Category: ONE Championship

ONE Championship 104 results: Amir Khan survives Ev Ting rally, Colbey Northcutt gets first win

Amir Khan did damage early against Ev Ting, but had to survive Ting’s third-round rally to escape with a split decision win.

[autotag]Amir Khan[/autotag] did damage early against [autotag]Ev Ting[/autotag], but had to survive Ting’s third-round rally to escape with a split decision win in the ONE Championship 104 MMA main event.

“ONE Championship 104: Edge of Greatness” took place Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. The event streamed on B/R Live.

Ting (17-7) was able to utilize many of his weapons in the first round, but Khan’s (12-6) striking was on point. In particular, when Ting and Khan clinched, Khan was able to land a hard elbow on the break that damaged Ting’s nose.

Khan’s striking again was rolling in the second after targeted Ting’s nose. He turned Ting’s face into a bloody mess. But with a little more than a minute left in the second round, Ting was able to land a takedown and got on top and tried to turn the tide with ground-and-pound. But Khan got back to his feet after only a few seconds on his back to ride out the round on his feet.

Ting clinched Khan up in the final frame and tried to get a takedown, but Khan stayed on his feet and moved back to the center. When Ting tried to kick high 90 seconds in, Khan slipped it and landed a hard right hand that was emblematic of his striking throughout the fight. But with at the 2:50 mark, Ting landed a pair of heavy punches, and the second seemed to stun Khan and forced him to tie things up.

Ting got the fight to the canvas late and tried to go to work on top. Khan tried to work back to his feet and finally did with 25 seconds left. And despite Ting’s third-round rally, Khan already had done enough in the eyes of two of the three judges.

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[autotag]Troy Worthen[/autotag] (6-0) stayed unbeaten when he took out [autotag]Chen Lei[/autotag] (6-2) with just four seconds left in the second round of their fight. With Lei covered up, Worthen repeatedly rained punches down on him until he got the stoppage. The ref arguably could have let them go to the horn to allow Lei a chance to see a third round, but he wasn’t showing anything while Worthen hammered away on him to get the stoppage.

[autotag]Rahul Raju[/autotag] (7-4) continued his resurgence after a three-fight skid to open his ONE tenure when he submitted late-notice opponent [autotag]Furqan Cheema[/autotag] (8-3) with a second-round rear-naked choke. It was Raju’s second straight finish by the choke to get back on track after going 0-3 in his three ONE fights in 2018.

Earlier on the card, [autotag]Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke[/autotag] (11-5) took out [autotag]Muhammad Imran[/autotag] (5-4) with a big TKO. Amnuaysirichoke landed heavy knees in the clinch to put Imran on the canvas, then quickly dropped to the mat to finish him with punches in the third round.

[autotag]Colbey Northcutt[/autotag] (1-1) picked up the first win of her pro MMA career with a striking clinic in her ONE debut. Northcutt, a karate standout and sister of ONE fighter Sage Northcutt, put her standup on display for a unanimous decision win over [autotag]Putri Padmi[/autotag] (0-2).

To open the MMA portion of the main card, former strawweight champion [autotag]Alex Silva[/autotag] (9-4) won for the second straight time by armbar when he took out [autotag]Xuewen Peng[/autotag] (3-6) in the second round. Brazil’s Silva put on a masterful grappling display late in the middle frame to get the tap in a similar fashion to how he beat Stefer Rahardian earlier this year to snap a three-fight skid.

On the prelims, Japan’s [autotag]Shuya Kamikubo[/autotag] (11-1-1) won for the sixth straight time and took a unanimous decision from Brazil’s [autotag]Bruno Pucci[/autotag] (7-4) in their featherweight fight.

MAIN CARD (B/R Live)

  • Amir Khan def. Ev Ting via split decision
  • Troy Worthen def. Chen Lei via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:56
  • Rahul Raju def. Furqan Cheema via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:00
  • Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke def. Muhammad Imran via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 1:21
  • Colbey Northcutt def. Putri Padmi via unanimous decision
  • Alex Silva def. Xuewen Peng via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:45

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, Twitter)

  • Shuya Kamikubo def. Bruno Pucci via unanimous decision

Sage Northcutt plans to drop back down to 155 pounds for next ONE Championship fight

Sage Northcutt learned some valuable lessons after being brutally knocked out in his ONE debut at 185 pounds.

[autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag]’s ONE Championship debut didn’t go according to plan, but he’ll be making some changes.

Northcutt (11-3) suffered a devastating first-round knockout at the hands of Cosmo Alexandre last May. His cheekbone was shattered, and he’s been on the road to recovery ever since. The bout was contested at welterweight, which in ONE is at 185 pounds. That’s 30 pounds more than several fights Northcutt was part of during his UFC tenure, which is 155 pounds, where he is yet to be defeated.

“I’m not really thinking about any opponents right now, just thinking how I’m going to go down two weight classes,” Northcutt said. “So my previous organization I was in, I was 5-0 at 155 pounds, so I’m going to go back down to featherweight.”

Featherweight being 155 pounds in ONE, as Northcutt believes he was the smaller fighter, trying to put on weight to physically grow into the 185-pound frame.

“I fought up at 185 pounds, so I was eating and drinking a lot to be able to get on some weight because I’m only 23, and I’m trying to put on some muscle, so now I’m going to go back down,” Northcutt said. “I learned my lesson about fighting a weight class too big, going back down to 155, and it’ll be better for me.”

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Northcutt is currently waiting for full clearance from doctors, but in the meantime is staying in shape, hopeful to return sometime early next year.

And he’s confident that the move back down to 155 pounds will produce results, as he still believes he can make an impact in ONE’s featherweight division.

“I’m expecting to be a smarter version of myself,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of, I guess, studying up of what happened in my previous fight, watching so many fights and stuff. So smarter me, a faster version of me, because I’m going back down two weight classes and a more dominant version, because I was undefeated at that weight class. I still am, and I believe I’ll be dominant there.”

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ONE Championship’s Troy Worthen expects fireworks in matchup against Lei Chen

Troy Worther made good on his ONE Championship debut, and he looks to score another finish on Friday.

[autotag]Troy Worthen[/autotag] made good on his ONE Championship debut, and he looks to score another finish on Friday.

Worthen (5-0) takes on [autotag]Lei Chen[/autotag] (6-1) at ONE Championship 104 and is expecting an action-packed battle.

“Chen Lei seems to be a typically pretty aggressive fighter,” Worthen said. “He always tries to push the pace and make people uncomfortable. Unfortunately for him, I’m comfortable everywhere in the fight game and I like that kind of fight. I like to be in wars and people that want to push forward so I think it’s going to be exciting and it’ll be plenty of fireworks but I see myself being victorious and pretty quickly.”

The undefeated Worthen, is looking to make the climb up the ONE bantamweight rankings, which are contested at 145 pounds, but knows that he still has quite a bit of work to do.

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And he says it’s not necessarily the quantity of the fights it’s going to take, more than it is the quality..

“More so than the amount, I think it’s going to be the quality of wins,” Worthen said. “I think I need to fight top-ranked guys to get to that belt. I have a few in mind, you know. Yusup Saadulaev just won last weekend so, he’s a really well known grappler, and he’s been in ONE Championship for a long time, so I think that could be a fight that gets me towards the belt.

“I’ve tested myself against a bunch of strikers before. I haven’t had a grappler (Saadulaev) the same level as me, so that would be interesting, but maybe one or two more after this if they’re top ranked guys. Maybe three or four if not, so we’ll just see how that goes, but I have to get through this one first, so I’m not looking too far.”

Colbey Northcutt discusses lofty long-term ONE Championship goals

With Colbey Northcutt’s promotional debut here, is ONE Championship gold in her future?

[autotag]Colbey Northcutt[/autotag] dropped her professional MMA debut, but that won’t stop her from having big aspirations.

Northcutt (0-1) recently signed with ONE Championship, joining her brother, Sage, and will take on Putri Padmi (0-1) in a 135-pound women’s flyweight bout Friday at ONE Championship 104 in Singapore.

Since ONE doesn’t currently have a women’s flyweight champion, Northcutt hopes she can one day compete for its inaugural title and become the organization’s first titleholder.

“Right now, I don’t believe ONE Championship has a flyweight women’s world champion, so right now, coming into ONE, that’s my first immediate goal,” Northcutt said. “Get a few fights first obviously and get my feet wet, and then look to be the first women’s flyweight champ. And then I obviously love that they have kickboxing and muay Thai, so I can definitely branch out and do both. So one step at a time first, get past this fight, and then move forward.”

