Category: ONE Championship

Shinya Aoki vs. Sage Northcutt booked for ONE on TNT IV

ONE Championship is pitting the past, present and future into one fight.

ONE Championship is pitting the past, present and future into one fight.

Japanese mixed martial arts pioneer [autotag]Shinya Aoki[/autotag] and former UFC hot prospect [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] will square off in a welterweight fight at ONE on TNT IV in Singapore. The event will be tape-delayed and air April 28 on TNT.

ESPN was the first to report the news Wednesday.

Despite his lengthy tenure in the MMA spotlight, Northcutt (11-3) is still just 24 years old. Following an eight-fight stint with the UFC, in which he compiled a 6-2 record, Northcut departed the promotion and signed with ONE Championship in late 2018.

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Northcutt made his promotional debut in May 2019 at ONE Championship 96, suffering a 29-second knockout to kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre. The knockout was brutal in nature, and Northcutt required surgery to repair facial fractures as a result. On top of the physical damage, the loss snapped a three-fight winning streak for Northcutt.

Aoki (46-9) is still winning far more than he’s losing. Over the span of his past eight outings, Aoki has gone 7-1 with six finishes, including last month’s submission win over James Nakashima for the 30th submission of his career. In November, Aoki will hit the 18th anniversary of his professional debut. Aoki, 37, made stops in Shooto, PRIDE, DREAM, Strikeforce, and Bellator leading up to his extended stay under the ONE Championship banner.

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Twitter reacts: MMA community celebrates Valentine’s Day on social media

It’s another Valentine’s Day, and despite being some of the toughest characters in sports, MMA fighters are hardly immune to celebration.

It’s another Valentine’s Day, and despite being some of the toughest and most tenacious characters in all of sports, MMA fighters hardly are immune to celebration.

Check below to see a collection of tweets and Instagram posts of how MMA fighters and personalities from across the globe celebrated the holiday on social media.

MMA Junkie Radio #3130: Gina Carano, Nate Diaz, UFC 258 (noon ET)

Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here. Catch a live stream on SportsCastr at noon ET.

Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here, and you can catch a live stream on SportsCastr beginning at noon ET.

On episode 3,130, the fellas will discuss Gina Carano’s plight, Nate Diaz’s potential matchups, a UFC 258 preview and will talk to guest Victoria Lee, the 16-year-old who makes her ONE Championship debut later this month.

Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.

ONE Championship 128: Alyona Rassohyna stuns Stamp Fairtex with last-gasp submission

Stamp Fairtex looked to be on her way to a hard-fought decision win against Ukrainian debutant Alyona Rassohyna, but a late guillotine choke forced the Thai starlet to tap with just eight seconds remaining as she suffered her first defeat in MMA. …

[autotag]Stamp Fairtex[/autotag] looked to be on her way to a hard-fought decision win against Ukrainian debutant [autotag]Alyona Rassohyna[/autotag], but a late guillotine choke forced the Thai starlet to tap with just eight seconds remaining as she suffered her first defeat in MMA.

Former ONE atomweight kickboxing and muay Thai champion Fairtex (5-1) faced submission specialist Rassohyna (13-4) in the main event of “ONE Championship 128: Unbreakable III” at Singapore Indoor Stadium, and over the course of their three-round battle showed her evolution as an MMA fighter as she happily scrambled back and forth on the mats with her more seasoned opponent.

Rassohyna’s tactic was clear from the very start, and in Round 1 the Ukrainian was successful in getting the fight to the canvas. But once the action hit the mat, Fairtex surprised Rassohyna with her scrambling ability as she repeatedly denied the debutant in her quest to claim her 11th first-round armbar submission finish.

When the fight was on the feet, it was all Fairtex, as the decorated striker dominated the kickboxing exchanges, but although Rassohyna was able to repeatedly take the action to the canvas, Fairtex’s defensive skills were enough to thwart the Ukrainian, with the Thai fighter even attempting a gogoplata before escaping an armbar attempt and finishing the round with punishing strikes when they returned to the feet.

