Tag: ONE Championship News

ONE: A New Era Preview, Breakdown & Analysis

ONE Championship’s first foray into the lucrative Japanese market takes place this weekend. ONE: A NEW ERA is set to go down inside Tokyo’s Ryōgoku Kokugikan this Sunday. The 16-bout card contains an all-star lineup from start to finish.  The event features four title fights as well as the promotional debuts of Eddie Alvarez and […]

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ONE Championship’s first foray into the lucrative Japanese market takes place this weekend. ONE: A NEW ERA is set to go down inside Tokyo’s Ry?goku Kokugikan this Sunday.

The 16-bout card contains an all-star lineup from start to finish.  The event features four title fights as well as the promotional debuts of Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson.

Alongside the action itself, there will be interest in how this event does ratings wise. The Japanese MMA market is somewhat of a sleeping giant at the moment. If ONE can begin to awaken the giant from its slumber, it would be a major coup for the promotion.

Four Title Fights

The ONE bantamweight, middleweight, lightweight and women’s strawweight straps will all be up for grabs this weekend.

The main event sees Team Lakay’s Eduard Folayang defending his lightweight belt against Japan’s Shinya Aoki. Aoki has been on a tear lately racking up three successive first-round victories. After back-to-back losses, he seems to have recovered his grappling mojo and has been absolutely manhandling recent opposition.

Folayang and Aoki have a history which dates back to 2016 when the Filipino defeated Aoki for the lightweight belt. The gameplans are simple for this one. Aoki needs to take the fight to the ground; Folayang needs to keep it standing.

In the co-main event, Angela Lee will attempt to make history by becoming ONE’s first female two-division  MMA champion. The current atomweight titleholder will have to do it the hard way however when she squares off against defending strawweight champion Xiong Jing Nan.

Jing Nan has won nine of her bouts via KO and will be hardest-hitting fighter Lee has fought against. Lee’s strength lies in her grappling. She is used to competing at a lighter weight so it will be interesting to see how she handles herself in the higher weight class.

An Anticpated Rematch

The middleweight title clash is a rematch of ONE’s “2018 Bout Of the Year” between Myanmar’s Aung La N Sang and Japan’s Ken Hasegawa.

Aung La emerged victorious from the pair’s barnstorming back-and-forth encounter last June. If Sunday’s bout is even as half decent as their first meeting, then fans will be in for a treat.

The opening title bout will be a rubber match between defending champion Kevin Belingon and the man he captured the belt from, Bibiano Fernandes. Belingon took home a razor-thin split decision victory when the two last met at ONE: Heart of the Lion in Singapore. Going into this bout, there is no clear cut favorite.

Belingon’s ability to move in and out of the pocket at speed is still his best asset, while Fernandes will again be looking to take the Filipino to the ground where the Brazilian can do his best work.

It is hard to see this bout ending quickly, both fighters are well aware of their opponent’s strengths and are intelligent and talented enough to avoid any traps. Expect a tense and intriguing five-round tussle.

The Arrival of ‘Mighty Mouse’ and Alvarez

For many North American fans and beyond, ONE: A NEW ERA will be their introduction to the ONE universe.

This interest is due to the signings of former UFC fighters Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson.

Alvarez takes on Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin in a lightweight clash while Johnson faces Japan’s Yuya Wakamatsu in a flyweight bout. Both match-ups form part of the ONE Lightweight and Flyweight World Grand Prix tournaments.

It is hard to picture Alvarez or Johnson losing. However, if there is an upset, it will likely come from Nastyukhin defeating Alvarez. The 29-year-old holds victories over Eduard Folayang and Amir Khan and packs a solid punch. Nastyukhin will be primed for this fight, knowing that for a moment, the eyes of the MMA world will be upon him.

Best Of The Rest

Outside of the bouts previously mentioned, there are a number of contests that are equally deserving of attention.

