After holding a number of events chopped up into a mix of live and tape delayed segments during the pandemic, Revolution offered a full eleven fights, and three championship matches topping the bill. That included Joshua Pacio putting his strawweight title on the line in a rubber match with Yosuke Saruta, and lightweight champ Christian Lee taking on Ok Rae Yoon.

The third title fight came in kickboxing, as Capitan took on Mehdi Zatout.

Two champs would retain on Friday, as Capitan earned a unanimous decision, and Pacio starched Saruta to end their trilogy. But Christian Lee was not so fortunate, losing via a unanimous decision, but one that sparked controversy nonetheless.

Full results and a gallery of highlights from ONE: Revolution can be found below.

ONE Championship: Revolution Results

Main Card

Ok Rae Yoon def. Christian Lee (c) by unanimous decision – for the ONE lightweight world championship
Capitan (c) def. Mehdi Zatout by unanimous decision – for the ONE kickboxing bantamweight championship
Joshua Pacio (c) def. Yosuke Saruta by TKO, Round 1, 3:38 – for the ONE strawweight world championship
Kim Jae Woong def. Martin Nguyen by knockout, Round 1, 3:15
Anatoly Malukhin def. Amir Aliakbari by knockout, Round 1, 2:57
Victoria Lee def. Victoria Souza by TKO, Round 2, 3:58

Lead Card

Lito Adiwang def. Hexigetu by unanimous decision
Taiki Naito def. Petchdam by split decision – Muay Thai
Marcus Almeida def. Anderson Silva by submission (north-south choke), Round 1, 2:55
Petchtanong Petchfergus def. Zhang Chenglong by unanimous decision – kickboxing
James Yang def. Roel Rosauro by TKO, Round 2, 2:00

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Almeida was up against Anderson Silva (not that one), a dangerous kickboxer stepping in to replace heavyweight Thomas Narmo at the last minute. The fight ended in the opening round care of a North-South choke.

“I think it was a perfect night for me. Got the submission, could use my jiu-jitsu, I’m very happy right now,” Almeida said following the fight, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press in a post-fight press scrum.

Almeida might have made it look easy, but no doubt there was more to it than that. “I’m not saying it was easy, but I think the game plan worked really well,” Almeida explained. “I knew if I strike against Anderson, it would be really bad for me, because he’s a legend in kickboxing, and I was trying to avoid his best game, and trying to put my best game [to work], so that’s exactly what I did. But I knew if I couldn’t take him down, I easily could have got a lot of damage.”

Almeida also knew that the complexion of the entire fight could change with just one punch. “That’s why I was so careful with the distance.”

“Being honest, of course I’m training a lot, my boxing is getting much better,” Almeida added later. “My game has been evolving so much. Of course, if I say the fight wouldn’t be different if I strike against him, the fight would be the same thing, I would be lying. Because Anderson is a legend of kickboxing. I knew if I strike with him, the fight would end in a very different way, because he’s much better than me in the striking. I knew that, so that’s why I avoided the striking game against him.”

But, Almeida added, “my striking is improving, for sure.” And he’s hoping to get back inside the ONE cage soon. “Yeah, for sure. December 5, I know it’s a big one coming up [ONE X], so I want to be part of that. Let’s do it.”

Watch the full ONE: Revolution post-fight media scrum with Marcus Almeida above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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Despite the long layoff, and fighting in the rubber match of his trilogy with Yosuke Saruta, Pacio exceeded expectations. The end came within a round, Pacio swarming the Japanese fighter for the TKO finish.

“It’s a very amazing feeling to get the win and finish,” Pacio said during his post-fight press scrum in Singapore (attended virtually by media outlets around the globe) on Friday.

Having been out so long, what comes next for “The Passion” is the obvious question. “I’m looking at going back home, take a rest, and train after two weeks. What’s next for me, I think ONE Championship will [book] the ranked #2, Yoshitaka Naito, versus Bokang [Masunyane], or Naito versus me, for a trilogy again. That would be great.”

Pacio (20-3) fell to Naito in his first title bid back in 2016. Two years later, he toppled Naito to claim the promotion’s strawweight title. What comes next, though, “depends on ONE Championship,” Pacio said Friday. “For me, my job is to stay ready, to level up every day. And when ONE Championship calls, I’ll be ready.”

