ONE Championship News

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

In the world of MMA, ‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson has essentially done it all. And as he now moves on to the next chapter of his illustrious career overseas, that’s where it looks like his story will end. Johnson made the transition from the UFC to ONE Championship in the groundbreaking first-ever MMA ‘trade’ that saw him get swapped for ONE’s former welterweight king, ‘Funky’ Ben Askren. Both have since made their respective and successful promotional debuts.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Over the last few months, ONE Championship has signed some truly elite talent in Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Sage Northcutt and Vitor Belfort. Two of those fighters made their ONE Championship debuts at the recent ONE: A New Era card in Tokyo — and with very different results. Eddie Alvarez debuted first, and was knocked out by Russian juggernaut Timofey Nastyukhin in a jaw-dropping upset. Demetrious Johnson debuted next, submitting a game Yuya Wakamatsu in the second round.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

On March 31, at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon met for what was expected to be a third and final time. Regrettably, this bout ended in controversy. Mid-way through the third round, Fernandes completed a takedown on Belingon. Belingon responded by unleashing a salvo of elbows, most of which seemed to land in the forbidden zone on the back and top of Fernandes’ head.

Tom Taylor - April 5, 2019

ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Japan was so stacked that some fans worried ONE Championship might be overdoing it; that the promotion’s next few cards might suffer as a result. That doesn’t seem to be the case.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2019

ONE Championship has signed a host of high profile free agents over the last few months, such as former UFC champions Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez and Vitor Belfort, former UFC stars Sage Northcutt, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Yushin Okami, Muay Thai star Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex, and kickboxing ace Nieky Holzken. Speaking at the ONE: A New Era post-fight press conference on Sunday, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong promised the free agent signings will continue. One possible future ONE signing, he claimed, is kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa, who was cage-side for the event.

Drake Riggs - April 1, 2019

ONE Championship held their biggest event to date this past weekend with ONE: A New Era which took place live from Tokyo, Japan. The card featured several fantastic match-ups. Two of which included the promotional debuts of former UFC champions Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez. As well as four big title fights.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

On Sunday night, in one of four title fights on the ONE: A New Era bill, ONE atomweight champ Angela Lee experienced her first pro loss, coming up short in a wild fight with strawweight champ Xiong Jing Nan. Speaking on Instagram on Monday, Angela Lee reacted to her first taste of defeat.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

Many fans expected former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to blow through former Pancrase champion Yuya Wakamatsu in his ONE Championship debut. Yet while Johnson ultimately earned himself a second-round submission win, the first frame of his fight with the young Japanese knockout artist was actually quite competitive. Demetrious Johnson opened up on his entertaining scrap with Yuya Wakamatsu at the ONE: A New Era press conference in Tokyo.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

At ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, which marked the first ONE Championship in Japan, ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee moved up a weight class to battle ONE Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan in a bid to become the first female two-division champion in the promotion’s history. This bout was originally expected to occur at ONE: Heart of the Lion in Singapore in November of 2018, but was unfortunately postponed when Angela Lee was forced out of the bout with a back injury. After this delay, anticipation for this bout was extra high.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

When ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion Aung La N Sang first met DEEP Openweight Champion Ken Hasegawa, the result was a 2018 Fight of the Year contender. The two fighters, contesting for the ONE middleweight strap, battled for four and half frenetic rounds until finally, Aung La put a decisive end to things with a ridiculous one-punch knockout in the fifth. From the moment this unforgettable war ended, it was quite clear that we would eventually see a rematch. It was simply too good a fight not to run back.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

In November of 2018, Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon went to war for the ONE Championship bantamweight belt. After five, frenzied rounds of action, Belingon was awarded a razor close decision victory, ending Fernandes’ longstanding reign as the ONE bantamweight king in the process. On Sunday night in Tokyo, Japan (Sunday morning in North America), at ONE: A New Era, Kevin Belingon and Bibiano Fernandes met again. This time around, it was Fernandes vying for Belingon’s belt. Because the pair also fought in 2016, with Fernandes winning by first-round submission, this bout marked the tie-breaking of their riveting trilogy.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

On Sunday night in Tokyo, Japan (early Sunday morning in North America), former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson made his anticipated debut in the ONE Championship cage at ONE: A New Era. The flyweight legend’s welcoming committee was Japanese knockout artist Yuya Wakamatsu. Both fighters entered the ONE Championship cage with losses in the rear-view mirror. Demetrious Johnson last competed in August, when he surrendered the UFC flyweight title to Henry Cejudo in a bout that would go down as his last in the Octagon. Yuya Wakamatsu, meanwhile, recently came up short in his ONE Championship debut, giving up a decision to the streaking Danny Kingad.