Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here’s what you need to know to watch “ONE Championship: NEXTGEN” on Friday in Singapore.
ONE Championship is back Friday nearing the finish line of the promotion’s latest tournament.
Here’s how to watch the “ONE Championship: NEXTGEN” card from Singapore, where the atomweight grand prix semifinals will take place.
Here’s what you need to know to watch ONE Championship’s all-kickboxing card on Friday.
ONE Championship is back Friday with an all-kickboxing lineup in which a new champion will be crowned.
Here’s how to watch the “ONE Championship: First Strike” card from Singapore,
ONE Championship is back Friday with the launch of the promotion’s atomweight grand prix and is marking the occasion with a special all-women’s event.
ONE Championship is back Friday with the launch of the promotion’s atomweight grand prix and is marking the occasion with a special all-women’s event.
Here’s how to watch the card from Singapore, which sees reigning strawweight champion [autotag]Jing Nan Xiong[/autotag] (15-2) put her title on the line against Brazil’s [autotag]Michelle Nicolini[/autotag] (6-2) in the in the night’s main event, as well as four quarterfinal grand prix matchups.
Alyse Anderson sees more weight in being a ONE Championship title holder than an Invicta FC one.
[autotag]Alyse Anderson[/autotag] sees more weight in being a ONE Championship title holder than an Invicta FC one.
Anderson (5-1), who asked for her release from Invicta FC with one fight left on her contract, has signed with the Asian-based promotion after three fights under the Invicta FC banner.
While she appreciates her time there, the 25-year-old was having a hard time getting up for a fight and wanted to take her career to the next level.
“I’m not interested in going back to Invicta,” Anderson told MMA Junkie Radio. “I don’t want to hate on their promotion or anything, they’re a great promotion. But I just for me feel like I’d rather fight exclusively for ONE and just being the atomweight champion for Invicta doesn’t get me pumped up and excited. That’s another reason why I wanted this change so bad because when I felt like they were trying to find me a matchup with Invicta, I didn’t have that same excitement to get back to camp.
“I didn’t even want to take time off work, a leave of absence for fight camp, because I just feel like I personally outgrew the promotion and was just ready for, like, the next thing. But I still think it’s a great promotion, and they did so much for me, but I just don’t care to be the atomweight champion for them.”
Anderson will take part in the ONE Championship atomweight grand prix, where the winner of the tournament will get a shot at reigning champion Angela Lee. Anderson meets Itsuki Hirata in the opening round at “ONE Championship: Empower,” which takes place Sept. 3 and streams on B/R Live.
To see the full interview with Anderson, check out the video below.
Here’s how to watch the ‘ONE Championship: Battleground III’ card from Singapore, which includes Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke vs. Banma Duoji.
ONE Championship is back Friday with an international catchweight attraction in the featured MMA bout of the card.
Here’s how to watch the card from Singapore, which includes Thailand’s [autotag]Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke[/autotag] vs. China’s [autotag]Banma Duoji[/autotag].
The opening round of ONE Championship’s atomweight grand prix has been rescheduled for Sept. 3.
The opening round of ONE Championship’s atomweight grand prix has been rescheduled for Sept. 3.
Promotion officials recently announced that “ONE Championship: Empower” takes place on that date, streaming on B/R Live. The all-women’s card is headlined by a strawweight title fight between reigning champ [autotag]Jing Nan Xiong[/autotag] (15-2) and Brazilian challenger [autotag]Michelle Nicolini[/autotag] (6-2), and features the quarterfinal round of ONE’s atomweight grand prix, with the tournament winner earning a shot against reigning champion Angela Lee.
The grand prix was originally set to take place in May, but travel restrictions due to the ongoing global pandemic forced the promotion to reschedule.
The “ONE Championship: Empower” lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (B/R Live, 8:30 a.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (B/R Live, 7 a.m. ET)
Aung La N Sang didn’t get to show much at all in his most recent setbacks.
