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http://www.mmaweekly.com/angela-lee-faces-mei-yamaguchi-for-first-ever-one-championship-womens-title
http://www.onefc.com/news/689-one-ascent-to-power-in-singapore-set-for-6-may.html
Main event-
Middleweight title bout: Vitaly Bigdash vs. Aleksei Butorin
Co-main event-
Inaugural women's atomweight title match: Angela Lee vs. Mei Yamaguchi
Undercard-
Featherweight bout: Kotetsu "No Face" Boku vs. Narantungalag Jadambaa
Middleweight bout: Michal Pasternak vs. Roger Gracie
Middleweight bout: Tatsuya Mizuno vs. Sylvain Potard
Lightweight bout: Christian Lee vs. Cary Bullos
Featherweight bout: Benedict Ang vs. Jimmy Yabo
Lightweight bout: Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev vs. Ma Jia Wen
Card subject to change.
As usual, ONE's got a good card for their home region, Singapore, and it's got two good title fights on it. Vitaly Bigdash has an 8-0 record with eight finishes (evenly split between knockouts and submissions) and won the middleweight title last year in a FOTY-contender against then-champion Igor Svirid. I've watched a lot of his fights since then and I really like the way he fights; he has a strong devotion to the strong kickboxing (in his case, Muay Thai) plus strong jiu-jitsu mentality to fighting, kinda like Miguel Torres, which I've always liked a lot. Aleksei Butorin earned his title shot in his ONE debut last year with a highlight-reel knockout over explosive EVOLVE fighter (and the favorite to win the inaugural middleweight belt in 2014) Leandro Ataides. Butorin holds a 10-0 record and also holds a 100% finishing rate, except nine of his ten victories have come by knockout. This's a very close fight between two Russians (oh, they're both Russian) that, just by looking at their records, is unlikely to end via decision. So you know what that means. That's right, it won't end by decision. You know what doesn't end by decision. Yeah, a finish.
Arguably ONE's biggest star, their equivalent to Ronda Rousey, Angela Lee, and Japanese veteran Mei Yamaguchi are competing not only for the inaugural atomweight title, but for the first ever women's title in ONE. People've been asking for a step-up in competition for Lee for a while now (which's been a little ridic' since she, literally, will have debuted less than a year ago by the time this card comes around-- it's like how people wanted Northcutt to fight Tibau or Diaz last year), and she's gotten that and in a big way. Mei Yamaguchi's a veteran of the sport and holds a 15-8-1 record, is the current DEEP Jewels atomweight champion and is ranked (according to Fightmatrix) 3rd in the division, and has fought people like Emi Fujino, Hamderlei Silva, women's goat Megumi Fujii, Ayaka Hamasaki, and Emi Tomimatsu. Angela Lee has garnered a 5-0 record with five submissions since debuting last May, and she trains in Singapore at EVOLVE. Angela Lee is apparently the most popular fighter in Singapore right now, so this's a really big fight for not only the organization, but the location.
I've spoilered the rest of the card to save room.
It looks like a good card, all in all. It seems like one of ONE's strategies for Singapore now is to use it to build up their EVOLVE prospects. If the card in Singapore doesn't have at least one of the Lees and Benedict Ang, it has the other and Amir Khan, and I think there're a couple other EVOLVE prospects that're with ONE, too.
I was kind of expecting Aoki to be on this card, but it looks like they're saving him for another card. The big Bangkok card's coming up, and they always try to save a title fight for a surprise China card, so that may be happening.
http://www.onefc.com/news/689-one-ascent-to-power-in-singapore-set-for-6-may.html
Main event-
Middleweight title bout: Vitaly Bigdash vs. Aleksei Butorin
Co-main event-
Inaugural women's atomweight title match: Angela Lee vs. Mei Yamaguchi
Undercard-
Featherweight bout: Kotetsu "No Face" Boku vs. Narantungalag Jadambaa
Middleweight bout: Michal Pasternak vs. Roger Gracie
Middleweight bout: Tatsuya Mizuno vs. Sylvain Potard
Lightweight bout: Christian Lee vs. Cary Bullos
Featherweight bout: Benedict Ang vs. Jimmy Yabo
Lightweight bout: Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev vs. Ma Jia Wen
Card subject to change.
As usual, ONE's got a good card for their home region, Singapore, and it's got two good title fights on it. Vitaly Bigdash has an 8-0 record with eight finishes (evenly split between knockouts and submissions) and won the middleweight title last year in a FOTY-contender against then-champion Igor Svirid. I've watched a lot of his fights since then and I really like the way he fights; he has a strong devotion to the strong kickboxing (in his case, Muay Thai) plus strong jiu-jitsu mentality to fighting, kinda like Miguel Torres, which I've always liked a lot. Aleksei Butorin earned his title shot in his ONE debut last year with a highlight-reel knockout over explosive EVOLVE fighter (and the favorite to win the inaugural middleweight belt in 2014) Leandro Ataides. Butorin holds a 10-0 record and also holds a 100% finishing rate, except nine of his ten victories have come by knockout. This's a very close fight between two Russians (oh, they're both Russian) that, just by looking at their records, is unlikely to end via decision. So you know what that means. That's right, it won't end by decision. You know what doesn't end by decision. Yeah, a finish.
