March was an eventful month for ONE Championship.
The promotion had a slew of noteworthy highlights, including two huge world title bouts that capped off a chaotic ONE Fight Night 8, as well as the highly anticipated rematch between two-sport ONE world champion Regian Eersel and Sinsamut Klinmee at ONE Friday Fights 9.
As the curtain falls on another action-packed month, you might be wondering what is in store for April. Here are just a few of the most tantalizing prospects in store for this month.
1. All the build-up to ONE’s historic U.S. debut
The countdown is on to arguably the biggest night in ONE history.
“ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III” will be a landmark event, as the promotion makes its on-ground debut in the United States.
There is bound to be plenty of buzz across the globe in the lead-up to the sold-out event at 1STBANK Center in Colorado, as all the news and storylines relating to the stacked card.
ONE has rolled out the big guns for its historic night, with a stacked card featuring some of its biggest stars such as Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Sage Northcutt, Stamp Fairtex, Aung La N Sang, Roberto Soldic, Reinier de Ridder and Mikey Musumeci.
The blockbuster event is headlined by the epic trilogy showdown between ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (24-4-1) and former flyweight king Adriano Moraes (20-4).
2. ONE’s most dominant champion is back in action
Nong-O Hama has been absolutely dominant since joining the ONE roster back in 2018.
The 36-year-old will attempt to defend his ONE bantamweight muay Thai world championship for the eighth time against British striking star Jonathan Haggerty in the ONE Fight Night 9 headliner on April 21.
Nong-O’s last five wins have come via knockout, the latest of which was a three-round demolition of former bantamweight kickboxing king Alaverdi Ramazanov at ONE Friday Fights 1 in January.
However, he will have to get past Haggerty at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, in order to continue his historic run.
“The General” is a former ONE flyweight muay Thai world champion who made a successful jump to the bantamweight division in November, when he took out Russian contender Vladimir Kuzmin.
3. A pivotal strawweight clash
Also at ONE Fight Night 9, the ONE strawweight world championship picture will get some clarity as a crucial clash takes center stage.
Second-ranked contender Bokang Masunyane (8-1) will face off against No. 3-ranked Hiroba Minowa (13-3) in a bout that will be closely watched by the division’s reigning titleholder, Jarred Brooks.
Japan’s Minowa made an impressive start to his ONE career back in 2020, when the 24-year-old beat longtime contender Lito Adiwang before adding former strawweight king Alex Silva to his list of victims in 2021.
South Africa’s Masunyane made a similar impression after signing with the promotion in 2019.
“Little Giant” topped Ryuto Sawada in his debut, and then he crushed Rene Catalan with a highlight-reel head kick in his sophomore appearance.
Both men’s winning runs have since come to an end at the hands of “The Monkey God.” but a win for either on April 21 will push them to the front of the queue for a rematch – as far as the rankings are concerned.