In the meantime, Pacio can revel in a big win that comes on the heels of a very difficult stretch of his career. “For me, it’s very, very satisfying. There was a lot of challenges last year,” he stated. “Pandemic, lockdowns, I got injured, then earlier this year I got COVID-19. I was locked down for four to five weeks. Very hard. Then recovering from that sickness, very hard. I just thank God for everything, for his blessings. I’m here, 100% healthy.”

Watch the full ONE: Revolution post-fight media scrum with Joshua Pacio above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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The Singapore-based card saw her brother toppled as lightweight champ, but the 17-year old Lee had a much better night. Against the previously undefeated Victoria Souza, Lee got the job done with her hands, earning a TKO finish via ground n’ pound.

She’s happy with the result, Lee said during her post-fight press appearance. “I wanted to get a finish, and I did.”

And while she was happy to pick up her first TKO win, it wasn’t something Lee was specifically aiming for. “The plan is just to go in there and finish, whether it be by strikes first or by submission.”

It’s worth noting that at 17-years old, Victoria Lee is still growing, not just as a fighter but potentially physically as well. And fighting women a fair bit older than her — in this case, Souza had a full seven years on her. But Lee told Cageside Press on Friday that she didn’t feel at a disadvantage in terms of strength.

“Based off of my past three fights, I don’t feel that I’m giving up any strength to my opponents, as we all have to make the same weight at 115,” said Lee. Note that under ONE Championship’s weight-cutting rules, the atomweight division, usually 105lbs, sees fighters hit the scales 10lbs heavier. “So we’re all around the same size, and I’ve been training martial arts for a very long time, and I feel that my skills and just my body conditioning has improved to a level where I’m able to compete with other adults.”

One advantage that Lee carries is that the family business is fighting: Lee’s brother Christian is now a former champ, while older sister Angela is the current ONE atomweight champion.

“It’s definitely such a blessing for me to have my brother and sister there in my corner all the time,” she stated. “They’ve gone on almost the exact same journey as me, so whenever I have questions, they’ve already been through it, and they’re able to give me insights that no one else would really know. It’s awesome.”

Preparing to fight alongside her brother didn’t add too much in the way of nerves, she added. “I feel more of the benefits, that we get to train together, and travel together, and just experience everything fight week. I get to be there and experience it with them. Honestly I don’t get nervous for my brother and my sister’s fights, because I’m always there with them training and watching, seeing how hard they work, so when they get into the cage, I don’t feel nervous for them.”

Watch the full ONE: Revolution post-fight media scrum with Victoria Lee above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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For one, the newly crowned lightweight champ made it clear that he feels he did enough to claim victory in his title fight with Christian Lee. As as for reports that he looked “surprised” when the result was read out, that simply was not the case.

“I just want to clear one thing up. People around me, or the media, I’ve seen some comments saying that people thought that I was surprised with the decision, but actually I wasn’t,” he told Cageside Press during Friday’s post-fight press conference. “My corner knew I won, and my corner was telling me that I won, and I knew that I clearly won. It was just that I still couldn’t see out of my left eye, so I was just so focused on there, I wasn’t focused on my name being called as a new champion, because I was just so focused on my eye. So when I heard my name, it was just my reaction, but I knew the decision was a clear victory for me.”

Ok, who improved to 16-3 with the win, took damage to his eye early in the fight. Damage that was clearly visible when all was said and done. He was dropped partway through the five round affair, then rocked and put on skates in the fifth frame. Still, the judges awarded the South Korean a unanimous decision victory.

Many of those watching disagreed. As did Ok Rae Yoon’s opponent. The newly dethroned Christian Lee insisted he’d done enough to win the fight after the event, calling for ONE Championship to review and overturn the result. It’s likely the request will at least be considered, as ONE’s Competition Committee has reviewed similar decisions in the past.

Not surprisingly, Ok feels the now former champ should accept the result. “As a fighter, I believe it’s our job to fight and compete, but it’s the judges’ job to give the decision. And the decision was on my favor unanimously,” he said, asked about Lee’s plan to appeal. “So I believe Christian Lee should as a champion and as a fighter admit to the decision.”

Even had Lee been awarded the win Friday, Ok doesn’t believe his opponent could possibly have been happy with his performance. “Because I believe I won, and he believes he won,” Ok explained. “I think it was a close fight. None of us will be happy with our performances, because of course we want to win more dominantly. If Christian Lee wanted to win and wanted to defend this belt, I think he should have dominated me more. I think the best thing he can do is accept this defeat and ask for a rematch, because I’m game any time for the rematch.”

