Tag: ONE Championship

Demetrious Johnson plans to discuss potential retirement with UFC stars Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov

Demetrious Johnson discuss retirement with UFC stars Georges St-Pierre and Khabib NurmagomedovOff the back of his ONE Fight Night 10 victory over three-time foe, Adriano Moraes, heralded flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson has claimed he will consult both fellow former UFC champions, Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov on their decisions to retire from mixed martial arts competition. Johnson, a former undisputed flyweight champion under the banner of […]

Demetrious Johnson discuss retirement with UFC stars Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov

Off the back of his ONE Fight Night 10 victory over three-time foe, Adriano Moraes, heralded flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson has claimed he will consult both fellow former UFC champions, Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov on their decisions to retire from mixed martial arts competition.

Johnson, a former undisputed flyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, managed to retain his ONE Championship crown in Broomfield, Colorado last weekend against three-time opponent, Moraes, successfully taking bragging rights in the pair’s trilogy title rubber match.

However, prior to the event, Kentucky maestro, Johnson flirted with a potential immediate retirement from mixed martial arts regardless of result against the Brazilian, however, has yet to pull the trigger on his decision.

Demetrious Johnson still weighs up potential MMA retirement

Providing an update on his fighting future, Johnson, who holds the record for most successful consecutive title defenses under the UFC banner with 11 straight wins as champions, claimed he would question both St-Pierre, and Nurmagomedov on their decisions to call time on their respective careers.

“Taking to my peers, talking to Urijah Faber – I’m going to reach out to [Georges St-Pierre], I’m going to reach out to Khabib Nurmagomedov,” Demetrious Johnson told assembled media following ONE Fight Night 10. “I’m going to talk to these guys. I’m like, ‘Why did you guys stop?’”

“Those guys could have kept on fighting, and there comes a point in time – I’m 36-years-old, and do I just keep on doing this and giving other athletes the opportunity to beat me and add to their legacy?” Demetrious Johnson asked. “There’s a lot of stuff I’ve got muster up.” 

5-1 since his transition to ONE Championship, Johnson, a prior Grand Prix victor, landed a stunning highlight-reel knee KO over Moraes last year before securing a decision win in their weekend title trilogy matchup. 

Demetrious Johnson defends title, defeats Adriano Moraes in decision victory trilogy fight – ONE Fight Night 10 Highlights

Demetrious Johnson defends title beats Adriano Moraes in decision win ONE Fight Night 10 ONE ChampionshipFormer UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson has closed the chapter on his trilogy of fights with Brazilian maestro, Adriano Moraes in the winning corner again, landing a unanimous decision victory over the former ONE Championship titleholder in the main event of ONE Fight Night 10 in Broomfield, Colorado. Johnson, who had suffered his first-ever knockout […]

Demetrious Johnson defends title beats Adriano Moraes in decision win ONE Fight Night 10 ONE Championship

Former UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson has closed the chapter on his trilogy of fights with Brazilian maestro, Adriano Moraes in the winning corner again, landing a unanimous decision victory over the former ONE Championship titleholder in the main event of ONE Fight Night 10 in Broomfield, Colorado.

Johnson, who had suffered his first-ever knockout loss in the sport of mixed martial arts against Moraes courtesy of a stunning knee knockout defeat back in April 2021, managed to return to the favor to Moraes in an immediate title rematch last August — turning in his own highlight-reel knee KO victory.

And returning to the Chatri Sityodtong-led promotion tonight in the United States debut for ONE Championship, clinch work and counter striking proved to the name of the game for Kentucky veteran, Demetrious Johnson, who prevailed with a unanimous decision victory against Moraes to nab the pair’s trilogy title rubber-match.

Linked with a retirement from professional mixed martial arts following tonight’s headliner with Moraes regardless of result, Johnson, who failed to make clear his future intentions in the immediate aftermath of ONE Fight Night 10, called for more money, however following the night’s curtain closer.

Below, catch the highlights from Demetrious Johnson’s decision win over Adriano Moraes

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 […]

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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.

Francis Ngannou hits out at two faced MMA promoters amid continued hiatus: ‘Some promoters, man’

Francis Ngannou hits out at MMA promoters two faced UFC ONE ChampionshipFormer UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou has labelled certain mixed martial arts promoters as two-faced amid his continued hiatus from active competition, as the Batié native remains sidelined from the sport since January of last year. Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight titleholder under the banner of the UFC, most recently headlined UFC 270 back in […]

Francis Ngannou hits out at MMA promoters two faced UFC ONE Championship

Former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou has labelled certain mixed martial arts promoters as two-faced amid his continued hiatus from active competition, as the Batié native remains sidelined from the sport since January of last year.

Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight titleholder under the banner of the UFC, most recently headlined UFC 270 back in January of last year in a unanimous decision victory over former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane in the pair’s title unification clash. 

Departing the UFC back in January of this year, Ngannou’s contractual obligations with the organization came to an end last December.

And in the time since, Ngannou has been linked with a slew of potential moves including a transition to professional boxing, as well as deals with ONE Championship and the PFL (Professional Fighters League).

Earlier this week, however, talks with Singapore-based organization, ONE Championship came to a screeching halt, with promotional boss, Chatri Sityodtong claiming Ngannou had rejected a $20,000,000 guaranteed contract to link up with the mixed martial arts outfit. 

“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 said. “We offered him $20,000,000 guaranteed, the money was 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. 

Francis Ngannou takes issue with MMA promoters in wake of UFC exit

And appearing to respond to Sityodtong’s comments, Cameroon knockout artist, Ngannou posted a picture of DC Comics character, Two-Face – with the caption, “some promoters, man”. 

Winning the undisputed UFC heavyweight title back in March 2021, Francis Ngannou stopped former two-time division champion, Stipe Miocic with a devastating second round knokcout in the main event of UFC 260 title rematch in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

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.