Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
ONE Championship’s fifth event on Amazon Prime Video takes place Friday and features five MMA fights, including a main event for gold.
ONE Championship’s second event of the week will serve as its fifth event on Amazon Prime Video. ONE on Prime Video 5 features five MMA fights, including a main event with gold on the line.
Here’s how to watch the ONE on Prime Video 5 card from Manila, Philippines, where heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Reinier de Ridder (16-0) puts his light heavyweight title and unbeaten record on the line against undefeated interim heavyweight champ Anatoly Malykhin (11-0).
Christian Lee will compete for a title in a third division at ONE on Prime Video 4 hoping to finally achieve champ-champ status.
[autotag]Christian Lee[/autotag] always has wanted to chase ONE Championship double champ status.
Lee (16-4) reclaimed his lightweight belt in August with a knockout of Rae Yoon Ok, who’d previously took it from him in a decision he thought he won. Lee will now go after a second belt against Kiamrian Abbasov (23-5) in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 4, which takes place Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
Abbasov was the welterweight champion. However, he was stripped of the belt after weighing in at 186.25 pounds. The stakes don’t change for Lee, who made weight. If he wins, he will be the new welterweight champ.
“When I started off my MMA career, my first goal was always to be a world champion and then second right behind it was to become a world champion in a second division,” Lee told MMA Junkie Radio. “I always wanted to win two. So when the opportunity presented itself to fight for a second world title, to fight for the welterweight belt, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so I’m very excited to have this opportunity.”
Although Lee was a title challenger at featherweight, he won’t change too much in his move up to welterweight. It’s a relatively quick turnaround – especially moving up a weight class.
But Lee said it’s not about size.
“I’m just taking the same mindset, the same approach I took in my first fight at lightweight,” Lee said. “When I moved up from featherweight to lightweight it was also straight away for the title and in that fight, I wasn’t so much focused on my weight. I wasn’t focused on being a big guy in the lightweight division. My main focus was on keeping my speed – of course allowing myself to naturally float up to the weight class limit,
“But just trying to be faster than ever, stronger than ever, continuing to work on my cardio so that I was able to have a good gas tank, and that’s the same thing (I did) for this fight camp. I’m not worried about being a bigger guy or about being a smaller guy. I’m just training as hard as I can. … I think the key to this fight for me is going to be the preparation. It’s not going to come down to who’s heavier or lighter there.”
ONE on Prime Video 4 streams entirely on Amazon Prime, starting with prelims at 8 p.m. ET and the main card at 10 p.m. ET.
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Together, Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan will make women’s MMA history at ONE on Prime Video 2, but Lee also seeks some history of her own.
[autotag]Angela Lee[/autotag] and [autotag]Xiong Jing Nan[/autotag] will make women’s MMA history together at ONE on Prime Video 2, but Lee hopes to make some history of her own, too.
Lee, the ONE Championship women’s atomweight champion, is moving up from 115 pounds to 125 to challenge strawweight titleholder Xiong in what will be their third encounter, marking the first time that a major MMA title-fight trilogy has taken place between two women. Aside from that, Lee is trying to become the first female MMA double champ in ONE, which means everything to her.
“Going up to strawweight and capturing this second belt has been a goal of mine for many years now,” Lee said during Wednesday’s ONE on Prime Video 2 news conference. “It’s a big moment for me. It’s a historical moment. I’m just very honored to get the opportunity once more, and I’m definitely going to be taking advantage of that.”
The series between Lee (11-2) and Xiong (17-2) is even at one apiece, with each woman successfully defending her title against the other. Their most recent matchup was nearly three years ago, when Lee won a grueling affair by late fifth-round submission in October 2019. Earlier that year in March, another hard-fought battle ended with a finish, only it was Xiong derailing Lee’s champ-champ hopes and handing her first career loss by fifth-round TKO that began with a hard kick to the body.
Body kicks are something Lee will be aware of heading into the trilogy.
“I’ve reviewed the tape with my team,” Lee said. “We have seen that was an area that was exposed in previous fights, and so we definitely worked to correct that in this fight camp. We worked some counters for the body shots, as well, so looking forward to defending some body shots, maybe.”
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The long and short of it is that Lee, just like the first two, isn’t expecting an easy matchup with Xiong, who is riding a three-fight winning streak.
She can’t wait to get it going.
“I’m really excited for our third matchup,” said Lee, who’s coming off a submission win over Stamp Fairtex this past March. “It’s been three years, and I know that we both have improved since then, and I’m excited to step in the cage and really test ourselves and see who’s gonna come out on top. It’s gonna be a great fight.”
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Xiong Jing Nan and Angela Lee are tied 1-1 heading into their historic trilogy at ONE on Prime Video 2.
On Friday, ONE on Prime Video 2 is headlined by a historic trilogy.
In the main event, strawweight champion [autotag]Xiong Jing Nan[/autotag] puts her 125-pound title on the line against atomweight champ [autotag]Angela Lee[/autotag]. The third encounter between the two fighters will make the first major title-fight trilogy in women’s MMA history, with Xiong and Lee splitting victories in their two previous encounters.
On March 31, 2019, Lee’s bid to become a champ-champ was derailed when Xiong finished her by fifth-round TKO with body kicks and punches at ONE Championship: A New Era. Then in the rematch on Oct 13, 2019, Lee got her revenge when she finished Xiong with a rear-naked choke submission in the fourth round to retain her atomweight title.
Who will come out on top in the trilogy? Take a look at the story behind their rivalry with highlights from their previous two fights in the video above.
ONE on Prime Video 2 takes place Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. The main card streams at 10 p.m. ET following prelims at 8 p.m. ET all on Amazon Prime Video.
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Even though it’s 1-1, you could argue the series has tilted in Demetrious Johnson’s favor, but he doesn’t necessarily see it that way.
After five fights, [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] is the ONE Championship flyweight champion but admits he’s still getting used to an important aspect of the promotion’s ruleset.
Prior to his ONE Champion debut in early 2019, Johnson spent eight years fighting for WEC/UFC, which doesn’t allow knees to a grounded opponent. In ONE Championship, they’re completely legal.
It’s how Johnson suffered his first promotional loss in April 2021 when he was stunningly knocked out by then-135-pound champion [autotag]Adriano Moraes[/autotag] with a knee to the face while sitting on his bottom. On Aug. 27, nearly 17 months later, Johnson got his revenge on Moraes when he won the rematch by fourth-round knockout with a perfectly timed flying knee to claim the title.
As far as the two performances go, you could make the case that the series tilts in Johnson’s favor, but he doesn’t necessarily see it that way.
“No, it’s 1-1,” Johnson told MMA Junkie Radio. “He beat me the first time. I ducked into the uppercut, and you know, I was trying to get up. He blasted me to the face with a knee and then he gave me a five-piece chicken meal on the ground, and that was all she wrote.”
Their first encounter didn’t get past the second round, with Johnson (31-4-1) holding his own until the grounded knee finished him. In the rematch, things looked even early until Johnson found his range and rhythm and started to take over until the finishing sequence in Round 4.
“In this one, it was a good fight back and forth,” Johnson said. “He was doing a good job taking me down. And when he took me down, I was like, I kind of know his ground game for the most part. But then after the first round – even in the first round when I was doing damage to him on the ground, and I cut him, I realized I cut him. I hit him, cut him, perfect, right above the eyeball, and (I was thinking) hopefully the blood will drip into his eye so he’ll be blind. I’m starting to think like that when I’m fighting. Then when we separated after the first round, I look over to his corner, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m busting him up.’ And for me, I feel fine. I am getting hit from bottom, but it’s not something that’s gonna put my lights out.
“And I have great skin care, moisturize every single day. My wife does very good with my skin-care regiment so I don’t cut very easily. So I was totally fine being on the ground at that moment.”
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Besides, Johnson wasn’t discouraged by being on his back, he said, because it wasn’t as though Moraes was successfully hitting double- or single-leg takedowns. It was because the much taller Moraes caught a kick and was able to get Johnson off balance.
The way the fight unfolded pleased Johnson, even though he’s still getting used to being in the ONE cage.
“I realized I was busting him up on the bottom as the fight went on,” Johnson said. “He landed a couple of good knees and that front choke, and it’s just a different ball game. I’m still getting used to it. I’ve never been on the other receiving end of being front-choked, and I’m able to get kneed in the head. It’s very unique. The knees to the ground is a very unique style that you have to beware of. … I’m still learning, I’m still getting better with that whole dynamic of the knees to an opponent on the ground, but it was a great fight.
“I was able to land that right hand, line up that knee, and that’s all she wrote.”
In all likelihood, a trilogy between Johnson and Moraes should be on the horizon. If that ends up being the case, Johnson welcomes that.
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Demetrious Johnson explains how both the UFC and ONE Championship can be happy with the result of their trade back in 2018.
ONE Championship flyweight champion [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] believes being traded benefitted everyone involved.
Johnson (31-4-1), a former longtime UFC flyweight champion, was traded by the UFC to ONE Championship for [autotag]Ben Askren[/autotag] back in 2018.