[autotag]Aung La N Sang[/autotag] didn’t get to show much at all in his most recent setbacks.
Frustrated from getting heavily out-grappled in his two straight losses to Reinier de Ridder, former dual-champion N Sang (26-12-1) hopes he gets to bang it out with [autotag]Leandro Ataides[/autotag] (11-4) when they square off in the co-main event of ONE Championship: Battleground, which takes place July 30 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“This is one of the ones that it’s not gonna go to a decision,” N Sang told MMA Junkie Radio. “He’s explosive, and I hope he comes to fight because last couple of fights felt like a grappling match, but this one is gonna be different. I’ve been working on things to negate it and also he likes to throw down to hopefully the judges won’t be involved in this fight.”
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N Sang had no answer for de Ridder’s wrestling but remains undeterred despite the lopsided loss. History has shown N Sang’s ability to bounce back strong from losses and that’s exactly what he plans on doing starting with Ataides.
“That fire in me is still there and it’s burning deep,” N Sang said. “Stylistically with a taller guy you have to close distance and this is a one-trick pony who’s a high-level grappler, and so I had issues there and he was tall. But you always gotta learn from your losses, and I like to learn and grow from my losses and every time I’ve had a loss, I’ve always come back and gotten into a good winning streak, and hopefully, that happens again. It really doesn’t matter to me, I just want to go out there and put on a show for the fans and put on an exciting finish.”
Watch the full interview with N Sang in the video above.
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If Arjan Bhullar turns out to be a dominant MMA champion, perhaps his dream of crossing over will come true.
Back in May, [autotag]Arjan Bhullar[/autotag] became the first fighter of Indian descent to win a major MMA title when he claimed the ONE Championship heavyweight belt with a second-round TKO of Brandon Vera. Afterward, Bhullar stated he’d be willing to make his first title defense against Kang Ji Won, but that’s not what stood out about his post-fight interview.
It was this sign-off message.
“Before my next fight, I do want to say one thing: I have reached the pinnacle of this sport,” Bhullar said. “Now I want to attack the pro wrestling industry. AEW, WWE, I’m coming for you guys next. Consider this a warning shot.”
To viewers, that might’ve sounded fake, but it was real – as in, the possibility exists for Bhullar to cross over into pro wrestling. According to him, there’s language in his ONE Championship contract that makes it so.
“It was serious from the get-go, and it is serious,” Bhullar told MMA Fighting. “I’m picking a fight with these guys, with the entire industry. AEW, WWE, it doesn’t matter. When I actually signed over from the UFC, we had language in our contract that would open the door to this. So we had some foresight on this.
“Both industries, there’s a blend there in terms of crossover and like I said, I want to pick a fight with these guys. They think they’re tough guys in the industry; I think I’m tougher. For the WWE, India’s the biggest market, they had over 20 million people tune in to (a recent event). You want India, we want India in terms of MMA. It all works.”
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WWE could be an option, sure, but AEW makes more sense given that ONE Championship also has a TV deal with TNT. One thing is clear: Bhullar loves pro wrestling, and he wants his shot, and he’s been trying to catch anyone’s attention on social media.
