One Championship: Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson fights bust myths about Asian martial arts

The normally reserved Japanese fight audience are known to keep their expression of appreciation to polite clapping. But they were dancing in the aisles at the Ryogoku Kokugikan for One Championship’s spectacular Tokyo debut. And they were right to – the Singapore-based mixed martial arts company put on its greatest event to date, a stacked card fittingly titled “A New Era”. For the first time, a truly global audience tuned in – One was trending on Twitter in the US, with plenty eager to see the debuts of former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson. It didn’t go so well for Alvarez. He was expected to walk through opponent Timofey Nastyukhin, but the Russian knockout artist floored him in the first round. That sent shock waves through the world of MMA, ending the myth that One – and Asia – is the place for fighters who aren’t good enough to be in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The US-based UFC is undoubtedly the world’s premier organisation in terms of appeal and revenue. But One is determined to catch up, and it is keen to show they can match them in the cage for talent. “I got to watch that fight, I was in the same locker room as Timofey,” said Demetrious Johnson. “He looked phenomenal, Eddie did too. Timofey is just a nasty striker, he was able to catch Eddie and put him away. “He’s not known, but a fight like that I’m pretty sure everybody knows who Timofey Nastyukhin is now. That’s all it takes – fight someone who has a bigger name and take it off him. One will do a great job of promoting him now and the world will know who he is.” Johnson, the man considered the greatest of all time, pound-for-pound, certainly fared better than Alvarez. He came through some adversity in the first round against a game Yuya Wakamatsu to submit the Japanese fighter in the second round. “People can always say DJ is gonna blow through everybody. When I’m in the gym training, I’m not thinking like that,” added Johnson, who progressed to the semi-finals of the flyweight grand prix, the winner of which will earn a title shot. “I never thought in a million years I’d be here competing in Japan, I was scared honestly to go overseas to fight at the beginning in my career. With the time difference and everything, there’s a lot that goes into it. My first event competing for One, it was amazing. “It exceeded my expectations. For me to come over here and compete where it first started, in this style of competition, I’m just blown away.” Such praise from a UFC legend is indicative of how far One has come since it was founded in 2011. Their ambitions were always huge, with 11,000 in attendance for their first event in Singapore. “For me this is the beginning of a new era for martial arts globally, not just Japan,” Chatri Sityodtong, One’s founder, said. “To receive so much love from the globe, it’s unbelievable to me. "Hold on, wait a minute, let me put some DJ in it!" @MightyMouse #WeAreONE #ANewEra #Tokyo #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/JfSa3nU62x — ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) 9 April 2019 “This was a smashing success, the fights were outstanding. I couldn’t have asked for a better night, but I tell you it’s only the very beginning.” It was a full house at the 11,000-capacity Sumo Hall, but Chatri is targeting a stadium twice the size for One’s return to Tokyo in October – for which a big fight between light heavyweight and heavyweight champions Aung La N Sang and Brandon Vera was announced in the cage on Sunday. “We’re exploring all options right now but we would like to be in a much bigger stadium,” Chatri said. “The reason we chose it in the first place is because Ryogoku is such a historic monument in Japanese history and culture. Aung La N Sang's "BIG KABOSH" from ONE: A NEW ERA! @AungLANsang #WeAreONE #ANewEra #Tokyo #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/vkOK3V9sfA — ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) 5 April 2019 “We wanted to pay respect to martial arts, and to show respect to Japan. Could we have been in a stadium twice the size and still sell out? I definitely think we could have.” The international stars of MMA clearly want a piece of the pie and you can see why – Alvarez and Johnson are said to be on million-dollar contracts. “Without giving details of the actual deal, I think most fighter’s contracts are based on show and win, and my contract in particular was a little more involved than that,” Alvarez told ABS-CBN after signing with One last October. “There was a lot more details in it, and I think it was just a true partnership, not just to come in and show and ‘here’s your win money,’ and goodbye, it’s more than that. The promotion valued me, they see more value than just being a fighter and they compensated me because of it.” The KO that shocked the ! Remember the name ▶️ Timofey Nastyukhin! #WeAreONE #ANewEra #Tokyo #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/JHBwgfwCML — ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) 4 April 2019 Former UFC prospect “Super” Sage Northcutt has also jumped ship, and will headline May’s card in Singapore. The 23-year-old said he wants to win titles in all three of One’s disciplines – the company also puts on Muay Thai and kick-boxing fights. They’ve clearly also convinced Renzo Gracie, the founding father of MMA. The sixth degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt made his professional debut in 1992, and fought for One for the first time last year at the age of 51. One Championship: Manila’s turn to join the party as Martin Nguyen puts title on the line “I did call Renzo Gracie, and he’s a friend of mine and I respect him and his opinion means a lot to me, so I called him,” Alvarez said. “I spoke with him, and I trust him, I trust his word and what he says, and a lot of what he said, it had bearing on what I was going to do.” “He spoke very highly of Chatri and he spoke very highly of the ethics and the integrity behind the promotion and how they treat the fighters. These were important things to me, things that I was most curious about, and he kind of let me know that I would be in good hands.”