ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON's 21 World Champions
ONE Championship will host a phenomenal event this Friday, 17 May, as ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON arrives at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with a stacked card of 16 bouts.
A pair of ONE World Title match-ups top the bill after the star-studded US$1 million ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix gets underway with the complete quarterfinal round.
The supporting bouts pack just as much of a punch, with some of the most talented names in The Home Of Martial Arts in action. In total, there are 21 World Champions set to compete from mixed martial arts, pankration, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, kickboxing and karate.
The ONE Lightweight World Title Warriors
Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki puts his ONE Lightweight World Title on the line against Singapore’s own Christian “The Warrior” Lee in the main event.
Aoki is a four-time World Champion in the world’s largest martial arts organization, and he has also held DREAM, WAMMA and Shooto World Titles in his long career as an elite-level competitor.
His challenger is a six-time Pankration World Champion, who is motivated to capture the ONE gold on his second attempt.
Leading Kickboxers Look For ONE Super Series Gold
Dutch kickboxers Nieky “The Natural” Holzken and Regian “The Immortal” Eersel square off in the co-main event with the inaugural ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship on the line.
Both men are extremely decorated strikers. Holzken is a seven-time kickboxing World Champion, which includes the Glory and WFCA belts. Eersel is a Lion Fight and MFC World Champion.
Both men also have back-to-back wins over elite-level opposition on the global stage for martial arts, which earned them their World Title shot.
The Stacked World Grand Prix Line-Up
The ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix quarterfinal bouts all take place on the same night in Singapore, and every entrant is a World Champion.
Giorgio “The Doctor” Petrosyan is a two-time K-1 World MAX Champion, and he takes on two-division Lumpinee Stadium and WMC Muay Thai World Champion, Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy.
“The Boxing Computer” Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex has an extensive list of accolades which includes Lumpinee Stadium, Lion Fight, WMC, and WPMF Muay Thai World Titles. His opponent, Samy “AK47” Sana, is a WBC and A1 Muay Thai World Champion.
Two-division Lion Fight Muay Thai World Champion “Smokin” Jo Nattawut will also look to take his first steps through the bracket when he faces the late tournament entrant – WMC Muay Thai World Champion Sasha Moisa.
In the opening World Grand Prix quarterfinal bout on the bill, two-time TNA Kickboxing World Champion Dzhabar “Genghis Khan” Askerov faces an old rival in Enriko “The Hurricane” Kehl, a K-1 World MAX Champion.
Supporting Card Superstars
On the main card, North American superstar and Multiple-Time Karate World Champion “Super” Sage Northcutt will debut in Asia against four-time Muay Thai and three-time kickboxing World Champion Cosmo “Good Boy” Alexandre.
There is also a trio of former ONE Strawweight World Champions in action in Singapore. Alex “Little Rock” Silva and Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito lock horns in a long-awaited rubber match before Dejdamrong “Kru Rong” Sor Amnuaysirichoke – who is also a multiple-time Muay Thai World Champion – takes on Miao Li Tao.
One more former ONE World Champion will feature on the card, as Filipino flyweight superstar Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio goes up against Evolve’s Kim Kyu Sung in a ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix alternate bout.
Multiple-time BJJ World Champion Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon will also attempt to push his unblemished record to 5-0 against Japan’s Yoshiki Nakahara.
Down in the women’s atomweight division, DEEP Jewels Featherweight World Champion Mei “V.V.” Yamaguchi will return to action in search of a third straight win and another shot at ONE gold by defeating Laura “La Gladiadora” Balin.
Finally, Daniel “The Rock” Dawson will enter his ONE Super Series kickboxing contest against Brown Pinas as a four-time kickboxing, three-time Muay Thai and one-time boxing World Champion.
