Tag: ONE Championship News

Sage Northcutt scores 39 second heel hook submission victory in MMA return – ONE Fight Night 10 Highlights

Sage Northcutt‘Super’ Sage Northcutt made his long-awaited return to combat sports on Friday night as ONE Championship invaded the 1stBank Center in Denver Colorado for ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video. Nearly four years removed from his promotional debut in 2019, Northcutt returned to the ONE Circle for a clash with Pakistani mixed martial arts […]

Sage Northcutt

‘Super’ Sage Northcutt made his long-awaited return to combat sports on Friday night as ONE Championship invaded the 1stBank Center in Denver Colorado for ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video. Nearly four years removed from his promotional debut in 2019, Northcutt returned to the ONE Circle for a clash with Pakistani mixed martial arts champion Ahmed ‘Wolverine’ Mujtaba.

Sage Northcutt immediately came out firing a series of kicks, but Mujtaba struck back with a solid jab that rocked Northcutt. Super’ hit the mat and Mujtaba attempted to capitalize on the opportunity, but failed to protect himself, allowing Northcutt to snatch his leg and lock in a heel hook. Less than a minute into the matchup, Mujtaba found himself in an inescapable position and was forced to tap out.

Official Result: Sage Northcutt def. Ahmed Mujtaba via submission (heel hook) at 0:39 of Round 1.

Check Out Highlights From Sage Northcutt vs. Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE Fight Night 10 Below:

ONE Championship CEO responds to Francis Ngannou’s ‘Two-Face’ twitter jab

ONEONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong responded to an apparent jab on Twitter from former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou after reports of negotiations between the two parties fell apart. Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Sityodtong revealed that he had scheduled a meeting with Ngannou to present the promotion’s final offer. Unfortunately, ONE […]

ONE

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong responded to an apparent jab on Twitter from former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou after reports of negotiations between the two parties fell apart.

Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Sityodtong revealed that he had scheduled a meeting with Ngannou to present the promotion’s final offer. Unfortunately, ONE was unable to come to terms with the Cameroonian. After reportedly meeting with ‘The Predator’ for three hours, Sityodtong claimed that ONE withdrew their offer, citing “non-financial” issues as the biggest obstacle between the two parties. Since then, Sityodtong has lobbed multiple claims, suggesting that Ngannou was looking for a seat on the board of directors and power over his opponents’ purse.

‘The Predator’ seemingly responded to Sityodtong’s comments on Twitter, posting an image of Batman villain Two-Face with the caption, “Some promoters man.”

ONE CEO Wishes Francis Ngannou the Best in His Future Endeavors

Speaking with the South China Morning Post mere hours away from the promotion’s highly anticipated U.S. debut on May 5, Sityodtong was asked about Ngannou’s tweet.

“I wish Francis the very best. He’s a good guy. He’s a good champion. It’s unfortunate that ONE, we decided to withdraw from the process, but it doesn’t take anything away from Francis’ life story,” Sityodtong said. “He’s an incredible martial artist. I wish him the best wherever he goes, wherever he ends up. Francis is a stud. He’s a good guy.”

ONE Championship’s final offer to the heavyweight free agent was reportedly worth a guaranteed $20 million. However, it sounds as though Ngannou had already verbally agreed to sign with another organization even before Sityodtong sat down with him. No official announcements have been made as of this writing, but rumors are running rampant that the Professional Fighters League handed Ngannou the winning offer.

Conor McGregor targets ONE Championship CEO after promotion bows out of negotiations with Francis Ngannou

Conor McGregorConor McGregor took aim at ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong after the Asia-based promotion bowed out of negotiations with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. ONE Championship is set to make its long-awaited debut in the United States on May 5. Emanating from the 1stBank Center in Denver, ONE Fight Night 10 will feature a […]

Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor took aim at ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong after the Asia-based promotion bowed out of negotiations with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

ONE Championship is set to make its long-awaited debut in the United States on May 5. Emanating from the 1stBank Center in Denver, ONE Fight Night 10 will feature a ONE flyweight world title headliner as reigning champion Demetrious Johnson defends against former titleholder Adriano Moraes.