Two Super Series matchups, in particular, stand out as must-sees. Andy Souwer and Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex will square off in a catchweight kickboxing bout which should prove to be one the highlights of the night, and Thai sensation Rodtang takes on Hakem Hamech in a Muay Thai Flyweight clash.

American BJJ prodigy Garry Tonon has also been added to the mix. Tonon is 3-0 since joining ONE but will face a solid competitor in the shape of Dutch-Indonesian Anthony Engelen.

Tonon’s striking has improved with each outing and he is shaping up as real prospect in the featherweight division.

Main Card (B/R Live & ONE App @ 5:30 a.m. EST):

Lightweight Title Bout: Eduard Folayang vs. Shinya Aoki

Women’s Strawweight Title Bout: Jing Nan Xiong vs. Angela Lee

Middleweight Title Bout: Aung La N Sang vs. Ken Hasegawa

Bantamweight Title Bout: Kevin Belingon vs. Bibiano Fernandes

Demetrious Johnson vs.  Yuya Wakamatsu

Eddie Alvarez vs. Timofey Nastyukhin

Preliminary Card (Facebook @ 2:30 a.m. EST):

Senzo Ikeda vs. Danny Kingad

Ivanildo Delfino vs. Tatsumitsu Wada

Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Hakim Hamech

Kairat Akhmetov vs Reece McLaren

Kseniya Lachkova vs.  Mei Yamaguchi

Panicos Yusuf vs. Mohammed Bin Mahmoud

Anthony Engelen vs. Garry Tonon

Yoon Chang Min vs. Bala Shetty

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Demetrious Johnson Calls ONE Debut ‘Next Step In His Evolution’

Legendary former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is set for his ONE debut on the main card of this weekend’s (Sun., March 31, 2019) ‘A New Era’ from Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. He’ll take on Pancrase Flyweight Tournament champion Yuya Wakamatsu in a challenging welcome to the growing Asian MMA promotion. Johnson discussed the […]

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Legendary former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is set for his ONE debut on the main card of this weekend’s (Sun., March 31, 2019) ‘A New Era’ from Ry?goku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

He’ll take on Pancrase Flyweight Tournament champion Yuya Wakamatsu in a challenging welcome to the growing Asian MMA promotion. Johnson discussed the match-up at today’s official ONE: A New Era official press conference from Tokyo. ‘Mighty Mouse’ said his ONE debut is the next step in his evolution as a fighter.

It’s also going to be interesting, he claimed, now that his longtime coach Matt Hume won’t be in his corner for the first time in many years:

“For me, this is the next step as the evolution of an athlete. This will be the first time in my career, probably 10 years, since my coach won’t be able to corner me. So, it should be interesting.”

A New Challenge

Ever the consummate pro, Johnson heaped praise on Wakamatsu and his camp. As for his trip to Japan, he believes it’s been a long time coming. He’s ready to compete for his Japanese fanbase:

“I’m looking forward to challenging Yuya Wakamatsu, he’s a great Japanese athlete, in the Flyweight World Grand Prix. It’s going to be interesting. He comes from a great camp, Tokyo Tribe. For me, it’s been a long time coming for me to come out here to Japan and fight in front of my Japanese fanbase for ONE Championship.”

Part Of Making History

With ‘A New Era’ promising to be ONE’s biggest-ever event by a wide margin, Johnson acknowledged the scope of the event. He also brought up his good friend Bibiano Fernandes, who will take on Kevin Belington for the ONE bantamweight championship at ‘A New Era’:

“It’s an honor to be part of this historic event – four world title fights. It’s an opportunity to build a fight for my ‘brother from another mother,’ Bibiano Fernandes.”

Finally, Johnson promised his fans he would not disappoint them. He’s been training hard, and knows he can’t take Wakamatsu lightly:

“And I won’t disappoint you guys, I’ve been training very hard. I haven’t taken Yuya Wakamatsu very lightly.”

