Tag: ONE Championship News

5 most amazing finishes from ENTER THE DRAGON

What a night it was for ONE Championship in Singapore at ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON. Almost nothing went as expected, and as a result, the martial artists treated fans to one of the most unpredictable and exciting cards in a long time. Samy Sana stunned the heavily favored Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex via unanimous decision, and […]

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What a night it was for ONE Championship in Singapore at ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON. Almost nothing went as expected, and as a result, the martial artists treated fans to one of the most unpredictable and exciting cards in a long time.

Samy Sana stunned the heavily favored Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex via unanimous decision, and we could say the same for Regian Eersel who bested Nieky Holzken to become ONE Championship’s first-ever ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion.

As shocking as those results were, they may take a back seat to the following five finishes.

Mei Yamaguchi Submits Laura Balin

Mei Yamaguchi is a Japanese icon who seems to defy size and age limitations without pause. On Friday, she pulled off a slick submission victory over Argentina’s Laura Balin in the very first round. Take a look at the finish:

With the poise of an assassin, Yamaguchi finished Balin with an armbar. However, she quickly transitioned to the graceful role model showing exemplary sportsmanship seconds after forcing her opponent to tap out to the submission hold. That’s how real warriors with honor who understand the sport behave.

The win drove Yamaguchi’s record to 20-11.

Garry Tonon Submits Yoshiki Nakahara

As lovely as Yamaguchi’s performance was if there were an award issued for submission of the night, it would have gone to Garry Tonon. After briefly showing off his improved striking, Tonon attacked Yoshiki Nakahara’s leg, wrapped up a tight heel hook and forced the submission in seconds.

Tonon has only had five professional mixed martial arts bouts, but he might already be the best grappler in ONE Championship. It’s time for Tonon to take on a more serious competitor because he is quickly approaching an elite, championship level. By a fair estimation, he could be three or four wins away from challenging for the ONE Featherweight World Championship.

Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev Destroys Amir Khan

As tough as Amir Khan is, Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev reduced him to rubble with a destructive combination in the first round of their ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix match. A left hook did the initial damage, and a right uppercut finished the deal.

The win landed Arslanaliev in the finals of the Grand Prix where he will face the winner of the Timofey Nastyuhkin-Lowen Tynanes bout. At the outset of the tournament, few would have put Arslanaliev in a position of a favorite to win the entire competition. However, he is now one win away from reaching that goal. Arslanaliev moved his record to a sparkling 8-1 with the only loss coming via disqualification.

He is easily one of–if not the scariest–competitors in the Grand Prix.

Cosmo Alexandre Decks Sage Northcutt in 29 Seconds

Sage Northcutt’s ONE Championship debut couldn’t have gone any worse, and that’s no thanks to Cosmo Alexandre. The talented Brazilian striker needed less than 30 seconds to dispatch Northcutt. A clean overhand right landed on Northcutt’s jaw, and he fell face first to the canvas. The referee didn’t bother giving Northcutt a chance to recover. It was clear he was out cold.

When Northcutt came to ONE Championship, hopes were high for the 23-year-old American. All is not lost, as he has proven he can bounce back from defeat in the past. However, this is the first time he’s suffered a KO loss, especially one as devastating as this one. Alexandre has proven to be a striker in the highest order, so there is no shame in being beaten by him. We have to wait and see how Northcutt can respond after such a disappointing defeat in his ONE debut.

Christian Lee’s Comeback KO

In the first round of the main event, it looked as if Shinya Aoki would register a comfortable first-round submission victory over his former training partner Christian Lee. Somehow, the rugged 20-year-old from Singapore withstood the pain from Aoki’s armbar attempt in the first round. Through an unreal pain threshold and constant movement to relieve the pressure, Lee was able to escape.

Much like what happened to Lee’s sister Angela at ONE: A NEW ERA against Women’s Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan, Aoki appeared to gas out as he exerted all of his energy into finishing the battle with the submission. When he didn’t get it, he was very vulnerable. Lee took advantage in the second round. He powered forward and landed some hard shots on Aoki that forced the champion to the seat of his pants in the corner.

Lee pummeled him until the referee intervened to stop the match. Aoki didn’t like the decision to end the bout, but he looked to be in trouble. In any case, what Lee accomplished against a champion of Aoki’s caliber was impressive. Lee is now the new ONE Lightweight World Champion, and there could be a rematch somewhere down the line.

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Joe Rogan Critical Of Sage Northcutt’s Loss In ONE Debut

Longtime UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has voiced his take on the way that the last fight for Sage Northcutt ended. Rogan joins a list of names who have sounded off on this fight, which was an unsuccessful ONE Championship debut for the prospect. Last Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, Northcutt […]

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Longtime UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has voiced his take on the way that the last fight for Sage Northcutt ended. Rogan joins a list of names who have sounded off on this fight, which was an unsuccessful ONE Championship debut for the prospect.