Weeks before the historic event, Sityodtong revealed that he had a meeting lined up with Francis Ngannou to present the promotions final offer. As it turns out, the final offer, reportedly worth a guaranteed $20 million, was never presented as the parties were too far apart on “non-financial” issues.

“After careful reflection, we decided not to submit our final offer… Francis is a good guy and a good champion,” Sityodtong told the South China Morning Post. “I wish him continued success and happiness. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel Francis and I were fully aligned on non-financial matters. It is nothing personal. It is just a lack of alignment.” 

Conor McGregor Trashes ONE CEO in a Since-Deleted Tweet

Responding to the news story on social media, Conor McGregor delivered his scathing take on the situation, targeting ONE Championship’s CEO in a now-deleted tweet.

“This chatri guy is a lying dishonorable mouth piece,” McGregor posted. “One championship is not one worth one cent.”

Conor McGregor and ONE Championship have not been on good terms with one another dating back to 2017. In an interview with CNN, Sityodtong suggested that even if the Irishman had become a free agent at some point, he would not have signed him, citing his antics outside of the cage undeniably helped to make him a megastar in the world of combat sports.

If Conor McGregor was a free agent, ONE Championship would not try to sign him. We don’t want somebody to swear at people, throw water bottles, disrespect people, call out people’s wives and children, and – in my opinion – other distasteful stuff that is not representative of true martial arts,” Sityodtong said.

Chatri Sityodtong claims Francis Ngannou rejected $20million offer to join ONE Championship: ‘The money wasn’t enough’

Francis Ngannou rejected $20million offer to join ONE Championship the money wasn't enoughONE Championship leader, Chatri Sityodtong has today claimed that former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou rejected a cool $20,000,000 offer to sign with the Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion – claiming to the Batié native, “the money wasn’t enough”. Ngannou, 36, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, has been […]

Francis Ngannou rejected $20million offer to join ONE Championship the money wasn't enough

ONE Championship leader, Chatri Sityodtong has today claimed that former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou rejected a cool $20,000,000 offer to sign with the Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion – claiming to the Batié native, “the money wasn’t enough”.

Ngannou, 36, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, has been sidelined from active mixed martial arts competition since headlining UFC 270 back in January of last year against former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane.

Successfully unifying the division titles, Ngannou would then see his contractual obligations with the UFC come to an end in December of last year, before he was granted his immediate release from the Dana White-led promotion in January of this year.

Yet to pen terms on a contract with a promotion to make a return to mixed martial arts, Ngannou recently saw crunch talks with the above-mentioned, ONE Championship come to a screeching halt over the weekend, with the promotion withdrawing from the race to sign the Cameroonian. 

Francis Ngannou already struck prior verbal agreement

In further developments last night, Francis Ngannou claimed that prior to his three-hour-plus meeting with ONE Championship over the weekend, he had already struck a verbal agreement with an undisclosed promotion ahead of an expected deal, potentially as soon as this week.

However, according to the above-mentioned Sityodtong, financial hurdles could not be traversed with Ngannou – who he claims rejected a guaranteed $20,000,000 deal to join ONE Championship.

“He (Francis Ngannou) was asking for a seat at the board of directors, he was asking for him to determine his opponent’s pay,” Chatri Sityodtong told The Daily Star during a recent interview. “We offered him $20,000,000 guaranteed, the money wasn’t enough, he wanted all of these other non-financial terms that didn’t make a lot of sense.”

“We obviously can’t give a seat at the board of directors, that doesn’t make any sense, he would be a fish out of water [in that position],” Sityodtong continued. 

Report – Francis Ngannou reaches verbal agreement with promotion to make MMA return after ONE Championship snub

Francis Ngannou reveals verbal agreement for MMA return following ONE Championship snubFormer undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou reportedly already has a verbal agreement with an unspecified mixed martial arts promotion, with the view to signing an official contract, after talks with Singapore-based promotion, ONE Championship broke down this weekend. Ngannou, 36, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the UFC banner, departed the Dana White-led organization […]

Francis Ngannou reveals verbal agreement for MMA return following ONE Championship snub

Former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou reportedly already has a verbal agreement with an unspecified mixed martial arts promotion, with the view to signing an official contract, after talks with Singapore-based promotion, ONE Championship broke down this weekend.