Round 2 followed a similar pattern, but with Fairtex finding it a little easier to keep the fight standing, as the tide appeared to be turning in her favor through the midway point in the fight. A late body shot even put her opponent on the canvas in the final moments of the round as Fairtex’s striking power appeared to be taking over the fight.

With Rassohyna running out of ideas, and clearly tiring, Fairtex took control of Round 3 as she kept the Ukrainian on the end of her strikes as she scored repeatedly with straight punches and thumping roundhouse kicks to the body. However, with one minute remaining, Rassohyna threw caution to the wind and landed a final takedown as she desperately looked to find a last-gasp submission. Remarkably, that persistence paid off when she caught Fairtex trying to escape and locked up a tight guillotine choke that forced the Thai to tap with just eight seconds of the bout remaining.

Seemingly believing the bout had reached the final bell, Fairtex initially celebrated as referee Olivier Coste stepped in to stop the fight, but that celebration immediately turned to denial and protest as she disputed the experienced official’s call. However, instant replays clearly showed Fairtex had tapped as victory was handed to a tearful Rassohyna, who picked up a huge win on her promotional debut and in the process handed Fairtex her first career defeat in mixed martial arts.

ONE Championship 127 video: Check out the best of the action from Singapore

Recap the best of the action from ONE Championship 127 at Singapore Indoor Stadium, including Mauro Cerilli’s victory over Abdulbasir Vagabov.

Asia’s leading mixed martial arts organization was back in action Friday as “ONE Championship 127: Unbreakable II” delivered a feast of finishes at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

All six fights – five MMA bouts and one kickboxing match – delivered finishes, with former Cage Warriors heavyweight champion [autotag]Mauro Cerilli[/autotag] scoring a second-round TKO in the night’s main event.

Italy’s Cerilli finished previously-undefeated [autotag]Abdulbasir Vagabov[/autotag] with a thumping leg kick, followed by a flurry of punches, to cap off a night that delivered plenty of highlights.

The co-main event saw [autotag]Daichi Takenaka[/autotag] submit Brazilian flyweight [autotag]Ivanildo Delfino[/autotag], while South Korea’s [autotag]Won Il Kwon[/autotag] added another win to his record with a crushing body-shot knockout of China’s [autotag]Rui Chen[/autotag].

The opening bout of the night saw the eagerly anticipated ONE debut of Senegalese wrestler [autotag]Oumar Kane[/autotag], and the man known as “Reug Reug” marked the occasion with a first-round finish as he TKO’d Hong Kong striking specialist [autotag]Alain Ngalani[/autotag] in their heavyweight showcase.

But the best finish of the night undoubtedly came in the lone kickboxing clash on the card, as Russian light heavyweight contender [autotag]Beybulat Isaev[/autotag] folded up [autotag]Mihajlo Kecojevic[/autotag] with a sledgehammer right hook in their ONE Super Series bout.

Check out the best of the action via the highlight video above.

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ONE Championship 127: Mauro Cerilli bounces back with TKO victory in Singapore

Italian heavyweight contender Mauro Cerilli bounced back into the win column with a second-round finish at ONE Championship 127.

Former Cage Warriors heavyweight champion [autotag]Mauro Cerilli[/autotag] bounced back into the win column in the main event of ONE Championship 127 in Singapore to move one step closer to a heavyweight title rematch with Brandon Vera.

Cerilli lost out to Vera via first-round knockout in his first title challenge back at ONE Championship 85 in November 2018. He bounced back with a victory over Alain Ngalani, but fell to another defeat as he was outpointed by Arjan Bhullar at “ONE Championship: Century – Part 2” in October 2019.

But, after taking more than a year away from the cage, “The Hammer” returned in fine form to snap [autotag]Abdulbasir Vagabov[/autotag]’s 10-fight winning streak and push himself back into the heavyweight title conversation.

Vagabov pushed the pace from the opening bell as he chased the backpedaling Cerilli around the cage, with the Italian throwing the occasional one-two combination to give the Russian contender a moment’s pause.