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It’s been more than two years since Northcutt made her pro MMA debut, and she now finds herself in the same organization as her brother, a chapter in her career that she’s very much looking forward to.

“I’m so excited to join Sage,” Northcutt said. “This is a longtime coming obviously. We grew up training and fighting together, and I’ve been following his career for years, so to be in the same organization and fight for ONE Championship is a dream come true really.”

A couple of opponent changes later, Northcutt drew Padmi, who, like Northcutt, also dropped her pro debut. Currently training at the Treigning Lab in California, Northcutt has made a lot of changes to her game.

“To be honest, my entire camp I kind of just worked on myself, improving every area that I could,” Northcutt said. “I’m very confident in my striking, but working on my wrestling, I’m at a wrestling camp grappling. But from what I see about Putri, she is a kickboxer like myself, stand-up background, and she’s very aggressive and likes to go forward, so I’m going to be expecting that aggression and waiting for her to come and get me.”

“My training’s been completely different from my last fight,” Northcutt added. “I’ve switched teams. I’ve switched camps. I’m surrounded by entirely new coaches, entirely new teammates, working with some of the best in the world over at the Treigning Lab, and I think that everybody is actually going to see the results out there when I fight.”

MMA injury report: Stephen Thompson avoids surgery; Henry Cejudo on schedule

The latest in notable MMA injuries, including updates on Stephen Thompson, Dustin Poirier, Henry Cejudo, and more.

It’s no secret that MMA is a grueling sport. Injuries occur everywhere from the training room to the cage, and sometimes even beyond that.

Injuries can cause the best set plans to fall by the wayside, derail careers or worse. Still, though, the overwhelming majority of fighters overcome their physical setbacks and eventually find their way back to competition.

Below MMA Junkie tracks the latest in notable MMA injuries, including updates on former interim UFC lightweight champ Dustin Poirier, multi-time UFC title challenger Stephen Thompson, dual UFC champ Henry Cejudo and more.

* * * *

Stephen Thompson

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] (15-4-1 MMA, 10-4-1 UFC) confirmed to MMA Junkie that he will not require surgery on either hand after damaging them in his “Fight of the Night” victory over Vicente Luque at UFC 244, news that was first reported by MMA Fighting.

According to “Wonderboy,” he is still dealing with some pain and swelling in both hands, but a doctor confirmed no operation will be necessary. Thompson expects his hands to be healed within eight weeks, and at that point he can begin looking at his next fight.

Dustin Poirier

Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. (Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)

Former UFC interim lightweight champion [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] (26-6 MMA, 17-5 UFC) is engaging in daily physical therapy sessions after undergoing hip surgery Oct. 24 to repair a lingering injury.

“The Diamond” told MMA Junkie his rehab is currently on track, and Poirier is targeting a return to the octagon in March against a high-profile opponent in the lightweight or welterweight division.

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ONE Championship 103 results: Meng Bo debuts with first-round knockout of Laura Balin

It didn’t take long for Meng Bo to launch her introduction to ONE Championship fans Saturday.

It didn’t take long for [autotag]Meng Bo[/autotag] to launch her introduction to ONE Championship fans Saturday.

In her long-awaited promotional debut, after having two previously scheduled fights against two-time title challenger Mei Yamaguchi scrapped, Bo (14-5) took out former title challenger [autotag]Laura Balin[/autotag] (11-6) with relative ease in the top MMA fight at “ONE Championship 103: Age of Dragons.”

Balin held her own in the opening minute of the fight, coming at Bo. But when Bo landed a big overhand right, Balin quickly dropped to the canvas. It took Bo only a few punches on the ground to have the fight stopped at the 2:18 mark of the first round. It was Bo’s fourth straight win and her first fight in 13 months.

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In other MMA fights on the card, which featured ONE Super Series kickboxing and muay Thai fights in the final three bouts, [autotag]Ritu Phogat[/autotag] (1-0) took out [autotag]Nam Hee Kim[/autotag] (0-1) with a first-round TKO and [autotag]Jeremy Miado[/autotag] (9-4) knocked out [autotag]Miao Li Tao[/autotag] (5-2) in the first round.

