After a devastating setback in his ONE Championship debut, former UFC and Bellator MMA lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will return at Dawn of Heroes in August, joining Demetrious Johnson on what looks to be a stacked card.
ONE Championship will return to the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines on August 2. When they do, they’ll be bringing two of their big pickups with them. Both Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson will appear on the Dawn of Heroes card, but neither will serve as the main event. That honor goes to Jonathan Haggerty, who will defend his flyweight Muay Thai title against Thailand’s Rodtang “Iron Man” Jitmuangnon.
Haggerty won titles in Britain and mainland Europe in Muay Thai, before defeating Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in May to win ONE’s flyweight title.
The co-main event, meanwhile, will see Eddie Alvarez (29–7 (1)) get a second go under the ONE banner. It will be no easy feat, however, as ‘The Underground King’ has been paired up with the Philippines’ own Eduard Folayang. Folayang (21-7) is a former two-time ONE lightweight champion, whose second reign was ended last time out when he lost the belt to Shinya Aoki.
Alvarez himself has lost two straight, to Dustin Poirier at UFC Calgary in 2018, and most recently against Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE Championship: A New Era in Tokyo this past March. The Nastyukhin loss was a devastating knockout that left Alvarez with a nasty eye injury.
Earlier in the night, Demetrious Johnson will continue on in the ONE flyweight world grand prix. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was victorious in the opening round of the tournament at A New Era, defeating Yuya Wakamatsu via second round submission.
At ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes, Johnson (28–3–1) will face Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada. Wada (21-10-2, 1 NC) is a two-time DEEP flyweight champion, who has also fought under the RIZIN FF banner. He’s 2-2 in ONE, and won his opening round bout against Gustavo Balart.
Also appearing on the Dawn of Heroes card, Danny Kingad (12-1) will meet Kairat Akhmetov (26-2) in the second ONE world flyweight grand prix semi-final fight.
The ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes card currently breaks down as follows:
ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship
Jonathan Haggerty (C) vs Rodtang Jitmuangnon
ONE Super Series Muay Thai (4oz. gloves): 61.2kg
Eduard Folayang vs Eddie Alvarez
Mixed Martial Arts: 77.1kg
ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Semi-Finals
Demetrious Johnson vs Tatsumitsu Wada
Mixed Martial Arts: 61.2kg
ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Semi-Finals
Danny Kingad vs Kairat Akhmetov
Mixed Martial Arts: 61.2kg
ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Semi-Finals
Honorio Banario vs Timofey Nastyukhin
Mixed Martial Arts: 77.1kg
Reece McLaren vs Yuya Wakamatsu
Mixed Martial Arts: 61.2kg
Leandro Issa vs Daichi Takenaka
Mixed Martial Arts: 65.8kg
Ayaka Miura vs Samara Santos
Mixed Martial Arts: 56.7kg
Neunglanlek Jitmuangnon vs Chris Shaw
ONE Super Series Muay Thai (4oz. gloves): 65.8kg
