ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion in Singapore over the weekend didn’t have the main event fans were expecting. Yet it had plenty of action nonetheless. With Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez in attendance, fans were treated to a bantamweight clash between long-reigning champion Bibiano Fernandes, and Kevin Belingon.

The back-and-forth affair did not disappoint. ‘The Silencer’ Belingon had previously lost a title challenge to Fernandes, back in 2016 at ONE Championship: Dynasty of Champions. The Filipino fighter had not, however, lost since that night, winning six straight, including a victory for the interim bantamweight title against two-division champ Martin Nguyen.

That laid the groundwork for a rematch against champ Fernandes. And in a closely contested bout, Belingon was able to score the upset, earning a split decision victory at Heart of the Lion after five rounds.

In the co-main event, short notice additions Christian Lee and Kazuki Tokudome met at a 73kg catchweight. With just days notice (the pair were added after Lee’s sister Angela was forced out of her original main event slot due to injury), Christian was able to submit Tokudome via guillotine choke in the very first round.

Check out highlights of the action from Heart of the Lion below, with all credits to ONE Championship. For full results from the event, visit our Heart of the Lion results page.

The post ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion Gallery appeared first on Cageside Press.

Bibiano Fernandes returns to the cage to defend his bantamweight title against interim champion Kevin Belignon. A member of ONE Championship since 2012, Kevin Belignon has truly come into his own, winning six in a row, half of which by knockout. He claimed the interim title in his last bout by defeating Martin Nguyen by unanimous decision. Bibiano Fernandes is a jiu-jitsu phenom who has yet to lose in the ONE cage in 10 appearances. He is currently on a 14-fight win streak and has defended his title seven times, including a first-round submission over Belignon.

Also featured on this card will be kickboxing legend Giorgio Petrosyan, as well as one of the greatest grapplers in the world, Garry Tonon, continuing his pursuit of an MMA career.

Main Card

• Kevin Belingon def. Bibiano Fernandes by Split Decision (MMA — ONE Bantamweight World Title)
• Christian Lee def. Kazuki Tokudome by TKO in Round 1 (3:07) (MMA — 160lb Catchweight)
• Giorgio Petrosyan def. Sorgraw Petchyindee Academy by Unanimous Decision (ONE Super Series Kickboxing — 156lb Catchweight)
• Tiffany Teo def. Michelle Nicolini by Unanimous Decision (MMA — Strawweight)
• Adrian Pang def. Kota Shimoishi by TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) in Round 1 (5:00) (MMA — Lightweight)
• Jo Nattawut def. George Mann by Unanimous Decision (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — Featherweight)
• Alaverdi Ramazanov def. Andrew Miller by KO in Round 1 (0:57) (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — Bantamweight)

Preliminary Card

We’re LIVE from Singapore with 8 bouts of ONE #HeartOfTheLion! https://t.co/GaUd7WngFw

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 9, 2018

• Garry Tonon def. Sung Jong Lee by Submission (Guillotine) in Round 2 (2:04) (MMA — Featherweight)
• Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke submits Himanshu Kaushik by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke in Round 2 (4:45) (MMA — Strawweight)
• Muangthai P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym def. Panicos Yusuf by Unanimous Decision (ONE Super Series Muay Thai — Bantamweight)
• Shuya Kamikubo def. Muhammad Aiman by Unanimous Decision (MMA — Bantamweight)
• Xie Bin def. Hisyam Samsudin by Submission (D’Arce Choke) in Round 1 (3:19) (MMA — Bantamweight)
• Anthony Engelen def. Meas Meul by KO in Round 1 (0:39) (MMA — Featherweight)

The post ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion – Fernandes vs. Belignon Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

ONE Championship hosted its Heart of the Lion press conference on Wednesday, with the newest members of the ONE family, Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson on hand. While neither man is taking part in the card, they will be taking part in some historic ONE Championship matches moving forward. Those will be part of tournaments ONE has now announced for its flyweight and lightweight divisions.

“It was in Asia that I began, I made a name for myself at a lightweight grand prix. Everything has come full circle,” Alvarez said before introducing himself in Japanese. “I can’t say how excited I am to be here with the ONE family. True martial artists. Integrity, honor, discipline. Putting them things first. Where I’ve been, we’ve sort of lost our way, and it’s good to be back.”

“I feel like I found my way again with the ONE family,” Alvarez added. “I can respect my opponents, I can bow, and I can go in and fight like a man. My lifelong journey of martial arts I know will be truly appreciated here.”

“I look forward to my suffering, I look forward to my training, and I look forward to fighting for the fans here,” he finished.