At the start, it appeared the UFC won big when formerly unbeaten Olympic wrestler Askren engaged in a barnburner while it lasted in his octagon debut against Robbie Lawler at UFC 235. But Askren didn’t only bring his mat skills to the UFC; he brought his skills on the mic, too, which made him an instant star.
Johnson, who holds the record for most consecutive UFC title defenses at 11, has found continued success in ONE Championship. He thinks Askren’s short, but impactful, stint in the UFC made a star out of Jorge Masvidal, who handed him his first loss with a record-setting flying knee knockout. Masvidal’s shine went on to rub off on other fighters, which Johnson said created a domino effect.
“I think everybody won,” Johnson told MMA Junkie Radio. “Not just the organizations, but I think everybody: Ben Askren, Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman, myself. When I say that we all won, we’re all eating good now. So you look at the UFC’s standpoint, when I was there, obviously I wasn’t the highest-selling pay-per-view guy there, and I was also very dominant, so there was not an opportunity for somebody else to be able to make a name for themselves. Then ‘Triple C’ came in, cringe, did his thing. But then I leave, and you get Ben Askren.
“The reason why I say Ben Askren got a chance to eat is because Ben Askren always wanted to be able to compete in the UFC. He got that opportunity, won a couple, then lost, and with his loss was the rise of Jorge Masvidal. And the rise of Jorge Masvidal, ‘Street Jesus,’ going out baptizing people – he fought Nate Diaz and got that ‘BMF’ title, which there’s never been a title like that, and he gave Leon Edwards the five-piece chicken meal in the back of the arena, that kind of put eyeballs on Leon Edwards. Now you have Kamaru Usman, who fought Jorge Masvidal, and Kamaru sent Jorge Masvidal to the shadow of realm.”
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Johnson explained that Usman’s star power skyrocketed after beating Masvidal twice, which went on to benefit Leon Edwards, who dethroned Usman with a dramatic head-kick knockout at UFC 278 to capture the welterweight title – and now the UFC is talking about doing a stadium show in the U.K.
“When Kamaru Usman fought Masvidal, I think that’s where his elevation and his star power went through the roof, because everyone was talking about the ‘BMF,'” Johnson added. “Now you have Kamaru Usman who’s super big and very, very popular, who’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. And now you have Leon Edwards, who just knocked him out, and now Leon Edwards is the king of the welterweight division.”
The UFC got to build new stars, but Johnson got to experience new chapters in his career after a dominant promotional run. He got knocked out for the first time in his career by Adriano Moraes but was able to even the score with a knockout of his own at ONE on Prime Video 1. He also engaged in a mixed rules bout with muay Thai legend Rodtang Jitmuangnon, submitting him in the second round.
But after getting knocked out by Masvidal in five seconds, Askren was submitted by Demian Maia in October 2019, which would mark his final UFC fight. Johnson, on the other hand, just captured the ONE flyweight title and has no intentions of retiring anytime soon.
“Everybody got the opportunity to eat, and everyone’s happy,” Johnson said. “I think if it goes to decide who’s got the best fighters, I think ONE Championship definitely won that ball game by far. Nothing against Ben Askren, but I’m 36, I don’t know how old he is, but I’m still f*cking going. They’re still getting dividends from your boy here. I’m still putting the work in.”
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Demetrious Johnson might not get enough credit from the UFC as one of the greatest fighters ever, but he certainly does from Joe Rogan.
[autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] might not get enough credit from the UFC as one of the promotion’s greatest fighters of all time, but he certainly does from [autotag]Joe Rogan[/autotag].
Johnson (31-4-1), a former longtime UFC flyweight champion, showed why he’s worthy of such praise at ONE on Prime Video 1 last month when he knocked out Adriano Moraes with a walk-off flying knee in their rematch to claim the ONE Championship 135-pound title in Singapore.
It was a Knockout of the Year contender that had the MMA community buzzing and, for Rogan, served as a reminder of Johnson’s place in history.
“He is one of the greatest of all time,” Rogan said on a recent episode of his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “That guy is so f*cking talented. So talented. And the way he set that knee up, the way he hits him with the right hand and is like a boss – not yet, not yet, BOOM. Lands it perfectly. … He just knew just by the impact, ‘No way he’s getting out of that one.'”
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Johnson, 36, holds the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses at 11, surpassing former middleweight champ Anderson Silva’s mark with a memorable armbar submission of Ray Borg in October 2017. Johnson held the inaugural UFC 125-pound title from September 2012 when he beat Joseph Benavidez until he lost it to Henry Cejudo in August 2018.
Two months later, the UFC traded Johnson to ONE Championship for Ben Askren in an unprecedented move between major MMA organizations.
Johnson left the UFC at a time when UFC president Dana White openly talked about shutting down the flyweight division, a consideration that was tied to Johnson’s dominance, which wasn’t appreciated so much as it was viewed as a detriment in making the division “boring” and led to tension between Johnson and White. So the UFC decided to get rid of Johnson (but ultimately kept the division after his departure). At the time of the Askren trade, Johnson said he left the UFC “on good terms,” although it didn’t seem that way.
Rogan, who was speaking with guest Kamaru Usman on his podcast, questions why the UFC doesn’t acknowledge Johnson’s greatness.
“They don’t talk about him. They don’t bring him up,” Rogan said. “It’s just really weird, like the UFC doesn’t promote him anymore now that he’s gone and goes to another organization. When they play The Who (inside arenas), they have that music, and they have the compilation, how the f*ck do you not have ‘Mighty Mouse’ in that?”
Given his credentials, Johnson figures to be a lock for the UFC Hall of Fame. But the way Rogan sees it, he already should have been inducted. If the politics of fighting for another organization keeps Johnson out, that won’t sit well with Rogan.
“I don’t get any of that,” Rogan said. “In my world, that doesn’t make any sense. Gotta recognize that. Guy is one of the greatest champions ever.”
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ONE Championship’s first event on Amazon Prime Video takes place Friday and features five MMA fights, including a title rematch.
ONE Championship starts a new era Friday with its first event on Amazon Prime Video. ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson 2 features five MMA fights, including a title rematch.
Here’s how to watch the ONE on Prime Video 1 card from Singapore, where flyweight champion [autotag]Adriano Moraes[/autotag] (20-3) puts his belt on the line in a rematch with former UFC champ [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] (23-4-1).
ONE Championship is back Friday with ONE Championship 160: Ok vs. Lee 2, which features five MMA fights, including two title bouts.
ONE Championship is back Friday with ONE Championship 160: Ok vs. Lee, which features five MMA fights, including two title bouts.
Here’s how to watch the ONE Championship 160 card from Singapore, where lightweight champion Rae Yoon Ok (16-3) takes on former champ Christian Lee (15-4) and featherweight titleholder Thanh Le (13-2) meets challenger Tang Kai (14-2).
Shinya Aoki has moved on from his loss to rival Yoshihiro Akiyama and welcomes a new challenge at ONE Championship 157.
[autotag]Shinya Aoki[/autotag] has already moved on from his loss to rival [autotag]Yoshihiro Akiyama[/autotag].
Aoki’s grappling skills were on full display when he faced fellow Japanese legend Akiyama at ONE X in March. He took his back for almost all of Round 1, but Akiyama was able to rally and stop Aoki in Round 2.
However, the submission specialist is already onto his next task. He meets Kade Ruotolo in a submission grappling match Friday at ONE Championship 157, which takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“Since the match at ONE X, I went about my days as if nothing changed,” Aoki said. “It was such an important fight in my career, and I lost. But I did my best, and I have no regrets. I’m proud of what I’ve done.
“It’s been already two months after that match, and I’m heading into another fight this week. Because I have an upcoming fight, I feel like time flies. This is how we move on. I lost my last fight, but that doesn’t mean (my career is) a disappointment. I’ve been doing this sport since 2003 – that’s almost two decades. If I count grappling matches, I’ve been fighting more, and I’ve lost many fights.”
Aoki has achieved a lot throughout his career, capturing both the Shooto and ONE Championship belts. At 39, he’ll be 20 years the senior of his opponent Ruotolo, but Aoki thinks that’s only a testament to his longevity.
“I’m proud of myself that I overcome (these hardships) all the time and keep moving on,” Aoki said. “It’s a precious thing to become a champion, but I don’t really care about how many wins I have or if I am the champion or not. More than that, I feel pride in my ability to keep fighting even though when it’s not good and tough timing in my career. The value is in how you are living, never giving up, and keep moving forward. And don’t be controlled by a win or a loss. So, I’ll keep moving forward.”
He continued, “I saw some videos of Kade’s fights. He’s strong, but he’s also part of a new generation. They are ‘new age.’ I’m really honored that I’m able to fight with the young generation. This is weird to say, but it’s kind of my job to get choked out from them too because at some point, we need to pass the baton, right? But I plan to fight against this new style. I will not conform to it. I will stick to my old-school, classic style, show my discipline, and challenge myself. And I believe I’m still young. Age doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care about the number, and I know I can continue to fight for a long time.”
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