Oct 12, 2019

The Top 50 Events In ONE History Part 5: #10-1

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai presents the ONE Bantamweight World Title to Bibiano Fernandes at ONE: IRON WILL

In the lead-up to ONE Championship’s momentous 100th event, ONE: CENTURY, the world’s largest martial arts organization is celebrating the top 50 shows in the company’s history.

Since 2011, ONE has been home to the most exciting martial arts action on the planet as it has taken its unforgettable events and world-class athletes across Asia to some of the globe’s most vibrant cities.

The countdown will continue for the next month until the global stage returns to Tokyo, Japan this Sunday, 13 October for the biggest World Championship martial arts event of all time.

If you missed the first 40 shows of the countdown, check them out using the link below.

Now, the list concludes with the top 10 events from throughout the past eight years that show why ONE is The Home Of Martial Arts.

#10 ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY

One of the greatest nights in Filipino martial arts history came in April 2017 when Eduard “Landslide” Folayang led a fantastic haul of five wins for his countrymen – including Kevin Belingon, Honorio Banario, Danny Kingad, and Gina Iniong – by defending his gold against Ev Ting in Manila’s Mall Of Asia Arena.

#9 ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES

The mixed martial arts scene in Singapore was embryonic when The Home Of Martial Arts launched, but just a few years later, “The Lion City” was producing stars. This night in May 2017 was a showcase of local talent with signature wins for Tiffany “No Chill” Teo, Amir Khan, and in the main event, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee.

#8 ONE: TIGERS OF ASIA

An action-packed card in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia went into overdrive at the top of the bill as Ev “E.T.” Ting and Adrian “The Hunter” Pang picked up huge finishes against Honorio Banario and Peter Davis, respectively. But they were just the warm-up for one of the most chaotic bouts ever seen in mixed martial arts as Vitaly Bigdash recovered from multiple knockdowns to fire back with a knockout and take the ONE Middleweight World Title from Igor Svirid.

#7 ONE: IRON WILL

This was all about history in the making as Martin Nguyen went for an unprecedented third World Title in Bangkok, Thailand. ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes had other ideas, and he took a split decision after five gripping rounds to hang on to his belt.

#6 ONE: SPIRIT OF A WARRIOR

There were some great contests when the Circle came to Yangon, Myanmar in June 2018, but fans would have been just as happy if the main event was the only bout on the bill. Local hero Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang and Japan’s Ken Hasegawa fit enough action into just short of five rounds to satisfy the most voracious appetites for action, which is why the match was named the best bout of 2018, and in ONE’s history.

#5 ONE: DEFENDING HONOR

The Singapore Indoor Stadium saw contrasting World Title bouts at the close of 2016. First, Marat “Cobra” Gafurov cemented his legacy as ONE Featherweight World Champion with an outstanding first-round submission of Narantungalag Jadambaa. ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki launched a similarly aggressive grappling attack in the main event, but somehow, Eduard Folayang hung on, then shocked the world with a stunning third-round KO.

#4 ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION

Another banner night for Myanmar martial arts in Yangon as five of its favorite sons had their hands raised, but none mattered more than Aung La N Sang’s. “The Burmese Python” enjoyed his finest hour as he won the ONE Middleweight World Title in 2017’s bout of the year against Vitaly Bigdash.

#3 ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD

As always, a packed house at the Mall Of Asia arena came alive all night for the world’s largest martial arts organization, but it was stunned into silence when history was made in the headline act. Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen became the first two-weight ONE World Champion with the KO of 2017 against Eduard Folayang.

#2 ONE: ASCENT TO POWER

Just in case anyone had failed to take note of Angela Lee in the martial arts world, she wrote her name into the history books in her hometown in May 2016. The Singaporean superstar became the youngest World Champion in mixed martial arts history when she defeated Mei Yamaguchi after five rounds. It was an absolute cracker that was named the year’s best match.

#1 ONE: A NEW ERA

The star power on display at ONE’s first event in Tokyo, Japan was galactic as a record 16 bouts – including four World Championship contests – electrified the Ryogoku Kokugikan. Better yet, almost every single contest on the card exceeded the hype.

From “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan’s incredible comeback KO of Angela Lee, to Demetrious Johnson’s stunning debut, Timofey Nastyukhin’s shocking stoppage of Eddie Alvarez, and Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki’s rematch redemption in the headline attraction, jaws were dropped, fans were on the edge of their seat, and no one would forget this epic night.

Watch PART I in USA on 12 October at 8pm EST and PART II on 13 October at 4am EST
Watch PART I in India on 13 October at 5:30am IST and PART II at 1:30pm IST
Watch PART I in Indonesia on 13 October at 7am WIB and PART II at 3pm WIB
Watch PART I in Singapore on 13 October at 8am SGT and PART II at 4pm SGT
Watch PART I in the Philippines on 13 October at 8am PHT and PART II at 4pm PHT
Watch PART I in Japan on 13 October at 9am JST and PART II at 5pm JST

ONE: CENTURY is the biggest World Championship martial arts event in history with 28 World Champions featured across various martial arts. No organization has ever promoted two full-scale World Championship events on the same day.

The Home Of Martial Arts will break new ground as it brings multiple World Title bouts, a trio of World Grand Prix Championship Finals, and several World Champion versus World Champion matches to the famous Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on 13 October.