The Worst Title Fights in ONE Championship

These are fights that had all the hype, skill, and drama in the world. But, for one reason or another, they were disappointing messes and a complete waste of time.

These are the worst title fights in ONE.

Martin Nguyen vs. Christian Lee II

This was Christian Lee’s first title shot and Martin Nguyen’s first title defense. But the two met before at ONE: Heroes of the World, making this a highly-anticipated rematch.

The first fight ended in Lee’s first-ever defeat and highlighted holes in his game that needed improvement. Lee went back to the drawing board and quickly won his next four fights to become the number one contender.

Nguyen, meanwhile, was busy chasing history, trying and failing to become a three-division Champion against Bibiano Fernandes.

The rematch took place in the co-main event of ONE: Unstoppable Dreams and possibly had more hype than the main event because of Nguyen’s double-champ status and Lee’s 4-fight finish streak.

Unfortunately, the fight turned out to be nothing more than staring contest/dance-off, with both fighters unwilling to engage. Referee Yuji Shimada gave them both a yellow card for inactivity in the second round and the crowd loudly booed the lack of action.

It was clear that Lee was being cautious not to repeat the end of their first fight and Nguyen was coming from a fight against the Bantamweight king two months prior.

These were the worst possible circumstances ending in a mediocre fight. The reception was so bad in fact that Angela Lee felt the need to chastise the crowd in her post-fight interview for reacting negatively to the co-main event.

The fight was a split decision win for Nguyen who vacated the Lightweight belt soon after and defended the Featherweight crown two more times. Lee won twice more in Featherweight before beating Shinya Aoki for the Lightweight belt.

It’s still possible for the two to meet again in the future. Hopefully they shrug off this abysmal performance by then and give us the title fight we know they can deliver.

Honorio Banario vs. Eric Kelly

This title fight was for the inaugural Featherweight title. Both were undefeated legends in the regional promotion URCC where they made their respective names.

The fight was a must-watch for Filipino fight fans who were most familiar with the careers of both men. The people expected fireworks, but they got confusion and frustration instead.

We previously covered the early career of Eric Kelly in our feature on the Kelly brothers. In it, we noted how he quickly rose through the URCC with six straight wins and continued his unbeaten roll with three more victories in ONE.

Honorio Banario was a Champion in the URCC and was one of the first fighters of the now-famed Team Lakay to transfer to ONE.

Most of the fight was quite competitive. Both fighters were pure strikers at this point because of their mutual wushu backgrounds and it was all stand-up action.

Unfortunately, it all ended in the last minute of the fourth round. Banario connected with a left hook that opened a cut under Kelly’s eye. Thinking that he was eye-poked, Kelly signalled to referee Yuji Shimada about the illegal move.

Shimada misinterpreting the signal thought Kelly was giving up and waved an end to the fight. Banario celebrated, Kelly protested and everyone was beyond confused.

When the officials reviewed the replay, Banario’s fist was clearly closed and he became the first Featherweight Champion.

Ben Askren vs. Luis Santos

We first covered this fight in our feature on the best fighters that may never become Champion. This was Ben Askren’s first defense of his ONE Welterweight title.

Luis Santos was as long in the tooth as a fighter can get. He first began fighting in 2000 and had an eye-popping record of 61-9-1 coming into his fight with Askren.

The Champion, meanwhile, was an undefeated puzzle and a former Champion in Bellator before moving to ONE. Nobody knew exactly what would happen when these two met and in many ways that’s kind of what we got.

During the first few minutes, Askren tried and failed to take Santos down. The Brazilian was either sprawling effectively or jumping out of the way of the Champions arms.

It was the first time in his entire career that Askren looked out of his depth and didn’t know what to do. Unfortunately, the intrigue of the fight stops directly at 2:46 mark of the fight.

Santos goes down in pain holding onto his right eye. This motion prompted referee Olivier Coste to stop the action and investigate, forcing protests from Askren.

Coste didn’t believe that an eye poke took place and Santos was faking an injury.

In the few videos still available of the fight (because ONE doesn’t have the full fight on their official channels) you can hear Coste ordering Santos to get up. A few moments later Coste waves off the fight because Santos, justifiably, refuses to continue to fight.

Coste never reviewed the replay, never consulted a doctor, and never gave Santos the five-minute injury time that he was eligible for under the rules.

Of course, upon review of the replay, Askren’s thumb clearly went in Santos’ right eye. A complete embarrassment all around.

Kevin Belingon vs. Bibiano Fernandes III

Bibiano Fernandes’ dominant run as the ONE Bantamweight Champion came to a surprising end at the main event of ONE: Heart of a Lion when the judges gave the split decision nod to Kevin Belingon.

Fernandes protested, maintaining that he should have won that fight and ONE wisely booked the rematch on one of their biggest cards – ONE: A New Era.

It was the biggest stage possible in Asian MMA, with arguably two of the most exciting stars in the promotion. Everybody wins, except everybody lost.

The first few rounds were full of action, including Bibiano seriously rocking Belingon and more than a couple of spinning back kicks to Bibiano’s liver.

What is quickly apparent in this fight is that we see a much more cautious Belingon, content with letting Bibiano come forward and strike from distance. This was clearly a tactic to keep the fight off the ground for as long as possible.

Near the start of the third round, Bibiano jumps in and successfully takes the fight to the ground. Belingon responds by throwing as many elbows as he can on the Brazilian.

Coste jumps in to pause the action and Bibiano disengages holding the back of his head. Replays confirm that elbows did land on the back of Bibiano’s head and Belingon was awarded a yellow card and then a red card to disqualify him.

Belingon was dejected. Bibiano didn’t accept the belt. Nobody was satisfied.

Petchdam Petchyindee Academy vs. Elias Mahmoudi

This fight was for the inaugural Flyweight Kickboxing Championship title at ONE: Warriors of Light and it was controversial from start to finish.

During the first round, Elias landed a full elbow on Petchdam’s temple, completely forgetting that he was in a Kickboxing match.

For those unfamiliar, the Kickboxing rule set doesn’t allow elbows or knees. One of the clear differences that commonly confuse fighters that switch between the two sports in ONE Super Series.

This switching was the case here because Elias’ debut fight, just four months prior to this match was a Muay Thai bout against Yukinori Ogasawara at ONE: Hero’s Ascent.

However, confusion or not, it was clearly an illegal deliberate move and Elias was rightfully given a yellow card for it.

The rest of the fight was fairly competitive, but it was clear that Elias had the upper hand. The only reason the scoring was dead even with two rounds apiece coming into the fifth was because of the yellow card. Without it, it would have been three rounds to one in favor of Elias.

Unfortunately, during the middle of the final round, a low kick from Petchdam found Elia’s crotch and he limped to his corner in pain. He used all of the three minutes of his injury time to recover, but try as he might, Elias couldn’t return to the contest.

Since the fight went beyond the fourth round, the fight went to the judges who gave the fight and the title to Petchdam.

Petchdam promptly began jumping around and celebrating as if he’d scored a knockout and accepted the belt without much humility or awareness of the circumstances of his win.

There you go, the five worst title fights in ONE. Do you agree? Do you think there are title fights that are worse? Let us know.

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