The Best Title Fights in ONE Championship

It’s a high-drama event complete with skills, stakes, and shocks. But, even in a world complete with stellar performances, there are still ones that stand out immortal classics. We’ll be looking at five of those fights that everybody should watch and no one will forget.

Eduard Folayang vs. Shinya Aoki I

This title fight was a definite turning point in the history of ONE Championship. The nature of this upset was on a scale so massive that it snapped Western audiences into realizing that MMA did exist in this part of the world.

For those that don’t remember what it was like in the days leading up to 11 November 2016, here’s the deal.

Tale of the Tape

Shinya Aoki was an MMA veteran that fought in Pride, Shooto, Bellator, Strikeforce, K-1, M-1 and Dream. He’s had fights with Eddie Alvarez, Gilbert Melendez, Kazushi Sakuraba, and even Fedor Emelianenko.

He defeated Kotetsu Boku to become the ONE Lightweight Champion in only his second fight in the promotion, and defended his title against Kamal Shalorus and Koji Ando. His record before the fight was 39-6.

Eduard Folayang, on the other hand, was a 16-5 Regional Champion that had never finished anyone in his entire career in ONE. He previously lost to Kamal Shalorus, Lowen Tynanes, and Timofey Nastyukhin.

The biggest names he’d beaten at that point were Kotetsu Boku and Adrian Pang.

Every conceivable metric from experience, skillset, quality of opponent, and finish rate pointed to one undeniable conclusion – this was a stomp.

So what happened?

Shocks The World!

Aoki sent the fight to the ground as soon and as often as possible. Nobody was thinking of a Folayang win, the only question was how long the Filipino can keep his defense up.

In fact, his biggest victory in the first rounds was just getting back up to his feet. Mitch Chilson was even surprised that Folayang was able to get out of the first round after giving up his back early.

Moral victories and survival were said a lot in even up to the top of the third round. It only took 30 seconds after that for Folayang to score his first knockout win in ONE and the Lightweight belt.

The promotion was never the same after that fight. There was a definite feeling of hope in the lower tiers of the promotion that they can challenge the big names of the sport.

All over Asia, fighters in regional promotions saw that their dreams were possible. They only needed the chance to make them happen and shock the world.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Jonathan Haggerty I

On 4 May, 2019, Jonathan Haggerty didn’t just put a target on his back by beating Sam-A Gaiyanghadao at ONE: For Honor, he also picked the shooter when he called out Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

Picking His Poison

Haggerty’s battle to win the title was one that shook the Muay Thai world. Similar to how Folayang’s win gave fighters all over Asia hope to compete in the big leagues, Haggerty showed that the world was catching up to Thailand.

Not only did the Englishman win, he won in the style that the Thais hold in high regard, using superior technique and the entire Muay Thai arsenal to dismantle his opponent instead of brute force.

On the other hand, even though he was yet to have a big name added to his resume during his tenure in ONE, Rodtang was already one of – if not – the most feared man in the division.

His aggressive come-forward style and the fact that the hardest punch, elbows, knees and kicks don’t seem to affect him gave the Iron Man a fearsome reputation.

Pushing Each Other

The title fight itself was as competitive as it can get, with the intensity slowly building with each round. It’s easy to see how Rodtang started slow as per usual with Thais. But then he got more and more into it as Haggerty pushed him to actually get in the fight.

Rodtang is only worth watching when he starts beating his chest, shaking his head at his opponents, and calling his opponent forward. Haggerty is at his best when he pulls off his moves flawlessly.

It was a clash of styles that fit well into their gameplans. Haggerty starts strong and doesn’t let his opponents get back in the fight. Rodtang, sometime in the middle rounds, decides that he’s not getting hurt and bulldozes through the opposition.

In this fight, both athletes showed the two different faces of Muay Thai and constantly pushed each other to their limit. If Rodtang didn’t score that knockdown in the fourth round, it would have been a much harder fight to score.

This fight was a test of wills that we might not see again for a long time.

Angela Lee vs. Mei Yamaguchi IThis isn’t the first time I’ve talked about this title fight and it probably won’t be the last – it’s just that good.

This is one of the fights that really set ONE Championship apart from its regional counterparts. It instantly created a star, as well as a compelling rivalry that their marketing machine can build on.

ONE Championship Against The World

The fight for the inaugural Atomweight title was a baptism of fire for both Angela Lee and the promotion as a whole.

