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EXCLUSIVE | Meet Timofey Nastyukhin: the man who will welcome Eddie Alvarez to ONE Championship
Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin (12-4, 6 KOS, 4 Subs) has been competing in combat sports for a long time. He began training in Pankration when he was just a child, and wound up winning a European championship in the sport at a young age. Buoyed by his success in Pankration, he then transitioned into MMA at […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Meet Yuya Wakamatsu: the knockout artist tasked with welcoming Demetrious Johnson to ONE
Yuya Wakamatsu couldn’t believe what he was hearing when he was offered the opportunity to welcome Demetrious Johnson, the former UFC flyweight champion and one of the best fighters ever, to the ONE Championship cage. Wakamatsu has competed just once for ONE Championship so far and came up short in his debut effort, losing a […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Meet the man behind Team Lakay and four ONE Championship titleholders
Nestled among the winding streets of Baguio City, which sits 5000 feet above sea level in the Philippines, Team Lakay is about the closest thing you’ll find to a gym in the clouds. Yet this MMA training facility only recently began to achieve the lofty successes you’d expect from a place at its altitude. In […]
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EXCLUSIVE | ONE lightweight champ Eduard Folayang discusses possible showdown with Eddie Alvarez
Eduard Folayang is once again the ONE lightweight champion. The Team Lakay representative recaptured the title with a thrilling decision defeat of Amir Khan, which went down in front of his legions of Filipino faithful in Manila in late November. With the belt once again slung over his shoulder, Folayang is looking ahead to his […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Eddie Alvarez sizes up potential ONE Championship bouts with Shinya Aoki, Eduard Folayang
Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will be welcomed to ONE Championship in the most exciting way possible, as he’s set to compete in the promotion’s anticipated Lightweight Grand Prix in 2019. The details of this Lightweight Grand Prix are still somewhat scarce, yet Alvarez believes the first round of the tournament will […]
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EXCLUSIVE | After being jumped by former manager, Stergos Mikkios urges young fighters to take caution
Today, Stergos Mikkios proudly calls himself a member of the ONE Championship roster. Yet if things had unfolded just a little bit differently for the Greek Muay Thai specialist, he might not have made it to the bright lights of the Singapore-based promotion. In fact, he might not be alive at all. Several years ago, […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Demetrious Johnson opens up on the potential closure of UFC flyweight division
It’s a strange and worrying time for the UFC flyweight division. The former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has been traded to ONE Championship in exchange for welterweight talent Ben Askren. A procession of long-time UFC flyweights have been released from their contracts, including Justin Scoggins, Jared Brooks, Roberto Sanchez, and most recently, Ulka Sasaki. Rumors […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Demetrious Johnson excited for fresh start, new challenges in ONE Championship
Demetrious Johnson no longer calls the UFC’s Octagon home. After a legendary, 18-fight stint with the Las Vegas promotion, the long-time UFC flyweight champion was traded to Singapore-based martial arts promotion ONE Championship in exchange for top welterweight talent Ben Askren. Several weeks after this unprecedented swap was made official, Demetrious Johnson boarded a plane […]
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New champ Kevin Belingon breaks down thrilling defeat of Bibiano Fernandes
On Friday night in Singapore, (Friday morning in North America), in the main event of ONE: HEART OF THE LION, Filipino spitfire Kevin Belingon ended the reign of longstanding ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes with a thrilling split decision victory. For Belingon, who lost his first encounter with the champion Fernandes by first-round submission, […]
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EXCLUSIVE | New ONE Championship exec Miesha Tate feels industry has been undergoing a power shift
Miesha Tate is the latest high profile mixed martial arts star to sign with Singapore’s ONE Championship — but she will not be fighting for the promotion. Instead, the former UFC bantamweight champion will be working as a ONE Championship executive and color commentator. Tate was in attendance at ONE Championship’s ONE: HEART OF THE […]
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EXCLUSIVE | “Jungle Cat” Muhammad Aiman is calm and collected on the road to ONE Championship glory
23-year-old Malaysian bantamweight Muhammad Aiman is known for his unpredictable style inside the cage. One moment, he might be biding his time, and the next, you might catch him throwing back-to-back cartwheel kicks or leaping onto his foe’s back chasing a rear-naked choke. Outside the cage, however, “Jungle Cat” is not nearly as wild. The […]
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EXCLUSIVE | ONE Championship stars react to recent signings of Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Miesha Tate
In the span of just a few weeks, Singapore-based martial arts promotion ONE Championship has added former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson and former UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez to its roster, and brought on former UFC bantamweight champ Miesha Tate as one of its Vice Presidents. Needless to say, these are tremendously exciting times […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Bibiano Fernandes confident he can defeat Kevin Belingon by submission or knockout
On Friday night (Friday morning in North America), in the main event of ONE: HEART OF THE LION in Singapore, ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes will attempt to unify his undisputed title with the interim title currently owned by Kevin Belingon. As this challenge bears down, the dominant ONE Championship bantamweight king is dialed […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Christian Lee did not hesitate to accept short-notice ONE: Heart of the Lion co-main event battle
Earlier this week, ONE Championship featherweight contender Christian Lee hopped on a plane to Singapore to support his sister Angela in her ONE: HEART OF THE LION main event showdown with Xiong Jing Nan. Unfortunately, the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion was forced out of this main event battle with an injury while her brother […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Eddie Alvarez reacts to news of ONE Championship Lightweight Grand Prix
