Tag: ONE Championship

ONE: Roots Of Honor Recap: Nguyen’s Triumphant Return

Welcome back, Martin Nguyen. The defending ONE featherweight champion put on a spectacular show on his return bout from injury. The 30-year-old Vietnamese-Australian retained his title at ONE: Roots Of Honor with a superb knockout of Mongolia’s Narantungalag Jadambaa Jadambaa. Both men were up for this fight, but it was Nguyen, the younger athlete by […]

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Welcome back, Martin Nguyen. The defending ONE featherweight champion put on a spectacular show on his return bout from injury.

The 30-year-old Vietnamese-Australian retained his title at ONE: Roots Of Honor with a superb knockout of Mongolia’s Narantungalag Jadambaa Jadambaa.

Both men were up for this fight, but it was Nguyen, the younger athlete by 13 years, who had more pop in his strikes. He was also quicker on his feet. Nguyen avoided being caught by any of Jadambaa’s heavy shots in the opening round and looked the fresher fighter coming into the second. The defending champion then went to work on his opponents left leg, with a series of blistering kicks.

Jadambaa, limping at this stage, backed himself against the cage. Nguyen, sensing his opportunity, then launched his aerial assault. A flying knee caught the Mongolian perfectly to stop the contest instantly.

Nguyen could not have scripted a better comeback performance.

In the nine months that Nguyen has been on the sidelines, ONE has undergone something of a transformation with all their new star signings. However tonight, he reminded everybody of how good he is when fully fit and injury-free.

In the evening’s co-main event, Filipino Joshua Pacio made sure the home fans went home smiling. Pacio reclaimed his title from Japan’s Yosuke Saruta with a stunning fourth-round knockout.

The hometown hero had to work for his win as he was sent to the canvas in the first round. However, as the rounds ticked off, Pacio came into his own and began to assert control of the fight. Pacio’s win ends a poor run for Team Lakay that has seen the camp lose three of their four ONE titles.

It was a good night overall for the Singapore-based promotion with a number of entertaining contests. The worry must have been that after the high of Japan, there would be a comedown, but that was avoided with a solid all-around show.

Full Results:

Main Card:

Martin Nguyen defeated Narantungalag Jadambaa via second-round KO
to retain the ONE Featherweight World Championship

Joshua Pacio defeated  Yosuke Saruta via fouth-round KO to
win the ONE Strawweight World Championship

Tatsumitsu Wada defeats Gustavo Balart via unanimous decision

Leandro Issa defeated Fu Chang Xin via first-round submission.

Andrei Stoica defeats Ibrahim El Bouni via unanimous decision (ONE Super Series kickboxing – light heavyweight)

James Nakashima defeated Luis Santos via second-round TKO (mixed martial arts – welterweight)

Edward Kelly defeated Sung Jong Lee via second-round TKO (mixed martial arts – featherweight)

Anderson Silva defeated Andre Meunier via first-round (ONE Super Series kickboxing – heavyweight)

Preliminary Card

Kwon Won Il defeats Eric Kelly via first-round KO (mixed martial arts – featherweight)

Saemapetch Fairtex defeats Ognjen Topic via majority decision (ONE Super Series Muay Thai – bantamweight)

Xie Bin defeats Ahmad Qais Jasoor via second round submission (mixed martial arts – bantamweight)

Niko Soe defeats Eko Roni Saputra via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage) at 3:03 of round one (mixed martial arts – flyweight)

Bi Nguyen defeats Dwi Ani Retno Wulan via first-round TKO (mixed martial arts – women’s atomweight)

Ramon Gonzales submits Akihiro Fujisawa via first-round submission (mixed martial arts – flyweight)

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Nakashima Stops Santos, Makes Case For ONE Title Shot

James Nakashima maintained his undefeated record today with a TKO win – the first stoppage of his career – over Brazil’s Luis Santos. The pair met on the main card of ONE: Roots Of Honor in Manila, Philippines. The opening round was a relatively even affair. Nakashima came out and immediately pressed forward, cutting off […]

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James Nakashima maintained his undefeated record today with a TKO win – the first stoppage of his career – over Brazil’s Luis Santos.

The pair met on the main card of ONE: Roots Of Honor in Manila, Philippines.

