ONE Championship reveals six-fight card for October 30 event

Eduard Folayang has a scheduled fight this month.

ONE Championship has shed some light on their upcoming schedule, formalizing their mixed martial event at the end of the month.

To be hosted at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, ONE: Inside the Matrix, will take place on October 30, with six matches on the card, including four title fights and the involvement of a Filipino fighter.

Serving as the main event is current two-division champion Aung La N Sang defending his ONE Middleweight title against the undefeated Reinier de Ridder.

Hometown bet Christian Lee will defend his ONE Lightweight title against the undefeated Iuri Lapicus, while Martin Nguyen will defend his ONE Featherweight title against former Thanh Le.

Capping the title fights is a rematch, with Tiffany Teo seeking revenge against Xiong Jin Nan for the ONE Women's Strawweight title. Teo and "The Panda" faced off back in January 2018 to determine the first women's strawweight champion, with the Chinese claiming victory over the Singaporean in Jakarta.

Our very own Eduard Folayang seeks to get himself back into the title scene with a win against Antonio Caruso, while completing the card as the opening fight is Ritu Phogat against Nou Srey Pov.

ONE: Inside the Matrix seeks to continue to gains from ONE: Reign of Dynasties last October 9, which was the first pilot production by the outfit in partnership with the Singapore government. The country has implemented measures to mitigate the presence of COVID-19, and such measures will also be in place for this event.

Like recent ONE Championship events, it is a closed-door activity, with only the athletes, officials, and crew allowed inside SIS.

Make sure to check out ONE Sports on its social media platforms for details on the telecast of ONE: Inside the Matrix.

Martin Nguyen ends ONE Championship bantamweight bid

Two-division champion Martin Nguyen is not planning to be a three-division champ anytime soon

After a couple of tries, current Featherweight and Lightweight world champion Martin Nguyen is ending his bid at the ONE Championship Bantamweight division.

The Situ-Asian suffered back-to-back losses in title fights attempting to snag said championship, first losing via split decision to current champion Bibiano Fernandes at ONE: Iron Will in Bangkok back in March, then lost to Kevin Belingon for the interim title a few weeks ago during ONE: Reign of Kings.

Nguyen felt naive thinking that the weight cut to make bantamweight was not going to be an issue. He says that "it played out in the fight," adding "I did not feel tired – I could have gone another five rounds, but with my toe, it just came to a point where my reactions were off, and Kevin’s speed was impeccable. I could not adjust, and everything just came into play."

He adds, "It was a good learning curve, and a good experience overall, but I will stick to my roots where my body feels stronger and more comfortable."

Now that he has shifted his focus back at defending his two belts, there are a plethora of challengers looking to take their chance at plucking either title out of his grasp.

The lightweight division has former champions Shinya Aoki and Eduard Folayang, with solid contenders Ev Ting, Timofey Nastyukhin, and Honorio Banario.

Aoki, in particular, has intrigued Nguyen as a potential opponent for the lightweight title, which he has yet to defend since defeating Folayang back in November to become the champion. Martin notes, "he has taken out his last two opponents devastatingly with first-round finishes. He is not riding decisions like Eduard and Ev. Yeah, they put up good fights, and they have fought good opponents, but Shinya has fought good opponents, too, and he put them away in the first round."

Aoki needed just 5:31 to take care of his last two opponents, forcing Rasul Yakhyaev to tap after just over three minutes in Singapore, then taking just over a couple of minutes to defeat Shannon Wiratchai in Manila.

As for the other lightweight contenders, Nguyen thinks that Nastyukhin seems to be one who is not as busy as one wants to be in seeking a title shot, while Banario has Amir Khan in his sights in Shanghai. If Honorio beats Amir, he adds, "we will see if he jumps ahead."

With regards to the featherweight division, of which he has had one title defense, a split decision victory over Christian Lee back in May in Singapore, Martin sees former champion Narantungalag Jadambaa as a viable challenger, acknowledging "Tungaa" as "the ex-king," "a legend," and as someone "who has been in this sport forever." The Mongolian is 4-1 in his last five matches, with back-to-back victories over Kazuki Tokudome and Edward Kelly.

In addition, a title rematch against Marat Gafurov could potentially be in the cards, which sets up a trilogy between the two fighters, as they have split their previous two meetings. Nguyen though believes that "The Cobra" should have at least two more fights before getting a title rematch.

For the latest ONE Championship updates, one can check out www.onefc.com.

Champion vs Champion set for ONE: Iron Will main event

ONE Championship

Current ONE Featherweight and Lightweight World Champion Martin Nguyen has a shot to make history, as ONE Championship has set him up for a title match at ONE: Iron Will.

Set to take place on March 24 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, "The Situ-Asian" is the title challenger for the ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes, with the matchup set to be the main event for ONE: Iron Will. A win would turn the Sydney native into a champion across three divisions.