Ahead of those stoppages, [autotag]Tang Kai[/autotag] (10-2) outworked [autotag]Edward Kelly[/autotag] (12-8) for a unanimous decision, giving Kelly a second straight loss after seven fights of up-and-down results. [autotag]Yusup Saadulaev[/autotag] (19-5-1) took a split decision from [autotag]Daichi Takenaka[/autotag] (12-2-1), giving him six wins in his past seven fights. And [autotag]Hexi Getu[/autotag] (7-4) outworked [autotag]Ramon Gonzales[/autotag] (4-3) for a unanimous decision.

ONE Championship 103 MMA results included:

  • Meng Bo def. Laura Balin via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:18
  • Ritu Phogat def. Nam Hee Kim via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:37
  • Jeremy Miado def. Miao Li Tao via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:01
  • Tang Kai def. Edward Kelly via unanimous decision
  • Yusup Saadulaev def. Daichi Takenaka via split decision
  • Hexi Getu def. Ramon Gonzales via unanimous decision

Video: ONE Championship 103 open workouts

ONE Championship is heading Beijing, China, and now you can watch this week’s open workout highlights.

Asia’s largest MMA promotion is back in action on Friday, as ONE Championship heads to mainland China.

“ONE Championship 103: Age of Dragons” goes down at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, and will air in the United States on B/R Live.

In the main event of the MMA portion of the evening’s proceedings in a multi-combat-sport event, [autotag]Lauren Ballin[/autotag] (11-5 MMA) squares off with [autotag]Meng Bo[/autotag] (13-5) in a strawweight fight. Aregntina’s Ballin is looking to shake off a two-fight losing streak; while the Chinese Bo carries a three-fight winning streak into her ONE Championship debut.

Can’t wait until Friday for ONE Championship to start? Then whet your appetite for the exciting event by clicking on the open workouts video linked above.

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MMA Junkie Radio #3001: Nick Diaz, Jorge Masvidal, Carlos Condit, UFC Sao Paulo, more

Hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” break down the latest MMA news, including Nick Diaz’s possible return, Jorge Masvidal’s rise and more.

Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here!

On episode 3,001 of the podcast, the guys break down the latest MMA news and notes, as well as look ahead to UFC on ESPN+ 22 this weekend in Sao Paulo.

The rundown

  • Could [autotag]Nick Diaz[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] actually happen, or should Diaz be fighting at all?
  • Just how big of a star is “Gamebred” right now?
  • [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] wanted to collect belts from around the world, but even he didn’t anticipate this.
  • Women’s MMA pioneer [autotag]Tara LaRosa[/autotag] is back in the news, but it’s in a very odd way.
  • [autotag]Gilbert Melendez[/autotag] no longer in the UFC
  • [autotag]Carlos Condit[/autotag] out at UFC on ESPN 7; who should Mickey Gall face?
  • UFC Sao Paulo breakdown.

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

U.S. Customs had some questions about Demetrious Johnson’s supersized ONE belt

Getting that jumbo-sized hunk of metal back home took some explaining.

That was one large belt [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] won when he defeated Danny Kingad via unanimous decision at ONE Championship 100: Century last month in Japan, a victory that crowned him king of the promotion’s flyweight grand prix tournament.

The strap was so big, in fact, that “Mighty Mouse” jokingly pretended he was about to topple over when the belt was placed around his shoulder after he was announced the winner. And while the oversized title was a just reward for navigating his way through a field in which he won three fights, it presented a logistical problem: How was he going to get that thing home to the Seattle area from Tokyo?

Leaving it with the ONE office wasn’t an option. DJ didn’t go through all that work just to have his prize end up elsewhere. But that meant he had to lug the thing along on his long flight back to the U.S.

Needless to say, when he arrived home, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had a few questions.

“Yeah, I got stopped,” Johnson told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “You can’t bring something like that through and not expect them to be curious. They were like, ‘What is that?’ And I’m like, ‘a belt.’ And then they were like, ‘Where did you get that?’ And I’m like, ‘in Asia.’ And then I guess they weren’t MMA fans, so I had to explain the whole deal with it.

“Not too many people pull through customs with huge title belts. So it took a while, but once I explained it they were cool.”

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In all seriousness, though, Johnson says the belt has special meaning. He was a well-decorated fighter even before he joined ONE in a historic trade that sent Ben Askren to the UFC last year.

Johnson had a legendary run as UFC flyweight champion, setting the record for most successful title defenses in a UFC reign with 11 and holding the belt for nearly six years before dropping a razor-thin split decision to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 to lose the title. 