The opening round was a relatively even affair. Nakashima came out and immediately pressed forward, cutting off the cage in search of a takedown. The former college wrestler is known for his suffocating ground game but has been steadily improving his striking. The Illinois native recently spent a month in Italy training under one of the world’s top strikers in Giorgio Petrosyan.

Nakashima’s stand-up kept Santos honest and stopped the Brazilian from establishing his rhythm. Santos threw out several heavy shots but nothing connected hard enough to put Nakashima off his stride.

Sensing perhaps that it was time to up his tempo, Santos burst into life in the second, charging forward looking to land a knockout blow. After avoiding the worst of a chopping leg kick, Nakashima dived to the ground taking Santo’s leg, and in turn, Santos with him.

It was at this point that the Brazilian injured his knee. After he pulled guard on Nakashima, Santos could be seen speaking to the American. Following this, Nakashima ceased any further attacks and the referee stopped the fight.

It may not have been the type of victory he wanted, but regardless, Nakashima got the win. While nothing is set in stone, it would appear likely that Nakashima’s next bout will be a title fight against ONE Championship welterweight champion Zebaztian Kadestam.

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Bi Nguyen Earns Impressive TKO Victory On Debut

Bi “ Killer Bee” Nguyen made a flying start to her ONE Championship career today with a first-round TKO victory over undefeated Indonesian Ani Retno Wulan. The 29-year-old Vietnamese American atomweight squared off against Wulan on the prelims of ONE: Roots Of Honor. Nguyen trained for this fight in Thailand at Tiger Muay Thai. The […]

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Bi “ Killer Bee” Nguyen made a flying start to her ONE Championship career today with a first-round TKO victory over undefeated Indonesian Ani Retno Wulan.

The 29-year-old Vietnamese American atomweight squared off against Wulan on the prelims of ONE: Roots Of Honor.

Nguyen trained for this fight in Thailand at Tiger Muay Thai. The hard work she had put in during the lead up to this bout paid impressive dividends. The former “Survivor” cast member looked calm and composed throughout the contest and did not allow herself to get drawn into any wild exchanges with Wulan.

Right from the start, Nguyen pushed the action, peppering her opponent with a series of kicks. As Wulan came forward, the pair locked up with 30 seconds on the clock. However, Nguyen showed herself to be the stronger fighter in the clinch and gave Wulan little to work with. As the fight continued the Indonesian found herself being regularly beaten to the punch by the sharper and more accurate Nguyen. Wulun attempts to rush her opponent ended with Nguyen securing a takedown.

With two minutes left on the clock Nguyen gained full mount, and from then on it was only a matter of time before she secured the win.

Wulan’s attempt to escape Nguyen’s slicing elbows saw the Indonesian give up her back. A final flurry of strikes from Nguyen caused the contest to be halted by the referee.

“I’m proud of my victory but I am a strong believer in paying my dues. I really love how fair ONE Championship is, so I’m going to respect that. And I think I need to take one more fight of whoever ONE wants to give me, and then if I win that like I will the way I did tonight I believe I deserve top four [opponent]” Nguyen said in a post-fight interview with Asian Persuasion MMA.

Nguyen demonstrated today that she is set to be a force in the ONE atomweight division.

The majority of fighters in the division come from stand-up backgrounds. It will not be hard for the ONE matchmakers to book Nguyen in any number of exciting bouts going forward.

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Exclusive: Christian Lee Believes He Can Defeat Shinya Aoki On The Ground

Newly-crowned ONE Championship lightweight champion Shinya Aoki has always marched to the beat of his own drum. So it was no surprise that following his first-round submission victory over Eduard Folayang at ONE: A New Era, the 35-year-old immediately began planning his first title defense. What was surprising, however, was of all the names he […]

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Newly-crowned ONE Championship lightweight champion Shinya Aoki has always marched to the beat of his own drum.

So it was no surprise that following his first-round submission victory over Eduard Folayang at ONE: A New Era, the 35-year-old immediately began planning his first title defense. What was surprising, however, was of all the names he could have called out from the ONE roster, the Japanese veteran chose featherweight title challenger Christian Lee.

Lee was as taken aback as the rest of MMA world when he got word of the callout.

“I had no idea that Aoki wanted to face me,” Lee recently told LowKickMMA.com.