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Rafael Dos Anjos Expresses Interest In Joining ONE Championship

Rafael Dos Anjos expresses interest in possibly joining ONE Championship. Although the former UFC lightweight champion is still under contract with the UFC, he’s keeping an eye on what ONE is doing with their signings. Most notably, former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson. During the ONE Championship: A New Era press conference today […]

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Rafael Dos Anjos expresses interest in possibly joining ONE Championship. Although the former UFC lightweight champion is still under contract with the UFC, he’s keeping an eye on what ONE is doing with their signings. Most notably, former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson.

During the ONE Championship: A New Era press conference today in Toyko, Japan, RDA was asked if he would be fighting inside the ONE cage in the future, which he responded: “Of course.”

Chatri Sityodtong, the promotion’s founder, chairman, and CEO said the reason that RDA showed up at the presser was to show his support as a “good friend” of him for a long time now.

Dos Anjos suffered a loss in his latest fight, which came to now-UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman back in November. He’s currently on a two-fight losing streak.

The former UFC lightweight champ is slated to take on Kevin Lee at the UFC Rochester event. This marks Lee’s welterweight debut.

UFC Rochester is set to take place on Saturday, May 4, 2019, at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. The main card will air on ESPN+. The preliminary card will air ESPN+. 

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Eddie Alvarez Only Focused On Capturing ONE Title

Eddie Alvarez only focused on one thing now that he’s under contract with ONE Championship. The former UFC lightweight champion is one of the big signings that the promotion made last year. Now, he’s slated to make his promotional debut when he fights Timofey Nastyukhin in the first round of the ONE Lightweight Grand Prix […]

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Eddie Alvarez only focused on one thing now that he’s under contract with ONE Championship. The former UFC lightweight champion is one of the big signings that the promotion made last year.

Now, he’s slated to make his promotional debut when he fights Timofey Nastyukhin in the first round of the ONE Lightweight Grand Prix at ONE: A New Era on Sunday, March 31.

For Alvarez, he has his sights set on capturing the ONE Championship lightweight title. In order to do that, he has plans to destroy everyone in his path to achieve that goal, and it all starts this weekend.

Once he signed with the promotion, the obvious trilogy fight with Shinya Aoki was a realistic possibility. However, that fight must wait as Alvarez already has a fight booked and Aoki is set to fight ONE lightweight champion Eduard Folayang at the ONE: A New Era event.

During the ONE Championship: A New Era press conference today in Toyko, Japan, the former UFC star was asked about if this idea of a trilogy fight with Aoki excites him.

“I’m super focused on the Grand Prix. I have no concerns about Shinya Aoki; he doesn’t even hold the belt,” Alvarez stated (H/T to Body Lock MMA).

“I’m not being disrespectful, a lot of people ask me about Shinya, but he’s not even the belt holder. My concern is the guy in front of me, Timofey [Nastyukhin], I’d be disrespecting him if I thought about anyone else, but if I have my eyes on anything, it’s this shiny thing up here. I don’t really see a guy in front of it. I just want that world title. It’s the only one I don’t have. That’s all I’ve got my eyes on.”

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ONE: A NEW ERA Full Fight Card, Start Times & How To Watch

This weekend (March 31, 2019), ONE Championship is set to stage their biggest event ever with A NEW ERA from Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. The card features an unprecedented four title fights. Lightweight champion Eduard Folayang will take on Shinya Aoki in the main event. Rising superstar Angela Lee will meet women’s strawweight champion […]

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This weekend (March 31, 2019), ONE Championship is set to stage their biggest event ever with A NEW ERA from Ry?goku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

The card features an unprecedented four title fights. Lightweight champion Eduard Folayang will take on Shinya Aoki in the main event. Rising superstar Angela Lee will meet women’s strawweight champion Jing Nan Xiong in the co-main event.

Middleweight champ Aung La N Sang will also take on Ken Hasegawa, while Kevin Belington meets Bibiano Fernandes for the bantamweight title. All told, it’s a rare sight to see four high-profile title fights on one card because of the difficulty required to pull that off. Those fights alone are obviously enough to make this ONE’s biggest event ever.

