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ONE Big Fight With Japan

First Things First

This Weekend ONE Championship returned to Japan for an attempt at a pay-per-view card. We'll be looking at some of the main card’s grappling action, the bizarre post fight declarations, and what the future holds for the Singaporean Cayman MMA Promotion. Let’s get into it.

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ONE’s Big Pay-Per-View

ONE 165 was the organization’s attempt at a major pay-per-view event. We should start by giving credit where credit is due. ONE brought in stars from several sports, had back-up fighters to save the action, and this generally resulted in good fights. Now, to be less charitable, the events that preceded the fight card the whole event seem sketchy.

Weeks ago, half of the headlining fight, Takeru Segawa, was seemingly pushed into a last-minute replacement fight against Thai sensation Superlek. Rumors indicate ONE Championship knew Takeru’s original opponent, Rodtang, was out for weeks before they announced he needed a replacement. At that point Takeru took the fight, even if by all accounts it was a bait and switch.

Takeru is a Japanese combat sports star. Losing him from this event hosted in Japan could have been disastrous.

On top of Rodtang’s removal from the fight, ONE bantamweight John Lineker weighed in as a potential replacement for an unnamed fight. Then, at the last minute, Lineker replaced lightweight Sage Northcutt to fight Japanese legend Shinya Aoki.

Lineker has fought as low as 125 while Aoki competed at 155 for the majority of his career. There is almost no scenario where the two should be matched up.

Northcutt pulled out because his coaches couldn’t get into Japan to corner him. I’m not sure how coaches could think they’re able to enter a country until the literal last day, but that’s how the issue was presented. And that story really doesn’t pass the sniff test.

If you think this is hard to follow, you’re not alone. ONE 165 was a straight up clusterfuck of fighters getting moved around. The post-fight press conference gave us more weirdness, but, now, let's look at the action from the fights.

Kade Ruotolo vs Tommy Langaker 2

Ruotolo and Langaker’s whole match was a high paced scramble. Based on their first match in ONE Championship that should be no surprise. This time around, Ruotolo had more success getting to Langaker’s head to threaten him with submissions.

Near the end of the match, Ruotolo launched into one final submission.

Again, there was no submission finish, but Ruotolo still took home the win. Before Ruotolo and Langaker had their rematch, another grappling star fought as he continued his MMA career at ONE 165.

Garry Tonon vs Martin Nguyen

American grappling sensation, Tonon, took on former featherweight champion Nguyen. Tonon’s game plan was flawless and the whole fight took less than a round.

The end of the fight came shortly after this exchange. Tonon moved to Nguyen’s back and quickly strangled him.

The win leaves Tonon as the top contender with this belt being defended in March in Qatar.

Shinya Aoki vs John Lineker

In one of the weirdest match-ups of the night Japanese MMA legend Aoki took on Brazilian brawler Lineker. The fight between the 5’3 bantamweight and 5’11 lightweight went just like you’d expect.

After the fight was done Aoki took to the microphone to, allegedly, say he hated Chatri. I say allegedly because I don’t speak Japanese and the translators left that piece of his speech out. Most in attendance claim Aoki screamed that, and more, after his last minute replacement fight was done. Regardless, Chatri took to the press conference to respond and speak about about Aoki’s home country.

One Year Left With One More Enemy

Chatri Sityodtong’s role with ONE Championship is as much fundraiser as it is promoter. He needs to make a spectacle, draw a crowd, and use said spectacle as an opportunity to ask venture capitalists for more money. Perhaps as a response to Shinya Aoki’s comments, and as an attempt to make the spectacle larger, CEO Chatri Sityodtong decided to use the post-fight press conference to besmirch the event’s host nation with the following diatribe.

At best, ONE 165 and its press conference seems weird. At worst, it looks more like targeted pettiness.

Chatri has claimed he wants to showcase the supremacy of Muay Thai and its champions. That statement layered on top of the last second fight switches, pitting Japanese star Takeru against Superlek, really make the whole spectacle stink.

Chatri and ONE claimed 2024 will be the biggest year in the history of their promotion. They said ONE will host sixty events around the world, with four of them in the United States alone, and one major event in Qatar.

When you look on ONE’s website, you see thirteen upcoming events scheduled for the rest of 2024, and only two of them are in the United States. ONE does have a major card in Qatar coming in March, but, after that, there are no confirmed fights listed for the upcoming events.

I love ONE’s fights, but I have serious doubts they will meet their audacious claims. I’d be surprised if they even complete thirty events, let alone are operating by the end of the year.

2024 looks like a do or die year for ONE Championship. They need as many allies as they can get on their quest to be a worldwide brand. And then they choose to pick a fight with Japan, one of the largest markets for mixed martial arts programming in the world.

It’s hard to watch ONE Championship and not be concerned, let alone confused.

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