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) November 10, 2017

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.

Tom Taylor - April 21, 2017

https://twitter.com/Jolassanda/status/855430387006361601 There is just something about One Championship.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

Singapore’s One Championship is far and away the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in Asia. They broadcast in millions of homes in dozens of countries, and have taken their live product to relatively untapped markets like Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and even further afield. One Championship’s approach to MMA promotion is a little bit different than what we’re used to here in the West. Where organizations like Bellator and World Series of Fighting tend to squabble over jettisoned UFC talent to bolster their rosters with recognizable names, One Championship is dedicated to building their own Asian stars. And this strategy is working.

Tom Taylor - December 2, 2016

https://youtu.be/wEXb_ielH5Y Last December, UFC veteran Brandon Vera won the vacant One Championship heavyweight title with a thunderous first-round knockout of late-replacement Paul Cheng. Almost a full year later, Vera finally defended that title. He did so against the 43-year-old Hideki “Big Body” Sekine – who is also nicknamed “Shrek” – in the main event of One Championship: Age of Domination in the Philippines.

Tom Taylor - December 2, 2016

https://twitter.com/zpgifs/status/804679451892129792 Singapore’s One Championship may have recently outlawed the soccer kicks for which it was famous, but it still produces some truly incredible knockouts. One such knockout occurred this morning, during the organization’s latest show “Age of Domination,” which occured at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the Philippines.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/GrabakaHitman/status/797097797484998656 Now that Eddie Alvarez, Will Brooks and Gilbert Melendez are all members of the UFC roster, Shinya Aoki stands out as one of the best lightweights – if not the best lightweight – outside the organization. Only current Bellator champ Michael Chandler and reigning WSOF lightweight king Justin Gaethje can challenge his reputation as such.

Russell Ess - August 6, 2016

With the recent news of the UFC being sold for $4 billion, it set the bar for the business of mixed martial arts promotional companies. Another MMA promotion company has a big price tag on it. Not quite as big as the UFC’s, but ONE Championship is reportedly “already within reach of a $1 billion valuation,” according to a report from Forbes.

Scott Hernandez - May 27, 2016

ONE – This is full 6s long fight !!! – Timofey Nastyukhin (RU) @timnastyukhin x Robert Lisita (Australia) pic.twitter.com/GEumo6VoLs — Jolassanda (@Jolassanda) May 27, 2016