Last Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, Northcutt made his ONE Championship debut when he went one-on-one with Cosmo Alexandre. The fight only lasted 29 seconds once Alexandre landed a right hand that knocked Northcutt out cold.

As a result, it has sent Northcutt back to the drawing board. It also sent him to the hospital as he underwent a nine-hour surgery to fix eight fractures in his face.

Joe Rogan Critical Of Sage Northcutt’s KO Loss

While doing a recent edition of his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” with former UFC star-turned-comedian Brendan Schaub, Rogan gave his take, which was the fact that this was simply a bad match-up. Rogan also had issues with the mismanagement of young Northcutt’s career:

“Cosmo Alexandre is a world class Muay Thai fighter,” Rogan stated (H/T to BJPenn.com). He is world class as far as striking, it’s a completely different level, but I guess because it was an MMA fight he was willing to take it. They fought stand up and Sage took that karate stance and the dude circled off to his right and landed that f**king right hand.”

“It’s a terrible matchup, I don’t know why they agreed to let him fight that guy. It’s just not smart…Sage is good, he’s very good, but these kinds of losses are terrible for his future because they are mismanagement losses in my opinion.”

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Amazing ONE Championship Crossweight Battles

Later this year, ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera will drop down to light heavyweight to challenge Aung La N Sang for his title in that weight class. The challenge was officially made at ONE: A NEW ERA on 31 March in Japan. On the same card, we saw ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela […]

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Later this year, ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera will drop down to light heavyweight to challenge Aung La N Sang for his title in that weight class.

The challenge was officially made at ONE: A NEW ERA on 31 March in Japan. On the same card, we saw ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee take on ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan in an epic champion-vs-champion bout.

ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin Nguyen once held the lightweight title while also challenging for the ONE Bantamweight World Title.

It’s easy to see, ONE Championship encourages its athletes to strive for greatness without bounds and limits within the organization. Because of those past bouts and the one on the way between Aung La and Vera, let’s take a look at more cross-weight battles that would theoretically be amazing matches within ONE Championship.

Martin Nguyen vs. Christian Lee

As stated above, The “Situ-Asian” is no stranger to going up or down in weight to hunt championship belts. He has already held the lightweight title once, and he’s clashed with many of the top martial artists in his weight region under ONE Championship’s umbrella.

Although he has already beaten him twice, Nguyen could potentially Christian Lee once more, this time at lightweight.

Lee captured the ONE Lightweight World Title when he defeated teammate Shinya Aoki this month at ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON, becoming the youngest male mixed martial arts world champion in history.

A third bout is possible, and it could come at lightweight.

Joshua Pacio vs. Demetrious Johnson

We might have to pump our breaks a bit here because Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson hasn’t even made it out of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix. However, win or lose, you have to figure Johnson remains amongst the top athletes in his weight region.

With Pacio regaining his ONE Strawweight World Title in the Philippines earlier this month with a stunning KO of Yosuke Saruta, it seems he may be ready to move on to the next challenge in his career. It’s possible he could match up with Rene Catalan in his next bout, which is fine for this feasible what-if scenario.

If Johnson is able to complete the Grand Prix and go on to defeat Adriano Moraes to become the ONE Flyweight World Champion, a match between him and Pacio would be incredibly appealing.

Johnson is facing guys who are naturally bigger than him in ONE’s flyweight division. Battling an opponent coming up from strawweight could be a matchup that matches Johnson with an opponent whom he’s similar to in stature.

“Mighty Mouse” would likely be a huge favorite over “The Passion”, but imagine this scrap taking place in the Philippines. The atmosphere would be amazing.

Mei Yamaguchi vs. Xiong Jing Nan

Lee had her chance to dethrone Xiong but came up short at ONE: A NEW ERA. Perhaps one of Lee’s fiercest rivals Mei Yamaguchi can succeed where the atomweight champion failed.

Styles still make fights, and while Yamaguchi could not defeat Lee in two chances, her brawling style, and immense toughness might be the formula to uproot Xiong. Yamaguchi is small in stature for the atomweight division, but she is powerfully built and she excels in stand-up as well as on the ground in scrambles.

Yamaguchi’s gas tank has also been one of her best attributes. Can those things give her a chance to win against a champion as strong and resilient as Xiong? Fans would surely love to watch and found out.

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Miesha Tate Fires Back At Critics Calling ONE Championship Minor League

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has fired back at critics who have gone after ONE Championship. This comes after Deadspin headlined an article calling the promotion ‘minor league’ in the wake of former UFC star Sage Northcutt being knocked out in 29 seconds by Cosmo Alexandre in his ONE Championship debut. Tate serves […]

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Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has fired back at critics who have gone after ONE Championship.

This comes after Deadspin headlined an article calling the promotion ‘minor league’ in the wake of former UFC star Sage Northcutt being knocked out in 29 seconds by Cosmo Alexandre in his ONE Championship debut.

Tate serves as the current Vice President of ONE Championship and thus has an invested interest in the promotion growing. The former UFC star took to her radio show on Sirius XM where she defended the promotion from the criticism.

