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| Two-division ONE World Champion Aung La N Sang headlines ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX on October 30, 2020 as The Burmese Python is set to defend his ONE Middleweight World Championship against Reinier "The Dutch Knight" De Ridder. (Image Source: ONE Championship) |
ONE Championship, the largest mixed martial arts organization in Asia and the most valuable global sports media property in Asian history, is set to stage its biggest event yet amidst the continuing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic with ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX slated to be held on October 30, 2020 and the organization's founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has officially announced on his Facebook page that the event will be headlined by four World Championship title fights featuring the promotion's top stars.
In the main event, two-division ONE World Champion Aung La "The Burmese Python" N Sang will defend the ONE Middleweight World Championship against Reinier "The Dutch Knight" De Ridder. Following his successful defense of the ONE Light Heavyweight World title at ONE: Century Part II in October 2019 against current ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon "The Truth" Vera via second-round knockout, N Sang has been eyeing a showdown with several top contenders. De Ridder, a black belt judoka with phenomenal striking who owns a perfect 12-0 record, recently defeated five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion Leandro "Wolf" Ataides last February to earn a shot at Myanmar's greatest export.
ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX will feature the highly anticipated return of the ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian "The Warrior" Lee as the newlywed makes his inaugural title defense against the division's top-ranked contender, Moldova's Iuri Lapicus. Training alongside ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Champion Giorgio "The Doctor" Petrosyan with Team Petrosyan in Milan, Italy, Lapicus made his successful ONE Championship debut in May 2019 with a third-round TKO over Shannon "OneShin" Wiratchai followed by a shocking submission victory against former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat "Cobra" Gafurov in just 67 seconds back in February, pushing his professional MMA record to 14-0 ahead of his upcoming ONE World Championship fight against Lee.
Meanwhile, ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin "The Situ-Asian" Nguyen will defend his title against the division's number three top ranked contender, Thanh Le. The Vietnamese-American looked invincible since claiming the belt from Gafurov in August 2017 as he successfully defended his title against Lee in their May 2018 rematch and knocked out former titleholder Narantungalag "Tungaa" Jadambaa and the division's number two ranked contender Koyomi "Moushigo" Matsushima in 2019. Since his ONE debut in 2019, fellow Vietnamese-American Le has been ultra-impressive and enjoyed an undefeated run in which he defeated Yusup "Maestro" Saadulaev, former ONE Lightweight World Champion Kotetsu "No Face" Boku and Ryogo Takahashi.
Finally, ONE Women's Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan will put her title on the line against a familiar foe in Tiffany "No Chill" Teo on their second encounter. In January 2018 at ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE, Xiong defeated Teo by fourth-round TKO to claim the inaugural crown. Since then, The Panda has successfully defended her title against Laura "La Gladiadora" Balin, Samara "Marituba" Santos and ONE Women's Atomweight World Champion Angela "Unstoppable" Lee. As for the division's top ranked contender, she worked her way up the ladder to earn another shot at the strawweight title with wins over Michelle Nicolini and Ayaka Miura.
Catch ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX on October 30, 2020, Friday, at 8:30 pm LIVE and exclusive on One Sports (free TV channel 41, Cignal channel 6, Skycable channel 59), One Sports+ (Cignal SD channel 96 and HD channel 261), ONE Championship's official YouTube channel and the ONE Super App with an encore telecast on October 31, 2020, Saturday, at 11:00 pm on TV5. For more ONE Championship and ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX news, updates and features, visit www.onefc.com and @ONEChampionship on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
