Sep 17, 2019

Top 100 Moments In ONE History Part 4: #40-21

In the lead-up to ONE Championship’s blockbuster, two-part 100th event, ONE: CENTURY, the world’s largest martial arts organization is remembering the best moments in its history.

Every event since the first in November 2011 has brought flashes of unforgettable martial arts action on the global stage from some of the planet’s most talented warriors, so paring the long list of highlights down was a great challenge.

However, after a lot of deliberation, a definitive list of the best bits from The Home Of Martial Arts’ first 99 events has been drawn up, and will be revealed between now and its return to Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, 13 October.

If you missed the first three parts of the countdown, you can check them out here, before the list continues with another 20 unforgettable bouts, finishes, and historic events.

#40 Lee Battles Nunes And Pneumonia

If “Unstoppable” Angela Lee’s defeat of Istela Nunes was not impressive enough, the world was stunned to learn the Singaporean star had defended her ONE Atomweight World Title by second-round submission while suffering from pneumonia. This was the night she truly lived up to her nickname.

#39 “The Burmese Python” Comes Home

The fans in Yangon, Myanmar had made their mark on The Home Of Martial Arts before March 2016, but the noise in the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium reached a new level when Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang returned to his homeland to compete for the first time. The venue exploded with cheers when he won and became a national hero.

#38 China Welcomes ONE

The history of martial arts in China goes back more than 4,000 years, so it was only fitting that ONE Championship took the world’s greatest martial arts action to the nation as soon as possible. In December 2014 ONE: DYNASTY OF CHAMPIONS (BEIJING) brought national and international stars to the capital city to begin a long and thriving relationship with the People’s Republic.

#37 An Otherworldly “E.T.” Comeback

Just a couple of months ago, Malaysia’s Ev “E.T.” Ting looked like he was about to suffer a demoralizing third consecutive defeat, but roared on by his passionate supporters in Kuala Lumpur, he completed a remarkable turnaround to beat Daichi Abe with a stunning submission.

#36 Sana Shocks The World

Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex had gone 2,729 days – almost seven and a half years – without losing, but Samy “AK47” Sana shattered that streak in the quarterfinals of the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix with a sensational performance that sent a shockwave around the martial arts world.

#35 “Good Boy” Smashes “Super” Sage

Cosmo “Good Boy” Alexandre landed arguably the hardest punch in ONE history to spoil Sage Northcutt’s promotional debut in shocking fashion.

#34 Alvarez Strikes Back

Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez does not know how to quit. The American icon recovered from the brink of defeat against Eduard Folayang to spring a slick sweep on the Filipino and submit him in the blink of an eye to record his first win on the global stage.

#33 Nastyukhin Hits The Fastest KO In ONE History

Six seconds – that is all the time it took for Timofey Nastyukhin to knock Rob Lisita out cold and make mixed martial arts history.

#32 Let’s Twist

The Circle has seen a host of innovative and unexpected submissions, but only once has a twister been successfully implemented – by who else but Angela Lee?

#31 Muay Thai Lands On The Global Stage

“The art of eight limbs” came to the Circle for the first time last January, and there was no better athlete to kick things off than Muay Thai legend Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, who knocked out Joseph Lasiri in the second round.

#30 Grappling Greatness Comes To The Circle

ONE broke new ground in May 2017 as it showcased its first grappling super-match. One of mixed martial arts’ foremost ground-game specialists, Shinya Aoki, welcomed multiple-time BJJ World Champion Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon to the biggest platform of his career, and the American proved his class with a win via heel hook submission.

#29 Myanmar’s Greatest Moment

Aung La N Sang may have put on better performances, but it is likely he will remember none as fondly as his victory over Vitaly Bigdash to win the ONE Middleweight World Title. The 2017 Bout Of The Year was a back-and-forth war, but powered by the passionate support of the fans in Yangon, “The Burmese Python” won a unanimous decision to become his nation’s first martial arts World Champion.

#28 Heavyweight Lightning

Hideki Sekine discovered it was a bad idea to run straight into Alain “The Panther” Ngalani’s knockout power as he got put to sleep in just 11 seconds. It was the fastest finish in ONE heavyweight history.

#27 Nguyen’s Redemption

The first time Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen challenged Marat Gafurov for gold, he was submitted quickly. It was a completely different story the second time as he hit a highlight-reel KO to claim the ONE Featherweight World Title.

#26 Folayang’s Second World Title Triumph

It was always going to be difficult for Eduard “Landslide” Folayang to top his first ONE Lightweight World Title win, but he may have succeeded when he defeated Amir Khan by decision after five thrilling rounds in front of his home fans in Manila, Philippines.

#25 Pacio’s Golden KO

Joshua “The Passion” Pacio lost the ONE Strawweight World Title by the finest of margins, so he wanted to make sure there was no doubt who the best athlete in his division was when he rematched Yosuke Saruta. He did that with a stunning knockout in the fourth round.

#24 Nastyukhin Defeats A Legend

Anyone who expected Eddie Alvarez to run through the competition on the global stage got a huge shock when Siberian force of nature Timofey Nastyukhin started to throw hands at ONE: A NEW ERA and scored a jaw-dropping stoppage.

#23 “Panda” Power

Angela Lee’s mixed martial arts record was flawless as she stepped up in weight to challenge for a second World Title, but ONE Strawweight World Champion “The Panda Xiong” Jing Nan refused to vacate her throne. The Chinese star proved why she is her division’s number one with a powerful performance that ended with a thrilling finish.

#22 Nguyen Takes Flight

Martin Nguyen has an extensive highlight reel, but none of his finishes can compare to his flying knee knockout of Narantungalag Jadambaa.

#21 Vera’s Dream Come True

Brandon “The Truth” Vera finally achieved his lifelong dream of winning a World Title when he unleashed his best shots to take out Paul Cheng and cause Manila’s Mall Of Asia Arena to come unglued.

ONE: CENTURY is the biggest World Championship martial arts event in history with 28 World Champions featured across various martial arts. No organization in history 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.