Lee was the homegrown star, that ONE had been building up as their introduction to the world. Mei Yamaguchi was the globe-trotting veteran that’s fought everywhere on the map.

The Japanese star represented everything that the fledgling promotion needed to become. If they can’t overcome her, it meant that their talent still had a long way to go before presuming to get on the international stage.

An Unstoppable Star is Born

This title fight lasted all five rounds and was a back-and-forth MMA bonanza.

Both fighters were going for broke all throughout and brought everything they had. There were submission attempts, sweeps, overhand rights, knockdowns. Name a move and it was probably in there somewhere.

It would have been easy for the young Lee to crumble under the pressure of both the fight and the fighter she was up against. However, thanks to the support of her family in the corner, she was able to persevere.

This victory gave her the needed confidence, not only to defend her title, but to do so in the most dominant manner possible. No one in the Atomweight division has been able to touch her. That fact and the prospect of finally beating her is what’s attracting much of the best female talent to ONE.

Her success in this fight allowed ONE to forge a legacy and a lot of interest in what the little promotion that could has to offer the world.

Angela Lee vs. Xiong Jingnan I

It’s really a testament to the star power and skill of Angela Lee that she’s on this list twice. Even if the result of the two are different for her.

Nowhere To Go But Up

Dominance in any sport has a cruel side effect. What does a Champion do if there are no more viable rivals to challenge their reign?

In combat sports, the answer is grab another belt.

Luckily for Lee, ONE just created the Women’s Strawweight title in January 2018 and was won by Xiong Jingnan. After Lee settled her rematch with Yamaguchi in May of the same year, there was literally no one left to challenge her.

She was chomping at the bit for something to do, and a Champion versus Champion super-fight was just what the doctor ordered.

Stopping The Unstoppable

This title fight is amazing for two different reasons.

First, a competition between two of the best women in the promotion with contrasting styles is always compelling. Lee is primarily a grappler, with five out of her nine victories coming via submission.

Xiong, on the other hand, is a knockout machine, with nine of her thirteen wins ending with her opponent on the floor. An always classic grappler vs. striker match.

The second reason why this fight is one of the best to analyze is the psychology of both fighters and how it reflected in their performance.

Lee has never lost a fight and it shows with how she moves forward almost daring Xiong to stand and trade. Panda, meanwhile, is more than aware of where Lee’s strengths lie and is content to sit back and counter.

Lee was pushing much of the action and dictating the pace for the first three rounds, taking the fight to the ground in the third. Probably sensing for the first time that the cards might be against her, Xiong went on the attack.

Lee did her absolute best on the ground in the fourth round locking a strange triangle that transitioned into an armbar that bent Xiong’s arm several degrees the wrong way.

Lee was just seconds away from being the third double champ in the promotion. How Xiong didn’t tap is a complete mystery.

Unfortunately, the effort looked like it took too much out of Lee and she was visibly exhausted by the fifth. This allowed Xiong to capitalize and deliver the body shot felt around the arena.

Aung La Nsang vs. Ken Hasegawa I

Another personal favorite, the first Nsang/Hasegawa fight was memorable because of how much of a surprise it was.

Unexpected Gold

Aung La’s victory over Vitaly Bigdash turned him into Myanmar’s first-ever international Champion in any sport. But his legacy would only be complete once he successfully defend his belt.

Ken Hasegawa was a fairly accomplished fighter that fought in a variety of different organizations, similar to Mei Yamaguchi before she came to ONE.

Because the heavier weights in ONE are ironically thinner than the rest, it’s not uncommon for management to sign a fighter and throw them against the Champion right away.

This was the situation when Ken Hasegawa met Aung La Nsang at ONE: Spirit of a Warrior in June 2018. This was the Burmese Python’s first defense of the title after winning nearly a year before.

The Best Title Fight in ONE History

It would take an entire article to describe everything that went on in the five rounds of this title fight. Watching it would be a much better way to experience it.

The fact that ONE management tried to recreate the magic by immediately booking a rematch at their biggest card to date shows just how much gold was found that night.

Ken pushed Aung La further than anyone had done before or since – surpassing even what Vitaly Bigdash managed to do. This fight elevated the Burmese Python’s skills to heights he never displayed before.

Showing how much fighting to keep something makes such a big difference in a fighter.