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong views the Fernandes-Nguyen as a "tremendous matchup," adding that it is "one that the whole world wants to see." He also shares, "I have no doubt that these two warriors will be putting on a great show for everyone watching live in Bangkok."

Nguyen is fresh from claiming the ONE Lightweight title from Eduard Folayang, becoming the first fighter in ONE Championship to hold titles in different weight divisions simultaneously. A win against current champion Fernandes would further etch his name in greatness.

Fernandes is one of the best mixed martial artists in the world today, regardless of promotion. He has yet to be defeated in ONE Championship action since becoming the ONE Bantamweight champion in 2013. He is fresh from forcing Andrew Leone to tap via rear-naked choke in the first round.

For further details on ONE: Iron Will and other updates from ONE Championship, one can check out www.onefc.com.

Martin Nguyen makes ONE Championship history, claims Lightweight title

The Main Event of ONE: Legends of the World

Fans were left at the edge of their seats at the latest ONE Championship mixed martial arts offering, ONE: Legends of the World on Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena, highlighted by the dramatic ending to the main event, as Martin Nguyen became the first simultaneous two-division champion in ONE FC history.

The Situ-Asian pulled off that feat with a second round knockout of the incumbent champion Eduard Folayang, with Nguyen uncorking his explosive signature right hand while "The Landslide" was launching his patented spinning backfist. This was both fighters were plastering each other with hard strikes all fight long.

As a result, Nguyen adds the ONE Lightweight title to the ONE Featherweight title he claimed back in August. He then said that his main objective was to get either a TKO or a submission. He adds, "Eduard, I still love you like a brother, I hope you're fine and I hope you come back stronger. I'm still your number one fan."

In the co-main event, reigning ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes successfully defended his title against Danny Kingad, doing so with a first round rear naked choke submission. "Mikinho" neutralized the striking advantage of "The King" early on, using his high-level ground game, eventually putting in the rear-naked choke that forced the Filipino to submit with seconds remaining in the round.

Moraes praised Kingad's performance in what he viewed as a tough fight, noting that "He has a big future ahead of him." However, he adds that this is still his time, his house, his belt, and his class.

Other than the two losses to end ONE: Legends of the World, the rest of the Filipino contingent was relatively successful in the card.

Kevin Belingon solidified his claim as a top contender in the bantamweight division with a unanimous decision victory over Korean-American dynamo Kevin Chung, as used his stand-up skill set to produce right crosses and lashing kicks, while fending off whatever grappling skills the "Oldboy" tried to use.

Fil-Australian Reece McLaren claimed a submission victory over Anatpong Bunrad in his flyweight debut. "Lightning" managed to catch his opponent in an anaconda choke that he would then turn into a D'Arce choke, forcing the Thai to tap with seconds remaining in the first round.

Gina Iniong extended her winning streak in ONE Championship with a second round finish of Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol, as she delivered a flurry of ground punches to the Indonesian whilst in a crucifix to force a referee stoppage

In an all-Filipino matchup, Joshua Pacio bounced back from his submission loss to Hayato Suzuki in Macao last August with a smashing second round knockout of Roy Doliguez, doing so with a well-timed spinning back-fist to "The Dominator."

Speaking of Suzuki, the Japanese prospect lost his first match in his professional mixed martial arts career, losing to Alex Silva. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion black belt used his grappling skills to his advantage to force a first round submission via armbar.

Completing the cast of winners in ONE: Legends of the World are Zhao Zhi Kang, as "The Ghost" forced Thai Rithy to tap via rear-naked choke in the first round, Xie Chao, who dispatched Kelvin Ong in the second round with crisp elbows, and Peng Xue Wen, who defeated Phat Soda in the first round via knockout.

Official ONE: Legends of the World results:

ONE Lightweight World Championship bout: Martin Nguyen defeats Eduard Folayang by Knockout (KO) at 2:20 minutes of round 2

ONE Flyweight World Championship bout: Adriano Moraes defeats Danny Kingad by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:45 minutes of round 1

Bantamweight bout: Kevin Belingon defeats Kevin Chung by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Strawweight bout: Alex Silva defeats Hayato Suzuki by Submission (Armbar) at 1:22 minutes of round 1

Flyweight bout: Reece McLaren defeats Anatpong Bunrad by Submission (D’arce Choke) at 4:52 minutes of round 1

Featherweight bout: Zhao Zhi Kang defeats Thai Rithy by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)  at 2:31 minutes of round 1

Women’s atomweight bout: Gina Iniong defeats Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol by TKO (Strikes) at 2:12 minutes of round 2

Strawweight bout: Joshua Pacio defeats Roy Doliguez by Knockout (KO) at 0:38 minutes of round 2

Featherweight bout: Xie Chao defeats Kelvin Ong by TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) at 1:48 minutes of round 1

Strawweight bout: Peng Xue Wen defeats Phat Soda by Knockout (KO) at 2:15 minutes of round 1