When that comes remains to be seen. ONE Championship has a big card approaching with December’s ONE X, its anniversary show. But Ok needs to get his eye checked out, and heal up for other damage incurred during the fight.

“As much as possible, this will be my first title defense, so I would like to do it on perfect timing where I know I can prepare fully for my next fight,” he stated, before reiterating his willingness to face Lee again. “I believe Christian Lee is in a spot where he deserves a rematch, so whenever we’re ready, I’m always down for the rematch.”

Watch Ok Rae Yoon’s full ONE: Revolution post-fight media appearance above. More coverage from the event is available below.

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It’s rather hilarious to think anyone would expect the heads of two of the world’s major MMA promotions to duke it out. Then again, Dana White was once expected to box Tito Ortiz, so anything is possible.

The subject was brought up again at ONE: Revolution’s post-fight press conference on Friday. “The two most common questions I get on my social media, or even ONE Championship, is when will there be a ONE versus UFC event, and I would love to do that in a heartbeat, champion versus champion,” said Sityodtong. “And then the second question I always get is, whenever I post— my brown belt promotion, ‘go fight Dana,’ or whenever I post a video of me doing Muay Thai, ‘go fight Dana.'”

Sityodtong, however, questions whether it would be a fair fight. “I honestly don’t think that would be competitive. Does Dana even do martial arts? I don’t think so. I don’t know what his background is. I think he’s an awesome businessman, he’s a great fight promoter, but I don’t think he does martial arts. Not that I know of.”

The question originally arose when the ONE exec was asked about comments White had made in relation to a planned Demetrious Johnson vs. Rodtang special rules bout. At ONE X, the pair are expected to compete in a four-round MMA/Muay Thai hybrid fight — though a COVID-19 positive from Rodtang could see the fight delayed.

White, for his part, wasn’t a fan of the idea, suggesting Muay Thai and MMA should be left separate.

“Dana is a great businessman, but he doesn’t know anything about martial arts,” Sityodtong said in response. “I don’t think he even knows how to throw a leg kick. He talks like it with his athletes, but I’d love to see a video of him throwing a leg kick. So I don’t think he’s qualified to talk about Muay Thai.”

“For me, we have a different approach,” ONE Championship’s CEO continued. “UFC is the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world, ONE is the largest martial arts organization. In that we have many verticals of martial arts. We have mixed martial arts, we have Muay Thai, we have kickboxing, we’ve even had a boxing world title fight, we have submission grappling. We try to excite and delight and surprise combat sports fans from all over the world, and from all genres.”

“[Dana White] can take whatever digs he wants, I’ll take a dig at his leg kicks,” Sityodtong added.

Coming up, ONE Championship will be looking to extend its reach in North America. After a series of shows on Turner’s TNT earlier this year, the promotion is looking for a new TV deal. That could include a return to TNT, or a new broadcast home stateside.

“CAA [Creative Artists Agency] represents us in the U.S. I can tell you that we’ve been on a U.S. media rights roadshow the last several weeks, talking to all major network broadcasters as well as the digital players in the U.S. Knock on wood, if conversations continue as they are, we will have some good news to announce in the coming weeks,” revealed Sityodtong. “Still, we’re right in the middle of it. Obviously Turner is in those discussions as well, but we’re talking to every broadcaster. CAA lined this up for us.”

AEW, the pro wrestling outfit ONE was paired with on TNT, moves to the larger TBS starting in January 2022. That leaves something of a gap in TNT’s programming. Whether ONE follows, returns to TNT, or moves elsewhere remains to be seen.

Watch the full ONE: Revolution post-fight press conference with Chatri Sityodtong above.

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Right up until the result was announced, that is.

Lee, the defending lightweight champion heading into the night, appeared to be in the driver’s seat from the outset. Early in round one, he took the South Korean challenger down, and while he couldn’t keep him there, Lee had soon taken Ok’s back.

As the fight progressed, it was more of the same. Lee damaged the challenger’s eye early, leading to vision troubles for Ok. By the third round, Ok Rae Yoon had begun to find some success on the feet — only to be knocked down by a Lee right hand, leading to a submission attempt.

Round five saw Lee rock Ok in the final minute, but the fight would go the distance — with judges awarding a unanimous decision to the challenger.

The result did not sit well with Christian Lee (15-4), who vowed to appeal the ruling after the fight.