Demetrious Johnson marveled at how highly ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong spoke of his athletes, then addressed his move to the Asian promotion.

“I spent seven years in North American market fighting the best in the world over in North America, and I have never traveled to Asia to fight the best in Asia,” Johnson said. “And now I think it’s the perfect time to do it.”

“ONE Championship is bringing together two of my greatest passions, mixed martial arts, and gaming. Incredible. Incredible,” the pound-for-pound great exclaimed. “So when I had the opportunity to become a ONE athlete, I could not pass on the opportunity.”

“Now that they’ve just announced that they’re doing a world grand prix for the flyweight division, it’s always been a dream of mine to actually compete in Asia in a world grand prix flyweight division,” he added, promising to train his butt off with the end goal of becoming a champion.

Sityodtong later confirmed that each grand prix would feature eight men. However, whether the current champions would be involved in the tournaments from the outset remains to be seen.

“It’s going to be largely dependent on what happens on November 23 in Manila,” ONE’s CEO said. The lightweight title will be on the line that night. “The idea originally was to create a grand prix without the world champions, and the winner of the grand prix would then face the world champion. But there’s a lot of moving parts in it, so it’s very possible that our world champion will be slotted in one of those eight, on both flyweight and lightweight divisions.”

“So let’s see how things shake out on November 23 in Manila. But nevertheless,” Sityodtong concluded, “this is our first grand prix in history, and we have two of them, and I think our fans are going to go crazy for this.”

Also announced by ONE Championship was its move into the ESports Arena.

The post ONE Championship to Hold Flyweight and Lightweight Grand Prix Tournaments Featuring Mighty Mouse, Alvarez appeared first on Cageside Press.

A massive blow has hit ONE Championship’s big Heart of a Lion card, which is set to go down in just under a week’s time. In a press release late Sunday, ONE officials announced that promotional darling Angela Lee is off the card. Lee had been set to challenge for a second title, at strawweight, in the main event. She currently holds the women’s atomweight title.

Sunday’s press release quoted ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who broke the news on Facebook.

“I am bummed to announce that our medical team has deemed Angela Lee unfit to compete at ONE: HEART OF THE LION this Friday, November 9,” said Sityodtong, in a post to the social media platform.

“As such, I have made the decision to pull Angela off the card, despite her adamance to compete still in the world title fight against Xiong Jing Nan. We all know that Angela is a warrior with an unbreakable spirit. However, she suffered a serious back injury in training last week and badly herniated a spinal disc; she was unable to walk just a few days ago”

“Doctors suspect that the injury originally happened last year when Angela’s car flipped five times on the highway in her near-death accident. If it was up to her, she would still compete this week, even if it meant walking into the cage on crutches. In fact, she is still insisting on competing”

“However, safety is the number-one priority at ONE. On a personal level, I care deeply about the long-term health of our athletes, and would never put our athletes in any compromising situations.”

The blow to the card, which is expected to have Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, and current free agent Sage Northcutt in attendance, is considerable. Xiong Jing Nan, ONE’s strawweight Queen, has been pulled from the event as well.

ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes‘ will now step into the main event, as he takes on interim champ Kevin Belington. A new co-main event has also been added, as Angela Lee’s brother Christian Lee will take on Kazuki Tokudome in a 73kg Catch Weight bout. The pair are stepping up on short notice.

ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion takes place November 9 in Kallang, Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The post Angela Lee Out of ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion appeared first on Cageside Press.

ONE Championship has announced the co-main event for its newly announced Heart of a Lion card. While the main event will be the previously reported champion vs. champion fight between Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan, the co-main event will be a title unification bout. The fight will feature bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes facing interim bantamweight champ Kevin Belington. ONE announced the fight in a press release earlier this week. A ONE Championship official later confirmed the bout’s co-main event status to Cageside Press.

ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion takes place Friday, November 9 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

Fernandes (22–3) has long been considered one of the best bantamweight fighters outside the UFC. The Brazilian has not lost since 2011, and briefly flirted with a UFC deal before ultimately moving on to ONE Championship. There, he has dominated the weight class, winning the title in 2013 and defending it seven times to date. That includes a 2016 submission of Belingon.

Filipino interim champ Kevin Belingon, meanwhile, has not lost since that first fight with Fernandes. Belingon (19–5) has won six straight fights, capturing the interim bantamweight title in a bout against featherweight and lightweight champ Martin Nguyen in July.

The post Bibiano Fernandes vs. Kevin Belingon Set as ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion Co-Main Event appeared first on Cageside Press.