However, there is a pair of non-title fights that may be even more anticipated due to the names involved. Longtime former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson meets Yuya Wakamatsu in his ONE debut after being ‘traded’ to ONE last fall. Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will also meet Timofey Nastyukhin in his ONE debut.

The event is a potentially historic one where ONE Championship has pulled out all the stops to stack the deck. Check out the full fight card, start times, and how to watch here:

Main Card (B/R Live & ONE App @ 5:30 a.m. EST):

Lightweight Title Bout: Eduard Folayang vs. Shinya Aoki

Women’s Strawweight Title Bout: Jing Nan Xiong vs. Angela Lee

Middleweight Title Bout: Aung La N Sang vs. Ken Hasegawa

Bantamweight Title Bout: Kevin Belingon vs. Bibiano Fernandes

Demetrious Johnson vs.  Yuya Wakamatsu

Eddie Alvarez vs. Timofey Nastyukhin

Preliminary Card (Facebook @ 2:30 a.m. EST):

Senzo Ikeda vs. Danny Kingad

Ivanildo Delfino vs. Tatsumitsu Wada

Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Hakim Hamech

Kairat Akhmetov vs Reece McLaren

Kseniya Lachkova vs.  Mei Yamaguchi

Panicos Yusuf vs. Mohammed Bin Mahmoud

Anthony Engelen vs. Garry Tonon

Yoon Chang Min vs. Bala Shetty

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Eddie Alvarez’ Career Comes Full Circle With ONE Debut in Japan

ONE Championship lightweight contender Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez will be thousands of miles away from his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when he makes his highly-anticipated promotional debut in Tokyo on March 31. The 35-year-old multiple-time Mixed Martial Arts World Champion is scheduled to face Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin in the quarter-final round of the ONE […]

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ONE Championship lightweight contender Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez will be thousands of miles away from his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when he makes his highly-anticipated promotional debut in Tokyo on March 31.

The 35-year-old multiple-time Mixed Martial Arts World Champion is scheduled to face Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin in the quarter-final round of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix, set for ONE: A NEW ERA — ONE Championship’s first ever event in Japan.

But Asia is far from a foreign environment for the American. In fact, it holds a special spot in his heart as the place where he first made his mark as professional martial artist.

Alvarez’s star truly began to shine when he competed in Japanese promotion Dream’s Grand Prix tournament, where he made his mark on the global martial arts scene with the kind of eye-catching knockouts that he would later become renowned for, including an emphatic finish of Japanese local hero Tatsuya Kawajiri in 2008.

ONE Championship

Over 10 years later, “The Underground King” will return to a city that he openly admits holds plenty of sentimental value.

“I’ve never felt more appreciated in my life than back in 2008 when I fought for the Asian community, I never felt more appreciated for what I do and the hard work I put in,” said Alvarez.

“The Underground King” recently became one of the soaring Asian promotion’s hottest properties after his groundbreaking shift East which made headlines late last year. News of Alvarez signing was followed by ONE Championship’s acquisitions of Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, who also makes his promotional debut at ONE: A NEW ERA.

“I’d love to give the Japanese fans what they want – I owe a lot to them,” he added.

The 35-year-old Alvarez wants to ensure his homecoming of sorts is a victorious one against the hard-hitting Nastyukhin. He is wrapping up what looks to be an intense training camp. With less than three weeks to go to the event, Alvarez is ready.

Nastyukhin, however, is never one to back down from a war. The 29-year-old swings as hard as anyone in ONE’s talent-rich lightweight division and a string of victims in his wake exist as proof.

Fortunately for martial arts fans, Alvarez shares those exact qualities. Alvarez has built his decorated legacy on a willingness to trade shots, constant pressure, and to deliver show-stopping knockouts.

The pieces of the puzzle add up to what promises to be a show-stealing bout at the famous Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena in what will be ONE’s inaugural event in Japan.

You can expect plenty of fireworks when the Alvarez and Nastyukhin square off on March 31, in a showdown that has the potential to wind up as Bout of the Night.

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