“If I had lost the fight, I would keep my mouth shut. But I did not lose the fight,” Lee told media outlets including Cageside Press following the event. “We look at ONE Championship’s scoring criteria, the number one most important thing in the fight is a near finish. I took my opponent down, I had his back, I had a rear-naked choke on him, I came close to finishing him. I had multiple submission attempts that I put on him. I dropped him, I rocked him multiple times, and in the fifth round, I knocked him out on his feet. He almost dropped to the mat, and he didn’t know where he was.”

Lee insisted that many of Ok’s own attacks were blocked, and pointed to the damage showing on Ok Rae Yoon’s face — and in comparison, how little damage there was on his own.

“My question to the judges, my question to the media, and my question to the fans is, how was this fight judged? I’m not one to complain, but as a champion, I’ll stand firm on my decision that I did not lose this fight,” continued Lee. “I am still the champion, and this decision needs to be overturned, plain and simple.”

Lee is open to a rematch, he added, but he believes it should come with him as champion. “I do want to fight Ok Rae Yoon again, but the thing is, it’s not going to be me fighting Ok Rae Yoon for his belt. I think that the fight needs to be overturned, I think that I won that fight. So Ok Rae Yoon can have a rematch, but I’m still the champion.”

Lee clarified Friday that he had no issue with the South Korean himself. “I have absolutely nothing against Ok Rae Yoon. I’m pissed off with the decision, but that’s not Ok Rae Yoon’s fault.”

The result is likely to go to ONE Championship’s Competition Committee. Whether the decision is overturned remains to be seen; recently, the controversial result in the Denice Zamboanga vs. Seo Hee Ham fight was upheld.

“I’m confident that as a strong and upstanding organization, ONE Championship is going to do what’s right,” an emotional Lee told Cageside Press. “For me, I’m not one to complain if the fight goes to the judges. But I’m the champion, and I won every single one of ONE Championship’s scoring criteria. I came close to getting the finish, you put the two of us side-by-side and see who did more damage. I’m just very upset that there was no premise for how this fight was scored.”

“This is our lives on the line. I’m not just fighting for fun, I’m fighting for my family, I’m fighting for my baby’s future, so this isn’t something I’m just going to take lightly,” Lee continued. “I’m not going to let this poor decision affect my career, and I’m confident ONE Championship is going to do what’s right.”

Watch the full ONE: Revolution post-fight press conference with Christian Lee above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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Opening up the ONE: Revolution main card, the now 17-year old Lee earned her third straight win, third straight stoppage, and first knockout win of any flavor against Brazil’s Victoria Souza. The victory improves Lee’s record to 3-0, after she turned pro earlier this year at just 16.

Lee is the younger sister of Angela and Christian Lee, who have both hit the pinnacle of success in ONE Championship. Angela remains the promotion’s undisputed atomweight champion; brother Christian was unseated in a lightweight title fight atop Friday’s card.

Victoria Lee had a much better night at the office. Early on, she found success with her right hand, firing her jab. Souza’s face was soon glowing red; when the pair went to the ground, it was Lee on top. Souza trapped a leg, preventing the younger fighter from mounting. But as Souza worked her way back to the fence, Lee began dropping elbows.

Souza would make it up, but she was right back down with Lee again in control. The teenager would wind up spending some time on her back late in the round, but never seemed to be in danger.

The second round saw Lee take hold of her opponent with a body lock and fire knees. Lee worked for a trip, got the fight down with a throw, and went back to the elbows she had employed in the opening round, foreshadowing what was to come. While she wouldn’t finish the fight then and there, the end would come later in the round off another Lee takedown. Lee worked on a mounted guillotine before trapping an arm and finishing the fight with ground n’ pound, a volley of elbows landing on Souza before the ref finally waved things off.

Now 3-0 as a pro, Lee has had an extremely successful 2021, and looked comfortable in the cage Friday. It might be too early to start talking about a step up in competition, but if she continues performing the way she has, that will likely come sooner rather than later.

Official Result: Victoria Lee def. Victoria Souza by TKO, Round 2, 3:58

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Three title fights topped the event, which featured eleven fights in total, and some of ONE’s biggest names.

Atop the marquee, lightweight champion Christian Lee looked to make the third defense of his title against South Korean Ok Rae Yoon. Though not exactly a household name, Ok had hit the radar thanks to a win over former UFC and Bellator MMA lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

While a bantamweight kickboxing title fight anchored the co-main event, featuring Capitan and Mehdi Zatout, it was back to MMA for the third championship bout. That had Joshua Pacio defending his strawweight title opposite Yosuke Saruta, in the rubber match of their trilogy.

