Tag: ‘One

ONE Championship Announces Fight For Title Vacated After Demetrious Johnson’s Retirement

ONE Championship has announced that on March 23 at ONE 172, the promotion will crown a new flyweight champion in the co-main event of the evening. The title has been left vacant ever since Demetrious Johnson announced his retirement at the Ball Arena in Denver this past September at ONE 168. Following several high stakes […]

ONE Championship has announced that on March 23 at ONE 172, the promotion will crown a new flyweight champion in the co-main event of the evening. The title has been left vacant ever since Demetrious Johnson announced his retirement at the Ball Arena in Denver this past September at ONE 168.

Following several high stakes contests at flyweight, the two top contenders that will battle for the gold have emerged. Brazil’s Adriano Moraes is a multiple time flyweight champion in ONE and was the inaugural holder of the title back in 2014. In his latest title reign, he ended his trilogy of fights with Geje Eustaquio before becoming the first man to finish Johnson in 2021 which kickstarted their trilogy of fights.

Moraes recently returned to the win column in Johnson’s absence by beating Danny Kingad at ONE 169 in November via a submission in the second round. “Mikinho” is now set to face off with Japan’s Yuya Wakamatsu who is sure to receive an incredible amount of support at the Saitama Super Arena on March 23.

Wakamatsu previously challenged Moraes for the flyweight title in 2022 at ONE: X where he was submitted in the third round. After suffering back-to-back defeats, “Little Pranha” has won three in a row including a dominant victory at the start of December over Gilbert Nakatani.

This huge card is set to be headlined by arguably the biggest fight in the history of the promotion as Rodtang Jitmuangnon faces off with Takeru Segawa in a kickboxing super fight that has been building ever since their matchup at ONE 165 earlier this year fell through due to an injury to the Thai superstar. There is sure to be a lot more top Japanese talent on the card for what will be ONE’s biggest event to date.

Anatoly Malykhin Loses 1 Of 3 Titles To ‘Reug Reug’ In Huge ONE 169 Upset

Anatoly Malykhin’s three-division kingpin status is no more following ONE 169. Malykhin became the first MMA fighter in a major organization to capture gold across three separate weight classes earlier this year when he added the ONE Championship middleweight title to a trophy cabinet that already boasted the heavyweight and light heavyweight belts. And after […]

Continue Reading Anatoly Malykhin Loses 1 Of 3 Titles To ‘Reug Reug’ In Huge ONE 169 Upset at MMA News.

Anatoly Malykhin’s three-division kingpin status is no more following ONE 169.

Malykhin became the first MMA fighter in a major organization to capture gold across three separate weight classes earlier this year when he added the ONE Championship middleweight title to a trophy cabinet that already boasted the heavyweight and light heavyweight belts.

And after getting the better of Reinier de Ridder for the second time to accomplish that feat, the Russian behemoth turned his sights to defending his thrones.

His first attempt at adding a successful retention to his résumé came on Friday night at ONE 169, which he headlined inside the famed Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand opposite Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane.

The Senegalese wrestler entered the event as a significant underdog against the undefeated “Sladkiy,” but he overcame the odds to have the heavyweight strap placed on his shoulder after five rounds.

Kane started strong, making good on his pre-fight promise to take the Russian champ down. And Malykhin’s use of the ropes to fight his challenger’s smothering wrestling resulted in a yellow card from referee Herb Dean.

That ultimately proved crucial, as he fell on the wrong side of a split decision verdict to be relegated to two-division titleholder status at ONE 169.

During fight week, Malykhin had expressed firm confidence in his chances of brushing “Reug Reug” aside before turning his attention to PFL star Francis Ngannou in 2025, having taken issue with “The Predator’s” claim to global heavyweight supremacy.

But with Kane now on the throne, perhaps a door has been opened to a huge Senegal vs. Cameroon showdown down the line, should the PFL and ONE come to terms on a cross-promotional event.

Elsewhere at ONE 169, there were big wins for the likes of Kade Ruotolo and Jackie Buntan. While the lightweight submission grappling champion further showed his MMA promise by club-and-subbing Ahmed Mujtaba, the Filipino-American finally got her hands on ONE gold by outpointing Anissa Meksen for the inaugural strawweight kickboxing title.

Thai star Rodtang Jitmuangnon also had his hand raised after getting the better of England’s Jacob Smith for the second time. Unfortunately, his weight miss on Thursday meant he was ineligible to exit with the flyweight Muay Thai title.

Continue Reading Anatoly Malykhin Loses 1 Of 3 Titles To ‘Reug Reug’ In Huge ONE 169 Upset at MMA News.

Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’ 

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year. Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last […]

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year.

Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last month following a two-fight stint in the boxing ring.

Debuting for the PFL, “The Predator” headlined a pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia opposite Brazil’s Renan Ferreira. While the 2023 PFL heavyweight title winner was expected to pose a threat by many, he was battered en route to a knockout defeat within the first round.

The result saw Ngannou crowned the inaugural PFL Super Fight heavyweight champ, and he subsequently reaffirmed his belief that no heavyweight comes close to matching him.

Unsurprisingly, the uber-confident Anatoly Malykhin has something to say about that.

During a recent interview with MMA Knockout, the three-division ONE Championship king reiterated his desire to do battle with another of the planet’s most devastating heavyweight knockout artists.

And the Russian’s fire for that fight appears to have been flamed by “The Predator’s” claim to global supremacy in the division following his successful return to the cage last month in the Middle East.

“2025, for me, is a year when a really big fight should happen, that’s what I want. Because Ngannou, Francis Ngannou, recently said that he’s the best fighter on the planet, which he cannot and should not be saying until he faces me,” Malykhin said. “So my fight against Ngannou is something that needs to happen in 2025. I think everybody looks forward to that, everybody wants that fight, and we need to have it to decide once and for all who is the best heavyweight in the world right now.”

Anataoly Malykhin
Image: ONE Championship

And beyond himself, “Sladkiy” sees plenty of threats to Ngannou from Russian brutes already under the PFL banner, naming 2024 PFL heavyweight finalist Oleg Popov and former Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov.

“Francis Ngannou is a strong fighter. I watched his fight (with Ferreira), he’s got a great skillset,” Malykhin stated. “He has got some great opposition in PFL. That’s Oleg Popov, who’s definitely gonna win the (heavyweight tournament). Everybody needs to keep his eyes on Popov, this guy is going to be absolutely amazing. I can see great things coming for him. And of course there is Vadim Nemkov, who is another amazing Russian fighter.

“As for Ngannou, I think that it was more of a psychological pressure for him to come back into the ring after such a long break from MMA. But I think he did well, he did well,” Malykhin continued. “But his words after the fight, I think were a little bit premature. He shouldn’t have said that he is the greatest heavyweight in the world.”

For now, Malykhin’s sights are on a different African heavyweight behemoth — one currently competing alongside him in ONE.

The heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight champ will put the first of those titles on the line against Senagalese powerhouse Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane tomorrow night at ONE 169.

The build-up to their showdown at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand has been a heated one, with the pair almost coming to blows at the hotel and press conference faceoff during fight week.

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’ 

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year. Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last […]

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year.

Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last month following a two-fight stint in the boxing ring.

Debuting for the PFL, “The Predator” headlined a pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia opposite Brazil’s Renan Ferreira. While the 2023 PFL heavyweight title winner was expected to pose a threat by many, he was battered en route to a knockout defeat within the first round.

The result saw Ngannou crowned the inaugural PFL Super Fight heavyweight champ, and he subsequently reaffirmed his belief that no heavyweight comes close to matching him.

Unsurprisingly, the uber-confident Anatoly Malykhin has something to say about that.

During a recent interview with MMA Knockout, the three-division ONE Championship king reiterated his desire to do battle with another of the planet’s most devastating heavyweight knockout artists.

And the Russian’s fire for that fight appears to have been flamed by “The Predator’s” claim to global supremacy in the division following his successful return to the cage last month in the Middle East.

“2025, for me, is a year when a really big fight should happen, that’s what I want. Because Ngannou, Francis Ngannou, recently said that he’s the best fighter on the planet, which he cannot and should not be saying until he faces me,” Malykhin said. “So my fight against Ngannou is something that needs to happen in 2025. I think everybody looks forward to that, everybody wants that fight, and we need to have it to decide once and for all who is the best heavyweight in the world right now.”

Anataoly Malykhin
Image: ONE Championship

And beyond himself, “Sladkiy” sees plenty of threats to Ngannou from Russian brutes already under the PFL banner, naming 2024 PFL heavyweight finalist Oleg Popov and former Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov.

“Francis Ngannou is a strong fighter. I watched his fight (with Ferreira), he’s got a great skillset,” Malykhin stated. “He has got some great opposition in PFL. That’s Oleg Popov, who’s definitely gonna win the (heavyweight tournament). Everybody needs to keep his eyes on Popov, this guy is going to be absolutely amazing. I can see great things coming for him. And of course there is Vadim Nemkov, who is another amazing Russian fighter.

“As for Ngannou, I think that it was more of a psychological pressure for him to come back into the ring after such a long break from MMA. But I think he did well, he did well,” Malykhin continued. “But his words after the fight, I think were a little bit premature. He shouldn’t have said that he is the greatest heavyweight in the world.”

