Rematches, trilogies, and even four-fight series make combat sports a lot more fun and interesting to watch. Throughout its relatively brief but impacting history, ONE Championship has had its share of memorable rematches.
We’ve seen Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon face each other three times. Christian Lee has battled Martin Nguyen twice. Aung La N Sang has tangled with each Ken Hasegawa and Vitaly Bigdash twice as well. Most of those matches were memorable, but there is room for more potentially groundbreaking sequels.
Here are five rematches we want to see happen.
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Kevin Belingon
Fernandes and Belingon have already met three times. The first meeting took place in January 2016 at ONE: DYNASTY OF CHAMPIONS where Fernandes quickly submitted Belingon to successfully defend his ONE Bantamweight World Championship. Belingon worked his way back to a title shot in November 2018 at ONE: HEART OF THE LION and dethroned the proud Brazilian with a close split-decision win.
Fernandes didn’t agree with the decision, which led to an immediate rematch. That third bout between the two took place in March at ONE: A NEW ERA in Tokyo. Fernandes was in control of the match before Belingon mistakenly, but illegally, landed strikes to the back of the head. The strike caused a disqualification, which won Fernandes back his title. The Brazilian, however, wasn’t content with how we won so the two athletes agreed to a fourth showdown, which ONE has yet to determine a date or location for. When ONE announces the fourth meeting, it will be one of the biggest matches of the year.
Aung La N Sang vs. Vitaly Bigdash
The last man to defeat Aung La is Bigdash, and it happened in their first meeting back in January 2017 at ONE: QUEST FOR POWER.
Bigdash earned a unanimous-decision win, but the battle was close enough to warrant a rematch. In the second bout in June 2017 at ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION, Aung La, who was competing in front of his home crowd in Myanmar, came out victorious as he wrestled away the ONE Middleweight World Championship from the Russian.
Since the defeat, Bigdash lost by stoppage to Leandro Ataides in May 2018 but bounced back in December 2018 with a win over Yuki Niimura. As of now, the series between Bigdash and Aung La is tied at one apiece. Bigdash could be in a position for a trilogy with his rival if he wins his next bout.
Christian Lee vs. Martin Nguyen
A lot has changed since the last time Nguyen and Lee competed against each other. In May 2018 at ONE: UNSTOPPABLE DREAMS, Lee was still an up-and-coming athlete looking to win the featherweight title. The bout was a rematch of an August 2016 meeting at ONE: HEROES OF THE WORLD where Nguyen put Lee to sleep with a guillotine choke. Lee showed a ton of maturity in the sequel, but still fell short and lost by split decision.
Now, Lee is the reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion after defeating Shinya Aoki at ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON in May. Nguyen is still the ONE Featherweight World Champion but may be looking to capture his second belt. A trilogy between Lee and Nguyen could be one of the more exciting series of battles we’ve seen in ONE history.
Xiong Jing Nan vs. Angela Lee
At ONE: A NEW ERA in March, reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Lee had the current ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion Xiong beaten through four rounds. Lee completely dominated heading into the final frame with her striking and ground game. In the fourth round, Lee nearly submitted Xiong with a triangle armbar, but the latter miraculously withstood the pain and pressure to escape the round. It took a lot of energy to try submitting her opponent as Lee headed into the fifth looking exhausted.
Xiong took advantage of that and landed significant strikes which forced a technical knockout finish. It was a fantastic comeback and show of intestinal fortitude for Xiong. Lee will remain competing in the strawweight division, so you know she has her eyes set on another crack at Xiong in the future.
Eddie Alvarez vs. Timofey Nastyuhkin
Almost no one expected Nastyuhkin to defeat Alvarez in the latter’s anticipated promotional debut at ONE: A NEW ERA, but the Russian’s size and power were too much. In the very first round, Nastyuhkin landed hard punches and hurt the multiple-time world champion. A series of blows that followed forced the referee to stop the bout.
Nastyuhkin is still competing in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix, and Alvarez already has his second bout with ONE scheduled which is against former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang. If Nastyuhkin loses to Honorio Banario, or in the Grand Prix final to Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev, and Alvarez defeats Folayang, it would make sense to see a rematch between the two.
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