Vagabov continued his forward pressure, but Cerilli ensured that the Russian’s winging punches connected with nothing but air as he kept out of punching range, then connected with occasional counter-strikes of his own. After struggling to make an impact with his strikes, Vagabov then turned to his wrestling, but his takedown attempts late in the round were well defended by the big Italian.

After a frustrating first round, Vagabov started Round 2 noticeably slower and Cerilli took full advantage in the opening seconds as he stepped into range and slammed a powerful kick to the Vagabov’s left hamstring. The impact of the shot forced the Russian down to his hands and knees and Cerilli moved in and unloaded a trio of clean left hands to his grounded opponent before referee Olivier Coste dived in to stop the bout at the 26-second mark.

Video: Russian kickboxer delivers knockout of the year contender at ONE Championship 127

Russian light heavyweight kickboxing contender Beybulat Isaev delivered one of the knockouts of 2021 so far with a colossal right hand at ONE Championship 127.

The lone kickboxing bout on the card at “ONE Championship 127: Unbreakable II” was expected to deliver fireworks, and the matchup between [autotag]Beybulat Isaev[/autotag] and [autotag]Mihajlo Kecojevic[/autotag] did not disappoint.

Both light heavyweights arrived in Singapore looking to score an eye-catching victory and make inroads toward a shot at the ONE light heavyweight kickboxing title, and it was Isaev who struck the hammer blow to pick up his first victory under the ONE Championship banner with an early contender for knockout of the year.

Isaev’s previous ONE Championship appearance saw him suffer a first-round knockout defeat to Brazilian veteran Anderson “Braddock” Silva, but the Russian striker bounced back at ONE Championship 127 to starch Kecojevic with a colossal right hand that folded the Serbian striker in half and bounced his head off the canvas for one of the most crushing knockouts of 2021 so far.

Check out Isaev’s handiwork below.

That 82-second finish wrote Isaev into the record books as he registered the fastest knockout in ONE Super Series light heavyweight history and announced the Russian as a force to be reckoned with as he moves toward a shot at the title.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez returns kick off ‘ONE on TNT’ event series in April

ONE Championship will be on TNT this spring, beginning with the returns of a pair of former UFC champions.

ONE Championship will be on TNT this spring, beginning with the returns of a pair of former UFC champions.

The promotion has announced that it will hold a “ONE on TNT” series, which will feature events every Wednesday for four consecutive weeks beginning April 7. Each event will feature prelims streamed on B/R Live at 9 p.m. ET, with a three-fight main card beginning at 10 p.m. ET on TNT.

The series is highlighted by two titles fights and the returns of former UFC champs [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Eddie Alvarez[/autotag], who will compete in the first event April 7. Both men missed all of 2020 because of travel bans caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Johnson (30-3-1) last fought Oct. 13, 2019 when he defeated Danny Kingad to win the ONE flyweight grand prix, making him 3-0 with the promotion. Alvarez (30-7), meanwhile, submitted Eduard Folayang in his last fight on Aug. 2, 2019 to bounce back from a TKO loss to Timofey Nastyukhin in his promotional debut.

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The slate of shows and current fights booked includes:

ONE on TNT 1, April 7

  • Champ [autotag]Adriano Moraes[/autotag] vs. Demetrious Johnson – for flyweight title
  • Eddie Alvarez vs. Iuri Lapicus

ONE on TNT 2, April 14

  • Champ [autotag]Christian Lee[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Timofey Nastyukhin[/autotag]– for lightweight title

ONE on TNT 3, April 21

  • [autotag]Aung La N Sang[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Vitaly Bigdash[/autotag]

ONE on TNT 4, April 28

  • No fights booked at this time

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Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez set for primetime ONE Championship show on April 7

Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez will take center stage when ONE Championship hits primetime U.S. TV on TNT on April 7.

Former UFC champions [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Eddie Alvarez[/autotag] will take center stage as ONE Championship gets set to host a big primetime show for U.S. fans.

Former UFC flyweight champ Johnson will challenge reigning ONE flyweight champion [autotag]Adriano Moraes[/autotag] in the main event of ONE Championship: Moraes vs. Johnson, which takes place April 7 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore. The event will be aired live on TNT.

