The Mixed Martial Arts World Champions Set To Ignite 2019

ONE Championship’s roster continues to grow at a rapid pace.

The promotion boasts a staggering 118 world champions, with a host of current or former mixed martial arts titleholders among that gargantuan number.

Before 2019 begins, let’s take a glimpse at all the mixed martial arts world champions who are looking to finish the next calendar year with a ONE World Title wrapped around their waists.

Reigning ONE World Champions

The current crop of ONE World Champions represents the highest level of martial arts excellence, both as athletes and role models. 

Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang, who has become a national icon in Myanmar, is currently the only reigning dual titleholder in The Home Of Martial Arts.

He holds the ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Championships, and will defend the middleweight crown against DEEP Openweight World Champion Ken Hasegawa in the co-main event of ONE: A NEW ERA on 31 March.

Vietnamese-Australian superstar Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen, who is in sole possession of the ONE Featherweight World Title, was the first to achieve that honor when he claimed the lightweight belt in November 2017.

ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee could join the duo as the third two-division ONE World Champion in history.

To do that, the undefeated Singaporean would have to beat another inspiring role model — ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan — in the other co-main event of ONE: A NEW ERA. That will be easier said than done, however, as China’s first mixed martial arts world champion has yet to taste defeat in ONE.

There is a nation that is producing world champions at a rapid pace.

The Philippines is known for producing boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, but the country is also in the middle of a mixed martial arts revolution, with its athletes holding no less than a record-setting five ONE World Titles.

Brandon “The Truth” Vera holds the ONE Heavyweight World Title, with Baguio City’s Team Lakay holding the strawweight, flyweight, bantamweight, and lightweight versions of the gold through Joshua Pacio, Geje Eustaquio, Kevin Belingon, and Eduard Folayang, respectively.

Also, ONE Welterweight World Champion Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam hails from Sweden, but he spent quite a few years living, training, and competing in the Philippines. 

Former ONE World Champions

Sometimes, the most focused individuals are not those striving to achieve a goal, but rather those who have already achieved, then fallen, and look to return to the top once again.

Among the ONE roster is a small group of such individuals looking to bounce back to greatness after experiencing the taste of success already in their careers — those being the former ONE World Champions.

Russian middleweight Vitaly Bigdash has seen Aung La N Sang’s surge to superstardom since he lost his title to “The Burmese Python” in June 2017, and he is desperately looking to secure a trilogy bout in a bid to reclaim the ONE Middleweight World Championship.

Meanwhile, former ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito looks to start his third title reign.

The Japanese warrior lost the belt to Brazil’s Alex “Little Rock” Silva in December 2017, only to win it back in a rematch five months later. Although he lost it to Pacio this past September, “Nobita” will look to reposition himself for a third shot at the belt in 2019.

However, he is not the only one looking to reclaim the strawweight gold. Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke and Silva will be hot on the trail, too.

Also, Adriano Moraes and Kairat Akhmetov will begin the chase for the ONE Flyweight World Title, Narantungalag Jadambaa, and Marat Gafurov will attempt to regain the ONE Featherweight World Title, and Shinya Aoki will try to beat Folayang in an effort to reclaim ONE Lightweight World Title in the main event of ONE: A NEW ERA.

While those warriors will try to recapture the crown in their respective weight classes, former featherweight king Honorio Banario and former lightweight king Kotetsu Boku will attempt to become two-division ONE World Champions at lightweight and featherweight, respectively.

World Champions From Other Promotions

In addition to the former ONE World Champions who are looking to battle back to the top, there is a crop of elite athletes who earned world titles outside of the Asia-based promotion and are now looking to reach the pinnacle of their profession under the ONE banner.

This past October, former Bellator Lightweight Champion and UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez joined The Home Of Martial Arts in the hopes of becoming the first person to hold lightweight gold in the world’s three major mixed martial arts organizations.

UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, who is the most dominant mixed martial artist in the sport and considered the pound-for-pound best athlete, followed Alvarez to ONE just a few weeks later.

Also, there is Yosuke Saruta, who is a Shooto Strawweight World Champion. The Japanese competitor had a successful promotional debut earlier this month, defeating Silva via unanimous decision to become a top contender. Now, he will challenge Pacio for the ONE Strawweight World Championship at ONE: ETERNAL GLORY on Saturday, 19 January.

Saruta is not the only Japanese mixed martial arts world champion. He is joined by several of his countrymen.

There is Pancrase Lightweight World Champion Kazuki Tokudome, Pancrase Welterweight World Champion Daichi Abe, and Pancrase Middleweight World Champion Yuki Niimura.

Finally, rounding out the list are their compatriots DEEP Flyweight World Champion Tatsumitsu Wada, DEEP Bantamweight and Featherweight World Champion Masakazu Imanari, DEEP Featherweight World Champion Kazunori Yokota, and DEEP Jewels Featherweight World Champion Mei Yamaguchi, as well as the aforementioned Hasegawa.