For now, Malykhin’s sights are on a different African heavyweight behemoth — one currently competing alongside him in ONE.

The heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight champ will put the first of those titles on the line against Senagalese powerhouse Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane tomorrow night at ONE 169.

The build-up to their showdown at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand has been a heated one, with the pair almost coming to blows at the hotel and press conference faceoff during fight week.

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

ONE Championship Star Rodtang Stripped Of Muay Thai Title After Weight Miss

One of the biggest cards of the year for ONE Championship goes down this weekend with ONE 169 on November 8 but things haven’t been plain sailing in the lead up to fight night. The weigh-ins took place earlier today in Bangkok, Thailand where one of the promotion’s biggest names was stripped of his title. […]

Continue Reading ONE Championship Star Rodtang Stripped Of Muay Thai Title After Weight Miss at MMA News.

One of the biggest cards of the year for ONE Championship goes down this weekend with ONE 169 on November 8 but things haven’t been plain sailing in the lead up to fight night. The weigh-ins took place earlier today in Bangkok, Thailand where one of the promotion’s biggest names was stripped of his title.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon has been able to transcend Muay Thai and become a global combat sports star via his exciting fighting style that has earned him the nickname of “The Iron Man.” The long reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion was set to be in action at Lumpinee Stadium this Friday in one of three title fights that was originally set to take place in Atlanta before the card was moved.

His scheduled rematch with Jacob Smith will now take place at a catchweight after Rodtang failed to make weight and was stripped of the belt on the scales. As a result, Smith will be the only one who is able to win the title.

Early on in the promotion’s recently changed weigh-in process, he missed weight by just half a pound but had failed to pass his hydration test which is in place to prevent fighters from cutting lots of weight before their fights.

After he failed his hydration test and declined to check his weight on the scales, the elite striker still had just under an hour to hit the mark but wasn’t giving off the best body language. Smith will also receive a percentage of his opponent’s purse which is a big payday for him considering that the Thai star makes around 10 million baht per fight (just under $300,000).

The former champion posted the following message on social media before he was officially stripped of the title which warned fans that he was not going to make weight for the fight. Since winning the flyweight title back in 2019, this isn’t the first time that he has had issues during weigh-in day.

Continue Reading ONE Championship Star Rodtang Stripped Of Muay Thai Title After Weight Miss at MMA News.

New UFC Signing Details ONE Championship Exit: ‘I Think They’re Struggling’

In July, fight fans were shocked to see that Reinier de Ridder would be competing at UAE Warriors 51 despite reportedly still being under contract with ONE Championship. “The Dutch Knight” accomplished great things in ONE where he reigned as a two-weight world champion. Following his quick win on UAE Warriors, it was announced that […]

Continue Reading New UFC Signing Details ONE Championship Exit: ‘I Think They’re Struggling’ at MMA News.

In July, fight fans were shocked to see that Reinier de Ridder would be competing at UAE Warriors 51 despite reportedly still being under contract with ONE Championship. “The Dutch Knight” accomplished great things in ONE where he reigned as a two-weight world champion.

Following his quick win on UAE Warriors, it was announced that de Ridder had signed to the UFC where he will make his Octagon debut at UFC Vegas 100 on November 9. The Dutch competitor is looking forward to locking horns with Gerald Meerschaert and beginning a new chapter in his career.

De Ridder has said in interviews that he can’t go into details about his exit from ONE Championship but that doesn’t mean that he can’t reflect on his time there. He won seven fights in a row in the promotion to become the middleweight and light heavyweight champion, earning him comparisons to the other top fighters in his weight class that were competing in the UFC.

Though things may not have ended on the best of terms, his time as a ONE Championship athlete is still a huge part of his career. The final few stages of his time in the promotion were defined by two things, losses to the undefeated Russian Anatoly Malykhin and periods of inactivity which he says weren’t his preference.

In an interview with MMA Fighting to preview his Octagon debut, de Ridder spoke about how he looks back at his time in ONE and what he is grateful for and where he wishes it could have been different.

“It’s been good for a long time and it’s been bad for a pretty long time now as well. I think they’re struggling in a sense and some stuff is just not being handled the way it should be but it is what it is. I’ve had a very good run in the beginning, they gave me a lot of fights. I really gave my career, the start of my career, in ONE I was really able to make it a full-time thing, fighting. So I’m very grateful for that part but the last couple of years weren’t that great.”

Continue Reading New UFC Signing Details ONE Championship Exit: ‘I Think They’re Struggling’ at MMA News.