Ngannou, 36, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the UFC banner, departed the Dana White-led organization back in January, having completed his contractual obligations with the promotion last December.

Leaving in less than ceremonious circumstances, the Cameroon striker was stripped of his undisputed heavyweight title, and removed from the official rankings, while the UFC waived their period of exclusive negotiating, allowing Ngannou to speak freely with other promotions.

Linked with a move to professional boxing in the immediate aftermath of his Octagon exit, Ngannou has yet to secure a deal to make what would be a debut in the squared-circle to boot.

Furthermore, the heavyweight knockout artist has been tipped to weigh up options with the likes of Bellator MMA, PFL (Professional Fighters League), and ONE Championship – however, both the former and latter organizations have withdrawn from the race to land his signature.

ONE Championship withdrew from talks with Francis Ngannou overnight

Holding crunch talks with the former heavyweight champion this weekend in Los Angeles, ONE Championship leader, Chatri Sityodtong confirmed overnight that his outfit had withdrawn from talks to sign the former, claiming a lack of “aligning” between the two. 

“I met with Francis (Ngannou) yesterday for almost three hours,” Chatri Sityodtong said. “ONE has decided to withdraw from the process of bidding for Francis Ngannou’s services. After careful reflection, we decided not to submit our final offer. Francis is a good guy and a good champion. I wish him continued success and happiness.”

“At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like Francis and I were fully aligned on non-financial matters,” Sityodtong explained. “It is nothing personal. It is just a lack of alignment.” 

In a recent development, mixed martial arts reporter, Ariel Helwani confirmed how he has spoke with Ngannou overnight to boot, with the latter confirming he already has a verbal agreement in place to sign with undisclosed mixed martial arts promotion, with an official announcement potentially on the horizon – as soon as this week.

When questioned by Sityodtong why he attended the three-hour-plus sitdown in California, Ngannou claimed he wanted to respect the date the duo had arranged, and wanted hear the ONE Championship leader out. 

ONE Championship withdraws from talks to sign UFC alum Francis Ngannou after ‘Careful reflection’

ONE Championship withdraws from talks to sign Francis Ngannou careful reflectionONE Championship leader, Chatri Sityodtong has confirmed the promotion have ended talks with former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou amid “careful reflection”, further explaining how both partied sre not “fully aligned”.  Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, departed the Dana White-led organization back in January of this year, having […]

ONE Championship withdraws from talks to sign Francis Ngannou careful reflection

ONE Championship leader, Chatri Sityodtong has confirmed the promotion have ended talks with former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou amid “careful reflection”, further explaining how both partied sre not “fully aligned”. 

Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, departed the Dana White-led organization back in January of this year, having completed his contractual obligations with the promotion last December.

Sidelined from active competition since he headlined UFC 270 in January of last year, the Batié native had most recently unified the heavyweight titles successfully with a unanimous decision victory over then-interim champion, Ciryl Gane. 

Linked with a transition to professional boxing in the wake of his departure from the UFC, Ngannou had also reportedly received offers from both ONE Championship, and North American-based PFL (Professional Fighters League).

ONE Championship confirm their withdrawal from talks to sign Francis Ngannou

Yet to pen terms with any promotion regarding a comeback to competition, talks have broke down between Francis Ngannou, and ONE Championship, with the aforenoted Sityodtong confirming the Singapore-based promotion’s withdrawal from the race to sign him.

“I met with Francis (Ngannou) yesterday for almost three hours,” Chatri Sityodtong told South China Morning Post. “ONE has decided to withdraw from the process of bidding for Francis Ngannou’s services. After careful reflection, we decided not to submit our final offer. Francis is a good guy and a good champion. I wish him continued success and happiness.”

“At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like Francis and I were fully aligned on non-financial matters,” Sityodtong explained. “It is nothing personal. It is just a lack of alignment.” 

Furthermore, reports late last week emerged detailing how former boxing world champions, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder had been linked with a December clash in Saudi Arabia – with both recently also tied to a potential boxing match against would-be debutant, Ngannou to boot.