According to Tate, although ONE is not known well in the U.S, that is going to change and the promotion is on the rise of bringing in new talent.

“Definitely not minor league. It is just not very well known yet in the States. But, I think that’s changing,” Tate said (H/T to MMANews). “To say minor league, I mean do we have to draw the comparisons. Right now, ONE Championship is 3-1 in our favor if you want to talk about athletes trading.

Tate would later add, “If you want to talk about minor league, the athletes there are far from minor league. We have 130 world champions on our roster, they are badass,” Tate added. “I don’t know what else to say. Watch it. If you think it is minor league. If you want to be entertained watch ONE Championship. We have a 70 percent finish rate. 40 percent is average here in the Western market. So just tune in, your mind will be changed very quickly.”

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Sage Northcutt Shares Update On His Recovery

Sage Northcutt is still recovering from the damage that he suffered in his latest fight. Northcutt faced off Cosmo Alexandre in a welterweight bout at the ONE: Enter The Dragon event earlier this month at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Alexandre destroyed Northcutt in just 29 seconds with a first-round KO win after […]

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Sage Northcutt is still recovering from the damage that he suffered in his latest fight.

Northcutt faced off Cosmo Alexandre in a welterweight bout at the ONE: Enter The Dragon event earlier this month at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

Alexandre destroyed Northcutt in just 29 seconds with a first-round KO win after face planting him. Obviously, the promotional debut under the ONE Championship banner for former UFC star.

As a result, he had to undergo a nine-hour surgery in Singapore to repair eight facial fractures. On Wednesday, the prospect took to his official Instagram account where he shared an update on his recovery.

He did not reveal when he’d be released from the hospital or a potential timeline for his return to competition. He wrote the following:

“Still in the hospital recovering in Singapore getting better.. thanks for all the prayers!”

When his UFC contract was up, the rising prospect decided during this time as a free agent that it was best for him to sign with ONE instead of staying with the UFC. Northcutt made an appearance back in 2015 on the debut episode of Dana White’s “Lookin’ for a Fight” web series. He would later go 6-2 in the UFC.

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Brendan Schaub: ONE Championship ‘F*cked’ Sage Northcutt’s Career Trajectory

Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub had plenty of questions for ONE Championship following Sage Northcutt’s recent knockout defeat. Northcutt made his debut for the Asian promotion this past weekend at ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon. The 23-year-old was not given an easy test by any means, however, as he faced an experienced kickboxer in Cosmo […]

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Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub had plenty of questions for ONE Championship following Sage Northcutt’s recent knockout defeat.

Northcutt made his debut for the Asian promotion this past weekend at ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon. The 23-year-old was not given an easy test by any means, however, as he faced an experienced kickboxer in Cosmo Alexandre.

It would take just 29 seconds for Alexandre to shut the lights off on Northcutt with a brutal knockout punch that went viral.

“Super Sage” later revealed he suffered eight fractures from the punch and required a nine-hour long surgery.

It led to debates about the level of competition outside the UFC, but Schaub simply believes this was a mismatch from the start.

“Remember I told you, I don’t like this fight for Sage Northcutt,” Schaub said on his podcast. “For his debut at ONE Championship, why give him Cosmo Alexandre? Cosmo Alexandre, who I have trained with at the Blackzillians, you can ask Rashad Evans, ask anyone who’s out there — Cosmo is a motherf*cker. No one wants to spar with him, he lit everybody the f*ck up. Even wrestlers that could try and grapple him, he would f*ck those guys up.

“… What is ONE Championship doing? What was the reason for bringing Sage Northcutt over? … Who’s his manager? Is this not obvious? Did anyone think that this was a good idea? Why would they do this to Sage?”

Career Trajectory Affected

Schaub also believes the manner of the defeat, Northcutt’s first career loss by knockout as well, will affect his career trajectory.

In essence, if Northcutt doesn’t reach his potential now, it’s on ONE Championship according to Schaub.

“You’re a young American prospect that left the UFC to pursue a long career in ONE Championship,” Schaub added. “His face is in 17 different places. Not only you get knocked out, it’s a life changing knockout.

“So now his face is fractured, he’s going to be out at least a year, then when he comes back, his confidence is shot. Think he wants to stand with guys now? Then he has to figure things out. You f*cked the trajectory of his career. I hate to say this because ONE Championship has been good to us, good to Mighty Mouse, and it’s obviously on the fighter and it’s up to him to navigate his way through the rankings of fighting, but you f*cked him, ONE Championship. It was a complete mistake for Sage Northcutt to sign with ONE Championship.”

Northcutt’s career has been managed by his father Mark so far.

But for what it’s worth, Northcutt’s mentor and Team Alpha Male owner Urijah Faber acknowledged that the coaches should make the fighting decisions in the future.

“In the future, maybe coaches having the final say on whether or not a guy goes out there is a good idea and I think talking to his father who loves Sage very much and believes in him, hard lesson learned for all of us,” Faber recently said.

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