ONE Championship News

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 26, 2019

The Ryogoku Kokugikan in Japan is the site of ONE: A NEW ERA on 31 March. It will be one of the most significant martial arts shows in 2019 as it marks the first time ONE Championship has put on an event in Japan. Local competitors will be in action throughout the card including the main event that will see Japanese legend Shinya Aoki challenge Eduard Folayang for the ONE Lightweight World Title in an epic rematch.

Tom Taylor - March 22, 2019

Bibiano Fernandes, arguably the most successful fighters in ONE Championship history, never expected to compete on the same card as his long-time friend and training partner Demetrious Johnson. When ONE Championship traded Ben Askren to the UFC in exchange for Johnson, however, it was suddenly a possibility. As luck would have it, Bibiano Fernandes and Demetrious Johnson are both set to compete at ONE: A New Era on March 31 in Tokyo — in back-to-back fights.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 21, 2019

ONE: A NEW ERA will mark the beginning of what figures to be a long relationship between ONE Championship and Japan. The event will be the promotion’s first ever in the country, and it will feature several notable Japanese athletes in action. Among them is Tatsumitsu Wada. He will face undefeated Brazilian newcomer Ivanildo Delfino in the quarter-final round of the highly-anticipated ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix.

Thomas Taylor - March 21, 2019

Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon share one of the best rivalries in ONE Championship. The pair first met in China in January of 2016. On that night, Brazil’s Fernandes dispatched of his Filipino rival with a kimura in the first round, defending the bantamweight belt in the process.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 20, 2019

Before the main card gets started at ONE: A NEW ERA in Japan on 31 March, there are a host of interesting preliminary bouts, many of which are quarter-final matches in the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix. The winner of the tournament will get a title shot, so the stakes are high–even during the prelims.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 19, 2019

Because of the strength of ONE: A NEW ERA’s main card, some of the tantalizing prelim bouts are getting overshadowed. One, in particular, is the battle between the Netherlands’ Anthony Engelen and American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert Garry Tonon. The American has just begun his mixed martial arts career, but he has already become a fighter to watch.

Thomas Taylor - March 18, 2019

In June of 2018, in Yangon, Myanmar, ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight titleholder Aung La N Sang stepped into the cage with DEEP openweight champion Ken Hasegawa. This pairing turned out to be incredibly volatile, as the two stars engaged in a frenetic, back-and-forth war and a bona fide 2018 Fight of the Year contender. In the end, Aung La N Sang was able to win this grueling gunfight with a beautifully timed uppercut in the fifth round. Yet this punch would not end his rivalry with Hasegawa — not by a long shot.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 18, 2019

The Philippines’ Danny Kingad may not be where he’s at in his life today if it wasn’t for the discipline he learned through martial arts. He was only eight years old when his father passed away. And like most troubled youth, Kingad ended up with the wrong crowd and picked up bad vices at a young age. Fortunately for him, he met Team Lakay Coach Mark Sangiao who pushed him towards the life of a martial artist.

James Lynch - March 18, 2019

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson wasn’t a fan of super fights when he competed for the Las Vegas based promotion and that still holds true as he gears up for his ONE Championship debut. “Mighty Mouse” spoke with Helen Yee of “Eyes on The Game” on the current UFC bantamweight title picture amid rumblings of a potential rematch between champion TJ Dillashaw and current flyweight kingpin Henry Cejudo.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 18, 2019

For most fighters, it’s water off a duck’s back. But for others, the reality that 10 weeks of blood, sweat and tears have equated to nothing can get the blood boiling. Xiong Jing Nan fits into that latter category. When her ONE Women’s Strawweight World Title defense against “Unstoppable” Angela Lee was cancelled back in November, the Chinese wrecking machine was angry.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 17, 2019

Every athlete scheduled to compete on ONE Championship’s historic ONE: A NEW ERA card will have the opportunity to be a part of one of the most special events in the promotion’s history. However, there are those who will have the honor of representing their home country in the promotion’s first-ever event in Japan. Tatsumitsu Wada and Mei Yamaguchi are set to see action, and so is kickboxer Hiroki Akimoto.

Thomas Taylor - March 17, 2019

The last few years have not been easy for ONE Championship atomweight titleholder Angela Lee. Although she was able to pick up a decision victory over Mei Yamaguchi in May of 2018, this victory was sandwiched between a harrowing 2017 car accident and a cancelled November, 2018 fight with ONE strawweight champ Xiong Jing Nan.