Also on the card, former champ Martin Nguyen, young star Victoria Lee, and in his debut, James Yang, training partner of Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

ONE: Revolution kicks off at 6:30AM ET on Friday, September 24. Full results can be found below. Where available, a live stream of all the action can be viewed in the embed above.

ONE Championship: Revolution Results

Main Card

Ok Rae Yoon def. Christian Lee (c) by unanimous decision – for the ONE lightweight world championship
Capitan (c) def. Mehdi Zatout by unanimous decision – for the ONE kickboxing bantamweight championship
Joshua Pacio (c) def. Yosuke Saruta by TKO, Round 1, 3:38 – for the ONE strawweight world championship
Kim Jae Woong def. Martin Nguyen by knockout, Round 1, 3:15
Anatoly Malukhin def. Amir Aliakbari by knockout, Round 1, 2:57
Victoria Lee def. Victoria Souza by TKO, Round 2, 3:58

Lead Card

Lito Adiwang def. Hexigetu by unanimous decision
Taiki Naito def. Petchdam by split decision – Muay Thai
Marcus Almeida def. Anderson Silva by submission (north-south choke), Round 1, 2:55
Petchtanong Petchfergus def. Zhang Chenglong by unanimous decision – kickboxing
James Yang def. Roel Rosauro by TKO, Round 2, 2:00

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Among the standouts, lightweight champ Christian Lee puts his title on the line against Ok Rae Yoon, with the challenger fresh off a win over former UFC/Bellator MMA champ Eddie Alvarez. Also on the card, the rubber match in the trilogy between strawweight champion Joshua Pacio and Japanese ex-champ Yosuke Saruta.

Joining those two title fights is a bantamweight kickboxing championship bout, the return of teenage sensation Victoria Lee, former double-champ Martin Nguyen, and the debut of BJJ world champ Marcus Almeida.

ONE: Revolution kicks off Friday at 7:30AM ET live from Singapore. Full weigh-in and hydration results, released in a press release earlier this evening, can be found below.

ONE Championship: Revolution Weigh-In and Hydration Results

ONE Lightweight World Championship (70.4 KG – 77.1 KG)
Christian Lee (76.50 KG, 1.0044) vs. Ok Rae Yoon (77.10 KG, 1.0229)

ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship (61.3 KG – 65.8 KG)
Capitan Petchyindee Academy (65.45 KG, 1.0136) vs. Mehdi Zatout (65.80 KG, 1.0233)

ONE Strawweight World Championship (52.3 KG – 56.7 KG)
Joshua Pacio (56.65 KG, 1.0053) vs. Yosuke Saruta (56.45 KG, 1.0018)

Mixed Martial Arts – Featherweight (65.9 KG – 70.3 KG)
Martin Nguyen (70.30 KG, 1.0207) vs. Kim Jae Woong (70.15 KG, 1.0099)

Mixed Martial Arts – Heavyweight (102.2 KG – 120.2 KG)
Amir Aliakbari (118.25 KG, 1.0248) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (111.90 KG, 1.0107)

Mixed Martial Arts – Atomweight (47.7 KG – 52.2 KG)
Victoria Lee (51.80 KG, 1.0023) vs. Victoria Souza (51.50 KG, 1.0053)

Mixed Martial Arts – Strawweight (52.3 KG – 56.7 KG)
Lito Adiwang (56.45 KG, 1.0128) vs. Hexigetu (56.70 KG, 1.0168)

Muay Thai – Flyweight (56.8 KG – 61.2 KG)
Petchdam Petchyindee Academy (60.80 KG, 1.0087) vs. Taiki Naito (61.20 KG, 1.0244)

Mixed Martial Arts – Heavyweight (102.2 KG – 120.2 KG)
Marcus Almeida (116.05 KG, 1.0214) vs. Anderson Silva (119.10 KG, 1.0044)

Kickboxing – Bantamweight (61.3 KG – 65.8 KG)
Petchtanong Petchfergus (65.55 KG, 1.0107) vs. Zhang Chenglong (65.80 KG, 1.0031)

Mixed Martial Arts – Featherweight (65.9 KG – 70.3 KG)
James Yang (69.90 KG, 1.0040) vs. Roel Rosauro (69.00 KG, 1.0195)

Hydration values less than or equal to 1.0250 earn a passing mark, while values greater than or equal to 1.0251 earn a failing mark. Athletes who failed weight and hydration tests on Day 1 or Day 2 are given another chance to clear tests on the morning of the event.

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