One Championship Japan March 2019

They already have Aoki and Bibiano, and a good crop of other Japanese fighters, including arguably the best pound-for-pound Japanese fighter in the world right now in Nobita Naito. RIZIN didn't start with much more than that; did the attention Fedor brought with his comeback really offset his pricetag? Having Tenshin fight in a one-off will probably be cheaper and better in the long-term.
None of them (except for Tenshin) are draw in Japan.
and RIZIN and Fuji won't let Tenshin fight in ONE.
 
https://www.mmamania.com/2018/8/22/...itage-very-much-alive-in-one-championship-mma

“I am thrilled to announce that some of the greatest martial artists, world champions, and legends on the planet such as Angela Lee, Bibiano Fernandes, Shinya Aoki, Garry Tonon, Renzo Gracie, Giorgio Petrosyan, Brandon Vera, Nong-o Gaiyanghadao, Ralph Gracie, Mei Yamaguchi, Ken Hasegawa, and many other ONE superstars will join me in Tokyo, Japan this Thursday, August 23rd for a star-studded ONE Championship Press Conference at the Park Hyatt Hotel,” ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong stated.
 
Ahahahahahahahahahahaha

I said "arguably". How is Nobita not even in the discussion of the top pound-for-pound Japanese fighters right now in your mind? He's #1 in his division and has shown a more varied skillset against a wider range of styles than any other Japanese fighter right now, including Kyoji, who's like the only guy you can argue is ahead of him (and not by much).
 
I said "arguably". How is Nobita not even in the discussion of the top pound-for-pound Japanese fighters right now in your mind? He's #1 in his division and has shown a more varied skillset against a wider range of styles than any other Japanese fighter right now, including Kyoji, who's like the only guy you can argue is ahead of him (and not by much).
Horiguchi is a mile ahead of him and his barely-even-existent weight class gtfoh
 
I said "arguably". How is Nobita not even in the discussion of the top pound-for-pound Japanese fighters right now in your mind? He's #1 in his division and has shown a more varied skillset against a wider range of styles than any other Japanese fighter right now, including Kyoji, who's like the only guy you can argue is ahead of him (and not by much).
Big fan of Nobita but it's not even particularly close. He's arguably not even the #1 Japanese fighter in his division while Horiguchi is clearly the #1 Japanese Flyweight and is top 10, maybe top 5, in the world at 2 weight classes. Suggesting he has a more varied skill set than Kyoji is borderline comical
 
I said "arguably". How is Nobita not even in the discussion of the top pound-for-pound Japanese fighters right now in your mind? He's #1 in his division and has shown a more varied skillset against a wider range of styles than any other Japanese fighter right now, including Kyoji, who's like the only guy you can argue is ahead of him (and not by much).
Let's see:
Horiguchi: 25-2, 7-1 in UFC. 27 year old. Fights in flyweight and bantamweight with a large talent pool.
Naito: 13-1, have not fought in UFC. 34 year old. Fights in strawweight with a small talent pool

"arguably ahead but not by much" uuummm...

Not "arguably", its definitively, by alot. Nobita is a good fighter but he is no way even near Kyoji in terms of his resume. Kyoji had DOMINATED and blasted everyone out of the water in his 10 win streaks so far, including the deep champion (with a record of 21-5, who was on a 10 win streak), pancrase champion (25-7, who was on a 7 win streak), and shooto champion (17-4, who was on a 7 win streak), and first round TKO'ed an undefeated FEATHERWEIGHT challenger who knocked out UFC vet Kawajiri who was ranked top 25 in the world. Kyoji is 7-1 in the UFC, with the only loss to Mighty Mouse (#1 p4p in the world), and if you look at the scoring board, he OUTSTRUCK Mighty Mouse on the feet (total strikes minus ground & pound). Since Mighty Mouse, he permanently moved to American Top Team and had became massively better at TDD. Shortly after, he outwrestled Ali Bagautinov, a two time Sambo/wrestling world champion. If you look at Nobita's resume, his opponents don't even have worldwide rankings (aka cans) and the guy who defeated him was a dude with a current record of 7-2... Meanwhile most of Horiguchi's opponents are ranked top 100 in the world and his only loss was to Mighty Mouse (27-3), and Masakatsu Ueda (26-6) when Kyoji had just started (was 6-0 at the time). Bottom line... Are we really comparing a 25 wins and 2 losses guy who is #3 ranked flyweight / #8 ranked bantamweight in the world (UFC inclusive) to a 13 wins and 1 loss guy who hasn't even competed in UFC?

In short, Nobita need wins against better competitions to be considered in the "best" discussion. Also he is not getting any younger. Think about it, how can you be world class without fighting world ranked fighters? Being #1 in a small pond is not good enough, especially when there isn't much MMA talent in men's strawweight to begin with. I personally think he should move up a weight class, I mean Kyoji did in order to fighter better opponents... But at flyweight, it is highly questionable if Nobita can beat Yuki Motoya and Ulka Sasaki. There is very unlikely that he can beat Hiromasa Ogikubo (fyi the TUF finalist, beat first seed who is #8 flyweight in UFC). Consider this: If Kyoji fights John Lineker or John Dodson at bantamweight, the overall bets according to reddit will put Kyoji as the favourite. You can try this with Nobita at flyweight. Even against Wilson Reis, I'd bet people will put him as the underdog.
 
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https://www.mmamania.com/2018/8/22/...itage-very-much-alive-in-one-championship-mma

“I am thrilled to announce that some of the greatest martial artists, world champions, and legends on the planet such as Angela Lee, Bibiano Fernandes, Shinya Aoki, Garry Tonon, Renzo Gracie, Giorgio Petrosyan, Brandon Vera, Nong-o Gaiyanghadao, Ralph Gracie, Mei Yamaguchi, Ken Hasegawa, and many other ONE superstars will join me in Tokyo, Japan this Thursday, August 23rd for a star-studded ONE Championship Press Conference at the Park Hyatt Hotel,” ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong stated.

I don't think the Japanese even cares about anyone on that list.

Selling an event with two old man Gracies? Puh-leez.
 
Let's see:
Horiguchi: 25-2, 7-1 in UFC. 27 year old. Fights in flyweight and bantamweight with a large talent pool.
Naito: 13-1, have not fought in UFC. 34 year old. Fights in strawweight with a small talent pool

"arguably ahead but not by much" uuummm...

In fairness you could argue Nobita as being one of the top 10 best Japanese fighters right now.
 
The first event in Japan will be in March
TOKYO (AP) — One Championship will stage its first live event in Japan next year, extending the Asia-based mixed martial arts promotion's reach into one of the sport's ancestral homes.

The debut show will be held March 31, 2019, in Tokyo, One Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced Thursday.

Sityodtong also unveiled dates and locations of 24 of the 30 events on One's 2019 schedule. The promotion will hold two events in Japan, along with its debut events in South Korea and Vietnam.

One has gradually expanded its reach across Asia over the past seven years from its base in Singapore. Its 21-event schedule in 2018 stretches from Myanmar to China.
 
I like the Ryōgoku Kokugikan i wish they had more mma events
 

1. Did they mention which sumo hall, or is there actually one with that generic of a name?
2. Notice the keyword “at.” Not the same as saying “in” the event.

Nothing else confirmed. This was purely for show. Oh, also announcing plans for Korea and Vietnam like they do every year, until they quietly disappear from their website’s calendar.
 
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