“Shinya and I are good friends, and I had just congratulated him the day before I found out the news of him wanting to fight me. However, there is no bad blood between us, and I am honored to fight for his belt.”

The pair will clash on May 17, 2019, at ONE: Enter The Dragon from Singapore.  Lee is unfazed about competing as a lightweight. He is also not concerned about the tight timeframe in which to put together his training camp

“It will not be a problem for me moving up a weight class as I typically walk around at 170 pounds. I train hard year-round, so I know that I will be ready come May 17.

The 20-year-old five-time Pankration world champion presents a type of threat that Aoki has not faced during his championship run. Aoki has built his recent success around his ability to control the action on the ground.  However, Lee is a fighter who feels at home off his feet as he does on them.

“I know that Aoki is a dangerous opponent, but I trust in my skills, and I know that I can win this fight striking on the feet or grappling him on the ground.”

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently hinted that the Singapore-based promotion could hold an event in the United States in the future.

If this does happen, then one location which could be an option to host the promotion’s debut is Hawaii. The Aloha State is home to not only Christian and Angela Lee, but also Bruno Pucci and undefeated lightweight Lowen Tynanes. The idea of ONE taking their show to the 50th state is one that meets with Lee’s approval.

“I would love for ONE Championship to make their USA debut in Hawaii. The fight fans in Hawaii are extremely passionate about martial arts, and I know it would be a sellout show.

For now, though, all of Lee’s focus is centered around one goal; stopping Shinya Aoki.

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Demetrious Johnson Reveals Plans For MMA Retirement

Could Demetrious Johnson be calling it a career soon? Well, “Mighty Mouse” will hang his gloves up one day, but according to the 12-time UFC champion, that day won’t come for some time yet. The ONE Championship flyweight recently made his promotional debut at March 31’s A New Era. He submitted Yuya Wakamatsu with a […]

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Could Demetrious Johnson be calling it a career soon?

Well, “Mighty Mouse” will hang his gloves up one day, but according to the 12-time UFC champion, that day won’t come for some time yet.

The ONE Championship flyweight recently made his promotional debut at March 31’s A New Era. He submitted Yuya Wakamatsu with a brutal standing guillotine. The future is bright for him in ONE and he put his loss to Henry Cejudo behind him. Today, he opened up about how long he plans to stay fighting.

“I give myself five more years in mixed martial arts then I’m done,” Johnson said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (h/t bjpenn.com). “Five years, I’ll be 37, I’ll be old. At the end of the day, the biggest thing I’ll say, the difference… It’s been since 2011… Was the last time I fought at 135 [pounds]. And for me making this weight cut… Or weighing in at 135… My body’s being able to recover a lot faster.

“So who knows, I might be able to postpone five years to seven years because I’m not having to put my body through that traumatic weight cut to make 125.”

The former UFC champion then revealed that he didn’t want to get hurt by one big shot like Eddie Alvarez did in his ONE debut. Johnson planned to call it a day before he reached that time.

“It’s hard, man. For example, Eddie Alvarez, awesome dude, and to see what happened to him, it was one punch. It wasn’t a combination of punches, it was just one punch that landed in the right spot, hit him in the eye and I was like, ‘damn your eye is f*cked up,’ He could possibly go blind! One shot. So at the end of the day, man, why risk it? Why risk that happening to me if I can say, ‘you know what? You gotta cut it off at five years.’”

Five years is a long time in MMA. Especially in Japanese mixed martial arts where proportions are much more flexible with their contracted fighters. They often allow their fighters to compete in kickboxing, pro-wrestling, and grappling matches.

Johnson’s next bout will be in the ONE flyweight tournament. He will face the winner of the Tatsumitsu Wada vs. Gustavo Balart contest that takes place at ONE: Roots of Honor this Friday night, April 12, 2019.

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Sage Northcutt Comments On ONE Championship Debuts Of Demetrious Johnson & Eddie Alvarez

Sage Northcutt hasn’t made his ONE Championship debut yet, but two fellow former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters have. Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez made their ONE Championship debuts at the end of March in Tokyo, Japan. John…

Sage Northcutt hasn’t made his ONE Championship debut yet, but two fellow former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters have. Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez made their ONE Championship debuts at the end of March in Tokyo, Japan. Johnson was successful in his outing, submitting Yuya Wakamatsu. It was a different story for Alvarez as he […]

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