Johnson (30-3-1) has been perfect since he departed the UFC in 2018, and picked up a hat-trick of victories over Yuya Wakamatsu, Tatsumitsu Wada and Danny Kingad in 2019 to capture the inaugural ONE flyweight grand prix title.

Now “Mighty Mouse” is all set to go for his second ONE Championship belt as he gets set to challenge three-time champion Moraes (18-3), who reclaimed the title from Geje Eustaquio in his last outing back in January 2019.

Also set for action on the card is former UFC lightweight champion Alvarez (30-7), who will take on Moldovan former lightweight title challenger [autotag]Iuri Lapicus[/autotag] (14-1), who suffered his first career defeat last time out against reigning ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee.

Alvarez, meanwhile, is looking to build momentum as he works his way toward a title shot. His ONE debut ended in a first-round knockout loss to Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin, but he bounced back in style with a first-round submission finish of former lightweight champion Eduard Folayang in August 2019.

The card will also feature one of the organization’s biggest Muay Thai stars, ONE flyweight muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, who takes on British striker Jacob Smith in a non-title muay Thai fight.

Confirmed MMA bouts for ONE Championship: Moraes vs. Johnson include:

  • Champion Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson – for flyweight title
  • Eddie Alvarez vs. Iuri Lapicus

ONE Championship 126: Shinya Aoki reaches submission milestone, finishes James Nakashima

Japanese MMA icon Shinya Aoki notched his 30th career submission by defeating James Nakashima at ONE Championship 126.

Japanese MMA icon [autotag]Shinya Aoki[/autotag] reached a career milestone as the former ONE lightweight champion notched the 30th submission win of his career at “ONE Championship 126: Unbreakable” in Singapore.

Matched against former LFA welterweight champion [autotag]James Nakashima[/autotag], Aoki (46-9) took charge of the bout early in the first round as, after some clinch work against the cage, “Tobikan Judan” leapt onto Nakashima’s (12-2) back before locking up a body triangle and following up with a rear-naked choke to claim the win at the 2:42 mark.

Aoki’s win saw him become ONE Championship’s all-time leader in submission finishes with eight, and extended his remarkable tally of overall submission finishes to 30. It also extended his winning streak as he continued his return to form following his title loss to Christian Lee in May 2019 with his third consecutive victory.

While one former champion shined in Singapore, it proved to be a nightmare for another ex-champ, as former welterweight titleholder [autotag]Zebaztian Kadestam[/autotag] was quickly taken down and submitted by rising Russian contender [autotag]Gadzhimurad Abdulaev[/autotag].

Abdulaev (6-0) secured an early takedown and immediately took the Swedish fighter’s back, locking in his position with a body triangle. Kadestam (12-6) attempted to fight the hands as Abdulaev worked for a rear-naked choke but, despite being prevented from lacing his arm under the former champion’s chin, Abdulaev simply switched to a face crank and applied the pressure to force the tap and secure an eye-catching first-round finish.

Also on the card, women’s atomweight contender [autotag]Meng Bo[/autotag] (17-5) continued her run toward a title shot with a unanimous decision over Brazil’s [autotag]Samara Santos[/autotag] (11-8-1), while Filipino striker [autotag]Lito Adiwang[/autotag] scored a one-punch knockout of Japan’s [autotag]Namiki Kawahara[/autotag] to bounce back into the win column.

Team Lakay’s Adiwang (12-3), who earned his spot on the ONE roster via the promotion’s talent-finding ONE Warrior Series, saw his two-fight win streak come to an end after losing a split decision to Hiroshi Minowa in November 2020. But “The Thunder Kid” returned to action in style and decked Kawahara (7-4-2) with a perfectly timed left hand in the second round to return to winning ways in fine style.

ONE Championship 126 results include:

  • Shinya Aoki def. James Nakashima via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:42
  • Gadzhimurad Abdulaev def. Zebaztian Kadestam via submission (face crank) – Round 1, 2:08
  • Meng Bo def. Samara Santos via unanimous decision
  • Lito Adiwang def. Namiki Kawahara via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 2:02