ONE Championship confirms US on-ground debut, Demetrious Johnson headlines in Adriano Moraes trilogy
- Singapore-based promotion will finally host an event in United States next year at the 1stBank Centre in Denver, Colorado
- A trilogy between legendary flyweight MMA champion Johnson and Moraes is set for the main event on May 5
ONE Championship will finally make its long-touted, on-ground debut in the United States on May 5 in Denver, Colorado.
A trilogy bout between the flyweight MMA champion Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes will headline the card at the 6,500-capacity 1stBank Centre.
“This is a monumental day in the history of ONE Championship,” chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong said.
“We are very grateful for the support of the state athletic commission and look forward to putting on an unforgettable show for our passionate fan base in the US and watching around the world.”
“Mighty Mouse” Johnson (24-4-1), the legendary former UFC champion, swiped the title from Moraes (20-4) in August in Singapore after a stunning fourth-round flying knee knockout.
The 33-year-old Brazilian had shocked the American, 36, with a knee of his own in April 2021, taking a second-round finish.
No other bouts have been confirmed yet, though the card will undoubtedly feature a heavy American presence, with newly-minted ONE strawweight MMA champion Jarred Brooks likely to make his first defence after taking the title from Joshua Pacio in Manila at the weekend.
ONE will also surely look to book Hawaii-based Canadian-American siblings Angela Lee – the promotion’s women’s atomweight champ – and Christian Lee, the men’s lightweight and welterweight king, for title defences.
Chatri claims ONE Championship ‘bigger than UFC’, has better roster
Angela could be set to face former UFC star Ham Seo-hee of South Korea, while Saygid Izagakhmaev – with legendary former UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner – may be next in line for Christian.
May 5’s card, set to be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service in the US and Canada, will see Singapore-based martial arts promotion ONE finally host an event Stateside after 11 years in Asia.
Colorado was the most likely destination for a US debut, after it reportedly became the first US State Athletic Commission to approve the organisation’s Global Ruleset in July 2021, including hydration testing.
The practice, intended to prevent serious weight cutting, has drawn criticism from fans in the US, with multiple fighters failing to make weight for ONE’s recent Prime Video cards, and two headlining champions – John Lineker and Kiamrian Abbasov – even losing their belts on the scale.
“I was thankful it was only a couple of fighters missed this time,” Chatri told the Post after Saturday morning’s ONE on Prime Video 5 card in the Philippines.
“Not only do you have to check in multiple times during fight week, but we check your weight after the fight and if you’re not within 5 per cent of your fight weight you will get penalised, a percentage of your purse. If it’s a title fight you don’t get a champion’s pay.
“There’s no getting around the hydration system and we’re very serious about keeping our athletes as healthy as possible. We have 70 per cent finish rate because athletes are fresher, stronger, feeling better, and can deliver better performances.
“A lot of times if a weight cut goes wrong in other organisations or under the Unified Rules, you have a guy who cuts 20 pounds of water weight and puts it back on, feels sluggish, goes in there and just doesn’t look good win or lose. I think more athletes, fans and eventually organisations will follow ONE’s lead. It’s definitely the future.”