Johnson even, at one point, had a picture taken with 10 belts, representing what, at that point, was 10 victories in UFC title fights. But Johnson says the supersized ONE title is the favorite trophy in his collection, and that he’s having a special mantle made for the new house he and his family are about to move into. 

“This is my favorite one, man,” Johnson said. “This one means the most to me. Years ago I was a huge fan of PRIDE, and you’d see the belts guys like Mirko Cro Cop got when they won their grand prix tournaments. That was a special deal. So to go over to Japan with their history for tournaments and add my name to the list of people who have won tournaments and get the belt, yeah, that makes this one real special for me.” 

These days, Johnson is as well known in the gaming community as he is in the MMA world, and as an influencer, he’ll be a special guest at the PUBG Global Championship on Nov. 23-24 at Oakland Arena (formerly Oracle Arena) in Oakland, Calif. 

Thirty-two teams from around the world will converge to compete for a prize pool of $3 million, in a game which, according to promotional material, “in each match, 100 players are dropped onto a map where they find weapons, armor and other gear and then compete against each other to be the sole survivor of the match.” The PUBG grand finals will stream live over Twitch at 8 p.m. ET each night.

“This is basically the Super Bowl of PUBG,” Johnson said. “This is where all the best players in the world will come together, and I’m excited to be a part of it. I know there’s a lot of crossover between MMA fans and gamers, and they’ll be tuning in, but if you’ve been curious what this whole thing is all about, this is the best time to drop in and check it out.” 

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.

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Rich Franklin explains why Demetrious Johnson-Ben Askren trade is still win-win

ONE Championship’s VP isn’t concerned about wins and losses in the cage when assessing the trade with the UFC one year later.

The MMA world was taken by surprise last year when former UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] was “traded” to ONE Championship for former ONE welterweight titleholder [autotag]Ben Askren[/autotag].

And just over a year later, many have questioned the UFC for giving up one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time for Askren, who’s had a rough start to his UFC tenure.

Since joining the UFC, Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) picked up a controversial submission win over Robbie Lawler in March, and then was brutally knocked out by Jorge Masvidal in record time at UFC 239, suffering his first career loss as a pro. He then faced Demian Maia in a battle between two of the sport’s best grapplers. Askren lost that fight via fourth round submission last month, suffering his second straight loss.

Johnson (30-3), on the other hand, picked up three wins since departing from the UFC, en route to winning the ONE Championship flyweight grand prix.

But former UFC middleweight champion and current ONE vice president [autotag]Rich Franklin[/autotag] says despite how things have transpired for both fighters, he still views the trade as a win-win situation.

“It was a pretty straight forward trade from the business side,” Franklin told MMA Junkie. “Just kind of flip-flopped from one organization to the next, and so nothing tricky about it. And I’ll say this: Askren goes to the UFC, he’s competing against some of the top level guys obviously with Masvidal and what not, and then DJ comes over to ONE Championship and is competing against some of the top guys. People will make a comment like that based on athlete’s performance, but the reality, what you have to ask yourself: What kind of return on investment did the organization get on the trade?”

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For Johnson, who was never a big UFC pay-per-view draw, he wasn’t given his due for his record number of title defenses and running through the flyweight division. Askren, who came out of retirement, never got a chance to show his true personality, which shined since he joined the UFC, making him one of its biggest stars.

That’s why Franklin sees the trade as beneficial for both parties, regardless of whether they’re winning or losing fights.

“DJ, for us, who maybe didn’t get the respect that he deserved in another organization, is going to do really well over here in ONE Championship,” Franklin said. “There are many fans on this side of the planet that gravitate towards the smaller athletes, and he puts on exciting matches. There’s no doubt about that, so for us, regardless if he’s winning or losing, that’s not as important as he’s a big draw. And likewise for Ben Askren moving to the UFC. Regardless of whether he’s winning or losing, he’s a big draw because people are going to be curious.”

“Even though he lost his last match to Demian Maia, when they find him for another match, people are still going to be interested in seeing how he performs,” Franklin added. “To see if, ‘Oh, maybe he had a rough start out of the gates or whatever,’ so they’re still getting a return on investment in that respect, and I think it was probably smart for both organizations because the UFC wasn’t getting a return on investment in Demetrious.”

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