ONE Championship News

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 18, 2018

There are a handful of top-tier, seasoned titleholders on the ONE Championship roster, and Aung La N Sang is one of them. He is one of the promotion’s most beloved, revered and respected martial artists. N Sang will put his middleweight title on the line against Mohammad Karaki in the main event at ONE: Pursuit of Greatness on October 26 in Myanmar.

Tom Taylor - October 18, 2018

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who recently signed with Singapore’s ONE Championship, hasn’t had the chance to thoroughly examine the promotion’s lightweight division just yet. That being said, he expects to get very familiar with his peers in the division very soon. “No I’m not entirely familiar,” Eddie Alvarez said in response to BJPENN.COM on Wednesday’s ONE: Heart of the Lion media conference call. “Today when I’m on Twitter they put a poll out for possible opponents to fight. That was kind of the first time I understood who the top contenders there are.”

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 18, 2018

On Thursday, October 11 we saw Mark Fairtex Abelardo earn the $100,000 ONE Championship contract when he scored a TKO win over Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg at the ONE Warrior Series Season 3 show in Singapore. The bantamweight had already put together a memorable performance in his first appearance on the ONE Warrior Series stage. Those two wins were enough to secure him a roster spot and the lucrative contract.

Thomas Taylor - October 17, 2018

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez appeared on ONE Championship’s Thursday evening media conference call, alongside ONE women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee, ONE women’s strawweight champion Xiong Jing Nan, ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes, ONE interim bantamweight champion Kevin Belingon, and ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong. Among the highlights of this call was Eddie Alvarez’s announcement that he plans to stick to ONE Championship’s lightweight division (169 pounds), and that he will not be heading north to the promotion’s welterweight division (185 pounds). Because ONE Championship does not allow extreme weight cutting, this would seem to rule out a widely desired fight with the promotion’s ostensibly retired former welterweight champion Ben Askren.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 16, 2018

Singapore is a place where martial arts dreams can come true, and 34 competitors had an opportunity to use the location as a springboard in their professional careers on Thursday, 11 October. Placed neatly between the ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES show from Bangkok, Thailand, on 6 October, which drew 25 million viewers, and ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS in Myanmar on 26 October, the ONE Warrior Series scratched the itch for fans of martial arts and the promotion.

Christopher Taylor - October 15, 2018

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez has found a new home. “The Underground King” announced tonight that he has signed with ONE Championship. ONE Championship’s Chatri Sityodtong shared the following video adding the caption “Please join me in welcoming Eddie Alvarez to @ONEChampionship! I am super excited for our fans to witness Eddie’s high octane, explosive dynamite KO style. Stay tuned for more big news! @Ealvarezfight”

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 15, 2018

On October 26, from Thuwanna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar, ONE Championship will present ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS. Headlining the card is ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Aung La N Sang, “The Burmese Python” will defend his 185-pound title against Lebanon’s Mohammad Karaki. Whenever Aung La performs in front of his countrymen in Myanmar, the atmosphere is electric. Expect the energy in the building to be amazing for this one as well. Karaki is 9-0 in his career as a professional. He’s finished all but one of his opponents. Karaki is making his promotional debut and he’s immediately being dropped into one of the most difficult situations to perform. Before he takes his first swipe at Aung La, he must first prove he can handle an atmosphere that will be rooting for the local legend to maintain his title.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 14, 2018

Few martial artists captivate an entire country the way Aung La N Sang does whenever he competes in his native Myanmar. The country and the arena comes alive when the ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion comes to the ring, and as we’ve seen, he’s been unbeatable in this environment. At ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS, Mohammad Karaki will be the latest to try and best Aung La in Myanmar. If he can emerge victoriously, he will be the new champion at 185 pounds. A total of six opponents have tried and failed to beat Aung La in The Land of the Golden Pagodas.

Chris Taylor - October 13, 2018

Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is very close to signing a multi-fight deal with ONE Championship according to a report from ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. Helwani took to Twitter where he shared the following information on Eddie Alvarez’s potential move.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 13, 2018

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai didn’t disappoint in his promotional debut and fourth defense of his WBC Super Flyweight title on Saturday night at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Iran Diaz proved to be a game challenger, but Srisaket won almost every round on all three judges scorecards en-oute to a unanimous decision victory in his homeland. As you can see in some of the highlights below, Srisaket’s inability to stop Diaz wasn’t due to a lack of effort.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 12, 2018

Last weekend, ONE Championship blazed a trail of excitement in Thailand’s bustling capital city of Bangkok when it held its ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES event — the promotion’s biggest show to date at the Impact Arena. What ensued was a night of non-stop martial arts action, the likes of which ONE has become well known for. Going into the event, the Impact Arena flowed with a unique energy that immediately gave off the impression that it was undoubtedly a special night. When the statistics began to roll in, it was evidently clear that ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES was indeed a huge success.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 12, 2018

After a memorable night at ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES in Bangkok, Thailand on October 6, it’s time to turn the proverbial page as we look ahead to the next ONE Championship event. We’re just about two weeks away from ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS. The promotion heads back to Myanmar for this, another major show on the ONE Championship calendar. In case you’re unaware of the top draws on the card, here are five reasons to be excited about ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 10, 2018

There are a plethora of intriguing bouts to make within the ONE Championship promotion, but sometimes it’s fun to think about what would happen if the best martial artists from ONE competed against some of the top competition from other organizations. Let’s look at five of the most intriguing fantasy matchups that we’d love to see.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 10, 2018

Vice President of Medical Services of ONE Championship, Dr. Warren Wang, M.D., is the man behind the scenes of the global Home of Martial Arts, where he puts his knowledge and expertise to good use by making martial arts contests safer for all athletes. An experienced doctor and physician in the field of Emergency Medicine, Wang has over a decade of knowledge and practice. He joined ONE Championship in 2015 but has been with the company in smaller capacities even prior.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 10, 2018

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai did his best to finish Iran Diaz in the main event of ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES on Saturday night in Bangkok, Thailand. However, the rugged challenger simply refused to wither and the champion had to settle for a unanimous-decision win as he retained his WBC Super Flyweight title. While Srisaket didn’t earn the stoppage victory, a good number of the martial artists in action on Saturday did manage to take matters out of the judge’s hands. Take a look at the five most memorable finishes from ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 10, 2018

Shinya Aoki is far from finished. He proved that and then some on Saturday at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. The Japanese icon needed just 57 seconds to score an impressive submission win over Ev Ting. Aoki has long been known for his grappling prowess and he wasted no time showing Ting that he would lean on his area of expertise in pursuit of the win.

Tom Taylor - October 9, 2018

Over the last few years, trash talk and bravado have become a huge part of the sport of mixed martial arts. The bushido spirit has been mostly pushed aside and replaced by constant posturing and saber-rattling. Singapore’s ONE Championship is working on changing that. Where other promotions encourage trash talk and showmanship, ONE Championship preaches traditional martial arts values like respect, integrity and honor.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 8, 2018

Asia-based martial arts organization ONE Championship just announced through a press release that it has raised an additional US $166 million in the latest round of its funding. Led by major investor Sequoia Capital, who had already invested in the company in 2017, ONE Championship now has a total capital base exceeding US $250 million. Other investors who participated in the Series D funding round include Temasek, Greenoaks Capital, and other leading institutional investors. The equity investment further solidifies ONE’s dominant market leadership position in the sports media industry in Asia.