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| ONE Championship Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chatri Sityodtong (Image Source: Manila Bulletin/ONE Championship) |
A slew of blockbuster fights have officially been confirmed for ONE Championship’s upcoming live events. ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong made a special appearance on the January 12, 2021 edition of “The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani” and revealed the dates and several huge matchups for ONE: BAD BLOOD and ONE X. ONE: BAD BLOOD will broadcast live on Friday, February 11, while ONE’s 10-year anniversary event has been moved to Saturday, March 26.
The February 11 card will be headlined by a long-awaited showdown between ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes and #1 contender John “Hands Of Stone” Lineker. Fernandes has been the most imposing force in the bantamweight mixed martial arts division since his arrival in 2013. He’s ruled the weight class with an iron fist and owns 11 World Title victories, which makes him the most dominant World Champion in ONE history. However, Fernandes will face his most dangerous challenge yet in fellow Brazilian Lineker, who’s become a true breakout star. “Hands of Stone” is riding a three-bout winning streak, as he decimated Muin “Tajik” Gafurov, finished former bantamweight king Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, and then knocked out Troy “Pretty Boy” Worthen. This bout was originally slated to happen at ONE X in December 2021, but the event and matchup were postponed until early 2022.
Along with revealing the new March 26 date for ONE X, Sityodtong confirmed three featured bouts for the event. As originally announced, the anniversary show will include the unique special-rules super-fight between MMA legend Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and reigning ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon. This battle of superstars will consist of four three-minute rounds that alternate between Muay Thai and mixed martial arts rules. Additionally, ONE X will feature the return of ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee, who defends her crown against #1 contender and ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Champion Stamp Fairtex. Just a year after defeating strawweight queen “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan in October 2019, Lee announced that she was pregnant with her first child. That kept the atomweight queen on the sidelines while the division searched for the next challenger via the historic Grand Prix. Ultimately, former ONE Atomweight Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion Stamp won the tournament. The Thai megastar avenged her only MMA loss by defeating Alyona Rassohyna in the quarterfinals, beat Julie Mezabarba in the semifinals, and then earned a shocking submission of wrestling icon Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat to claim the tournament’s silver belt and the right to challenge “Unstoppable.” If she does dethrone Lee for the MMA gold, Stamp would become the first three-sport World Champion in ONE history.
Sityodtong also confirmed that ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes will defend his belt against surging #2-ranked contender Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu. Moraes has long been considered one of the best mixed martial artists to compete in the east, something he backed up when he became the only person to knock out Johnson in April 2021. Now, he faces Wakamatsu, who is riding a five-bout winning streak. That string includes big victories over former titleholder Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio and #5-ranked Reece “Lightning” McLaren.
