The List: 3 things we’re looking forward to with ONE Championship in April
With the promotion’s historic U.S. debut rapidly approaching, here’s what we’re looking at this month with ONE Championship.
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.