ONE Champion is welcoming Eddie Alvarez to its roster in style, having recently announced that the former UFC and Bellator lightweight titleholder will make his promotional debut as part of a wild, eight-man Lightweight Grand Prix. Like most combat sports fans, Eddie Alvarez was thrilled to learn about this upcoming tournament. “I had the same […]
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EXCLUSIVE | ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong opens the door to ostracized UFC flyweights
The end is nigh for the UFC flyweight division. Earlier this week, FloCombat reported that the promotion will soon be pulling the plug on its lightest mens’ division, and that many of the fighters on the promotion’s flyweight roster will not be given the chance to move up to the bantamweight division. Shortly thereafter, UFC […]
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EXCLUSIVE | ONE two-division champ Aung La N Sang offers advice to Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson
Former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson are far and away the biggest free agent signings ONE Championship has ever made. Both fighters have the potential to become dominant champions in their respective divisions, as well as lucrative stars for the promotion —much like Myanmar’s Aung La N Sang. Aung La N Sang, who […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Demetrious Johnson reacts to news of ONE Championship Flyweight Grand Prix
At a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Singapore, ONE Championship announced plans for a Flyweight Grand Prix. This intriguing flyweight tournament is expected to feature stars such as reigning ONE flyweight champ Geje Eustaquio, former champions Adriano Moraes and Kairat Akhmetov, rising contender Danny Kingad, and of course, new ONE Championship athlete Demetrious Johnson. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp3qsDKhUCi/ As […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Bibiano Fernandes aims to break title defense record of Demetrious Johnson
Reigning ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes and former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson are two of the biggest stars on the ONE Championship roster. That being said, we’ll never see the pair fight, as they’re long-time friends and training partners under Matt Hume at AMC Pankration in Kirkland, Washington. While Bibiano Fernandes and […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Garry Tonon on foe Sung Jong Lee: ‘I see him forcing it to the ground pretty quickly’
At ONE: HEART OF THE LION, which goes down on November 9 in Singapore, five-time EBI Grappling Champion Garry Tonon will look to improve to 3-0 in the mixed martial arts arena as he takes on South Korea’s Sung Jong Lee. Tonon, as always, has done his research heading in to this fight. And having reviewed Lee’s […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Bibiano Fernandes explains why Demetrious Johnson is a perfect fit for ONE Championship
If former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson does indeed migrate to ONE Championship as expected, he’ll receive a warm welcome from two familiar faces. His long-time head coach Matt Hume is ONE Championship’s Vice President of Operations, while Bibiano Fernandes, arguably the most crucial training partner of his illustrious career, is the promotion’s reigning bantamweight champion. […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Bibiano Fernandes thinks Demetrious Johnson will “for sure” join ONE Championship
Current ONE Championship bantamweight kingpin Bibiano Fernandes and former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson are longtime friends and training partners. With that said, it is unlikely fight fans will ever see “The Flash” and “Mighty Mouse” throw down inside the ONE Championship cage. The idea of Demetrious Johnson fighting under the ONE Championship banner seemed […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Brandon Vera explains long absence from ONE cage, confirms he will defend title ‘this year’
ONE heavyweight champion Brandon Vera has not defended his title since December of 2016, when he authored a devastating knockout of Japan’s Hideki Sekine. The reason for his long absence since then is not due to injury or illness, but to a budding film career in The Philippines. “It’s been my calculated choice,” Brandon Vera […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Aung La N Sang excited to deliver another epic win for his legions of fans in Myanmar
ONE middleweight and light heavyweight champion Aung La N Sang is a hero to the people of Myanmar. When he fights in the country — as he has in his last four bouts — it has the feeling of a national event. The Burmese champion draws nationwide media attention and unfailingly packs Yangon’s Thuwunna Indoor Stadium […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Kevin Belingon ‘very confident’ he can end Bibiano Fernandes’ dominant ONE Championship reign
The first time Filipino knockout artist Kevin Belingon met Bibiano Fernandes in the ONE Championship cage, things didn’t go the way he planned. Instead, he was submitted by the dominating ONE bantamweight champion in the very first round. On November 9, at ONE: Heart of the Lion in Singapore, Kevin Belingon, who now wears the […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Brandon Vera opens up on key difference between ONE Championship and the UFC
Brandon Vera has been a ONE Championship fighter since 2014. In the years since he joined the ONE Championship roster, he’s fought in his ancestral homeland of The Philippines, become one of the promotion’s biggest stars, and even captured its heavyweight title. To say Brandon Vera has enjoyed his time with ONE would be understatement. […]
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EXCLUSIVE | ONE Championship atomweight queen Angela Lee shares admiration for Rose Namajunas, Miesha Tate
ONE women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee is currently gearing up for a massive title fight with ONE strawweight champ Xiong Jing Nan. If Lee is able to win this mammoth showdown, she will become a two-division ONE champion. She’ll also reaffirm her status as one of the world’s best female fighters. Considering the amount of […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Angela Lee hopes to become “baddest female fighter” with first-round win over Xiong Jing Nan
At ONE: Heart of The Lion, which goes down on November 9 in Singapore, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee (9-0) will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Aung La N Sang and Martin Nguyen and enter the history books as a ONE two-weight World Champion. In order to accomplish this mammoth feat, […]