Sep 22, 2019

Top 100 Moments In ONE History Part 5: #20-6

Eduard Folayang celebrates with Manny Pacquiao after his win against Ev Ting

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 four parts of the countdown, you can check them out here, before the list approaches a conclusion with 15 more unforgettable bouts, finishes, and historic events.

#20 Middleweight Mayhem

Since the inception of the ONE Middleweight World Title, every single battle for the belt has been nothing short of thrilling – including this brawl. Vitaly Bigdash vs. Igor Svirid may have ended 36 seconds into round two, but it contained more action than most match-ups that go all 25 minutes.

#19 “The Doctor’s” Surgical Strike

Giorgio “The Doctor” Petrosyan had barely been anything less than brilliant as a ONE Super Series athlete, but he hit new heights when he struck a spectacular first-round knockout to get past “Smokin” Jo Nattawut in the ONE Featherweight World Grand Prix semifinals.

#18 Goosebumps In Yangon

When the first chords of A Mae Lite A Ka by Lay Phyu started to blast out of the speakers at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Myanmar, the entire crowd joined as one to scream the lyrics as Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang walked to the Circle. They created an atmosphere that helped to power him to his first World Championship.

#17 Aoki’s Redemption

Two and a half long years since Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki lost the ONE Lightweight World Title to Eduard Folayang, he won back the gold in style with a trademark, first-round choke.

#16 Lee Makes History In 2016’s Bout Of The Year

“Unstoppable” Angela Lee had to battle tooth and nail for five frenetic rounds with Mei Yamaguchi. They traded multiple near-finishes, but the Singaporean emerged with her hand raised to claim the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title.

#15 Dual-Gold Success

Aung La N Sang took just 84 seconds to win his second belt as he added the ONE Light Heavyweight World Title to his collection with a stunning head-kick KO of Alexandre Machado.

#14 The Age Of China Begins

“The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan became China’s first mixed martial arts World Champion by doing what she does best – throwing heavy hands and scoring a knockout against the valiant but overpowered Tiffany Teo.

#13 The Beginning

A new era of martial arts began on 3 September 2011 as ONE Championship launched with its first-ever event in Singapore. In the headline match, the Philippines’ Eduard “Landslide” Folayang defeated South Korea’s A Sol Kwon to begin his long run of success on the global stage.

#12 Enter The Dragon

Just like the classic Bruce Lee film that shares its name, this event saw eight of the world’s best martial artists from around the world journey to an island for an incredible tournament. The four ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix quarterfinal bouts that ensued each delivered phenomenal action, and should all be in the running for Bout Of The Year honors come December.

#11 Stamp Does The Double

One belt was just not enough for Stamp Fairtex. After she won a kickboxing crown in her debut on the global stage, she switched to her favored sport to win the ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Title after a five-round thriller with Janet Todd.

#10 Rivals’ Respect

The first-ever trilogy in ONE history was notable for its compelling action, but also by the respect shared between Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes and Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio. The pair tried everything to take each other out across almost an hour of action in a trio of ONE Flyweight World Championship matches, but they still had nothing but goodwill for each other when it was all over.

#9 Filipino Heroes United

Career highlights don’t get much bigger for Eduard Folayang than a first ONE Lightweight World Title defense in front of his home crowd in Manila, Philippines, but it was enhanced by his idol – boxing legend Manny Pacquiao – who was there to cheer him on and present him with the belt.

#8 The Sweet Science Comes To ONE

For the first time ever, world-class boxing arrived in The Home Of Martial Arts as Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defended his WBC Super Flyweight World Title in front of his home crowd in Bangkok, Thailand.

#7 The Young Lion Pounces

Fans around the world were shocked when Shinya Aoki called out featherweight star Christian “The Warrior” Lee for the first defense of his second ONE Lightweight World Title reign. That was nothing compared to the surprise many fans experienced when the challenger recovered from a close first-round armbar attempt to score a stunning upset via KO in the second stanza.

#6 The Greatest Bout

The 2018 Bout Of The Year was also the most spectacular match-up in ONE history. Ken Hasegawa gave Aung La N Sang the most difficult test of his career to date. However, the Myanmar hero raised his game to answer every question asked of him, and finished a toe-to-toe brawl with an unforgettable, highlight-reel uppercut KO.

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.