Kings bow to the feet of Gods @BaronCorbinWWE I will make you bend to my will✊🏾
— Arjan Singh Bhullar (@TheOneASB) May 19, 2021
I see you @fightbobby and I'll gladly oblige if you still got that itch#GodOfWrestling #OneBillionStrong https://t.co/WqjHJSDpYX
— Arjan Singh Bhullar (@TheOneASB) May 22, 2021
McIntyre blew it! The fans want 2 see REAL hell in a cell. Lock me in there w/ @fightbobby I'll bring it live on @peacockTV No rounds No time limit No referree. Bellator vs ONE. Winner gets both @wwe ONE belts n the mace of Hanuman w/the right 2 reign as almighty #GodOfWrestling
— Arjan Singh Bhullar (@TheOneASB) June 21, 2021
Hey @RealJakeHager congrats on that squash match w/Wardlow. How bout we give the fans a real fight inside the @AEW squared circle live on @tntdrama and @AEWonTNT? Bellator vs ONE. Winner gets the mace of Hanuman and the right to be called the #GodOfWrestling
— Arjan Singh Bhullar (@TheOneASB) June 21, 2021
The silence is deafening https://t.co/M1LwVsCCjy
— Arjan Singh Bhullar (@TheOneASB) June 24, 2021
Happy #NWO week to all you pro wrestling fans! 25 yrs ago the world turned upside down when Hulk Hogan turned heel on the Hulkamaniacs. It changed the industry forever….and made me a fan 4 Liiiife🤘🏾#4life #toosweet #prowrestling #GodOfWrestling #TeamBhullar #OneBillionStrong pic.twitter.com/q2lmGokzdR
— Arjan Singh Bhullar (@TheOneASB) July 8, 2021
You’ve got to hand it to Bhullar for trying. Will there be any takers? We’ll see, but perhaps building his name as a dominant champion is Step 1 to a crossover.
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.
You won’t hear Demetrious Johnson hating on the celebrity boxing world.
You won’t hear [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] hating on the celebrity boxing world.
Johnson, who’s perhaps one of the most underappreciated fighters in the history of the sport, has no issues with social media influencers engaging in boxing matches.
The former UFC flyweight king and ONE Championship contender says a lot of these celebrities such as Jake Paul and Logan Paul are actually putting the work in and deserve the credit for garnering such a massive interest to their fights.
“When you have unlimited money, when you have millions of dollars and you don’t have to do a 9-5 job, you have the best access to the trainers, you have the best access to nutrition, you train for eight weeks for somebody, you are gonna become the product of something,” Johnson said in an interview courtesy of ONE Championship. “So people think that Jake Paul, Logan Paul, they just got off the couch playing video games, that’s not the f*cking case. These guys are training like full-time athletes. These guys train better than some of the professional athletes that have been in the game for five or 10 years.”
Johnson gets why MMA fighters are irked by the celebrity boxing world and their massive paydays, but from his experience of being an under-the-radar champion in the UFC despite his dominance of the flyweight division, he understands that building your brand will pay off.
“I support the YouTubers, the TikTokers and the thing is, at the end of the day it’s about making money,” Johnson said. “Those guys have such a big following and a lot of the athletes complain how Jake Paul, Logan Paul, those guys are making million-dollar paydays and us athletes have been in this sport for years and will never see a payday like that. The reality is your brand and your likeness or your following is what sells, and I’ve learned that from when I was in a North-America-based promotion and it’s proven to this day.”
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It’ll be interesting to see which division Sage Northcutt chooses when he finally makes his return to ONE Championship.
Ever since he burst onto the UFC scene as a 19-year-old in 2015, we’ve always known [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] to be, uh, health conscious.
Who are we kidding? The kid already was shredded back then with an eight pack most of us can only dream about. Here, take a look:
A lot has changed since then. For starters, Northcutt is no longer with the UFC after signing with ONE Championship in November 2018. As you might imagine given he was just 19 when he started, he’s also grown – which has caused him to fluctuate between lightweight and welterweight during the majority of his 14-fight career. For his ONE debut, Northcutt moved up to middleweight and was knocked out in just 29 seconds by Cosmo Alexandre.
That was the last time we saw Northcutt in the cage, more than two years ago in May 2019. Recovery from facial fractures caused by the knockout combined with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down ONE combined with Northcutt himself testing positive for COVID-19 have kept him out of action since then.
Northcutt had been slated to move back down to 170 pounds for a fight with Shinya Aoyoki this past April at ONE on TNT IV, but he was forced to withdraw because of lingering COVID effects. So clearly, it would seem, he learned a lesson about fighting too heavy after the brutal Alexandre knockout.
But then again, maybe not.
Because if you follow Northcutt on Instagram, you would see that he’s put on some weight and a lot of muscle – a lot of muscle.
Check out this evolution since March 2:
