ONE Championship will kick off its partnership with Prime Video on Friday when the streaming giant broadcasts “ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II” live in U.S. primetime.
That evening, ONE Championship will reintroduce its spectacular selection of martial arts action to a North American audience with a thrilling 10-bout card.
With world title showdowns and striking firefights, ONE on Prime Video 1 will showcase some of the promotion’s most electrifying athletes.
Here, we break down three fighters who have the most to gain on Friday.
Liam Harrison
Liam “Hitman” Harrison faces the most challenging matchup of his career when he takes on longtime ONE bantamweight muay Thai world champion Nong-O Gaiyanghadao for the divisional strap in the co-main event.
The Thai superstar’s unbeaten run in ONE Championship, which includes a staggering five world title defenses, makes the British striker the underdog on this occasion. But Harrison’s all-out style means a memorable performance is guaranteed.
That’s been particularly the case in his last several matches. The Englishman blitzed past Mohammed Bin Mahmoud with a decisive first-round TKO and then he ripped through Brayan Matias.
And his latest outing produced one of the greatest single-round fights in combat sports history. “Hitman” recovered from two knockdowns in the opening minutes of his brawl with Muangthai PK.Saenchai and then dropped “Elbow Zombie” to the canvas three consecutive times to earn a shocking TKO.
On Friday, Harrison shoots his shot at ONE world title gold, and if he steps to Nong-O with his textbook fire and dexterity, then “Hitman” may just be able to end the longtime divisional king’s reign.
Demetrious Johnson
Demetrious Johnson (23-4-1) has a chance to avenge the only stoppage loss of his 15-year MMA career.
The American legend was finished by ONE flyweight world champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes (20-3) with a knee to the head when he challenged the Brazilian for the strap back in April 2021.
Now, he gets his chance to earn some redemption when he squares off with Moraes for the World Title once again in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 1.
“Mighty Mouse” has been putting in a lot of work to assure he can close the distance between himself and his opponent, specifically through his BJJ skills.
For his part, Moraes is confident that lightning will strike twice, and he predicts another finish to close out their heated rivalry.
Johnson will capitalize on any mistake the Brazilian makes, though, and he’ll do everything in his power to level the score and snatch the belt.
Kirill Grishenko
Kirill Grishenko (5-1) enters his battle with burgeoning MMA superstar Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida (3-0) at ONE on Prime Video 1 as the lesser-known athlete, but the Belarusian powerhouse truly has the ability to end his Brazilian foe’s hype train.
Grishenko was knocked out cold by Anatoly Malykhin when the two giants collided for the ONE interim heavyweight world title this past February.
But after spending the past six months fine-tuning his craft, the Belarusian believes he will reign supreme over the 17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and put himself right back into the world title picture.
Grishenko will have his work cut out against Almeida, though. The Brazilian has been on a roll in the all-encompassing sport since making his debut last year. Thus far, he has finished all three of his opponents in the first round.
The battle to decide the Belarusian’s fate lies in his grappling abilities. If he can throw “Buchecha” off his game, a win could be within the grasp of the 31-year-old Minsk resident.