Arguably ONE's biggest star, their equivalent to Ronda Rousey, Angela Lee, and Japanese veteran Mei Yamaguchi are competing not only for the inaugural atomweight title, but for the first ever women's title in ONE. People've been asking for a step-up in competition for Lee for a while now (which's been a little ridic' since she, literally, will have debuted less than a year ago by the time this card comes around-- it's like how people wanted Northcutt to fight Tibau or Diaz last year), and she's gotten that and in a big way. Mei Yamaguchi's a veteran of the sport and holds a 15-8-1 record, is the current DEEP Jewels atomweight champion and is ranked (according to Fightmatrix) 3rd in the division, and has fought people like Emi Fujino, Hamderlei Silva, women's goat Megumi Fujii, Ayaka Hamasaki, and Emi Tomimatsu. Angela Lee has garnered a 5-0 record with five submissions since debuting last May, and she trains in Singapore at EVOLVE. Angela Lee is apparently the most popular fighter in Singapore right now, so this's a really big fight for not only the organization, but the location.
I've spoilered the rest of the card to save room.
In a fight between two former champions, Kotetsu "No Face" Boku-- a former Shooto Pacific Rim champion, Cage Force Grand Prix finalist and the inaugural ONE [then-FC] lightweight champion-- is fighting the greatest Mongolian shootfighter eva, the former Legend FC and ONE Championship™ featherweight champion, Narantungalag Jadambaa. Kotetsu Boku, a Zainichi Japanese tattoo artist and a longtime friend of Kid Yamamoto, holds a 24-10-2 record and has been training out of Krazy Bee since it was called Killer Bee. In addition to being a former ONE champion, he fought in HERO's and holds victories over great fighters like Pequeno Nogueira, Ryan Bow, Hermes Franca, Eiji Mitsuoka, Yoshihiro Koyama, Juntaro Ushiku, and, in his ONE career, Zoro Moreira, Major Overall, Arnaud Lepont, and Vincent Latoel. He's gone 3-0 since making the drop to featherweight (his last fight was a catchweight bout, but still, it's close enough) and, in a funfact, after having amassed 12 decision victories in his first 18 victories, he's won every fight he's won since 2012 by knockout. He also fought in K-1 against Sam Stout in a close fight.
Narantungalag Jadambaa is an extremely underrated Mongolian fighter and a Sengoku veteran who lost his featherweight title last year in a very competitive FOTY-contender against Marat Gafurov. He holds really solid victories over fighters like Akihiro Gono (when Gono was making his lightweight debut, which was a fairly big thing at the time), Kazunori Yokota, Adrian Pang, Nam Yui-Chul, Wataru Miki, and former ONE featherweight champions Honorio Banario and Koji Oishi. He rose to prominence as a kickboxer and was known for having astonishingly competitive fights with K-1 MAX Grand Prix champions Masato, Buakaw and Albert Kraus (the Albert Kraus fight in particular was a very contentious decision that a lot of people feel deserved to go Jadambaa's way.) One of the cool things about him is that his career's been marked, not only by exciting fights and an understated skillset, but by constantly being the underdog in his fights. Just about all of his big victories were fights in which he was rubbed off as someone who was going to be crushed, and, even in defeat, he manages to be a force to be reckoned with (his most recent fight with Gafurov is an example of both of these principles in action.)
This's a very interesting fight between two contenders for the featherweight title-- not only that, but if the rumors are true that Gafurov's gonna have to move up a division since, under ONE's new rules about dehydration, he can't make the new weight limit without dehydrating, both of these fighters could end up vying for the title very soon.
Michael Pasternak and Roger Gracie both fought last in December, 2014, both of them winning their organizational debuts with a decision over Rafael Silva and a knockout over James Mcsweeney, respectively. Roger Gracie is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, and Pasternak has some accomplishments on the Polish grappling circuit. If the rumors that Jake Butler won't be receiving a title shot upon his middleweight debut aren't true, the winner of this bout could very well end up getting a shot at the middleweight belt against the winner of the co-main event.
Tatsuya Mizuno is a large Japanese fighter who holds a 14-11-1 record with 12 finishes in his victories. He was the runner-up in the DREAM light-heavyweight tournament, he's 2-3 in ONE (though his losses have been against good fighters like Ataides, Butler and Babalu Sobral) and he holds finishes over Melvin Manhoef, Ilir Latifi, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi, and Trevor Prangley. Sylvain Potard is a strong French Judoka who holds a 1-1 record in both ONE and against Jake Butler. He won the first fight against Butler by knockout in a 2013 upset and lost by decision a year later in 2014, which was his last fight.
Christian Lee, the 17-year old younger brother of main-eventer Angela Lee, is a very big prospect in ONE Championship™, and since debuting three months ago, he's amassed a 3-0 record with three first-round finishes, looking extremely impressive and dominant all the while and, in particular, showing extremely good striking for someone so young. He last fought a few weeks ago in Burma against Anthony Engelen in probably the best performance of his young career, he's still in high school (as far as I know), and he trains with his sister at EVOLVE. His opponent, Filipino Cary Bullos, holds a 7-3 record with a 100% finishing rate in his career, wins and losses, and I think he was a URCC Cebu champion. It'll be a really big upset for Bullos if he can pull a Barbarena against Lee, and it'll be another good stepping stone for Christian if he can defeat Bullos and amass a 4-0 record against good opponents not only less than 6 months into his pro career, but before he's even graduated from high school.
Another young EVOLVE prospect is Singaporean Benedict Ang, who holds a 2-0 pro record and a 6-0 amateur record. He made his pro debut in ONE last May against Pakistani fighter Waqar Umar, and defeated Indonesian veteran Yohan Mulia Legowo in Singapore again last November. Jimmy Yabo is a Filipino who holds a 5-2 record with 5 knockout victories, and he earned his first victory in ONE Championship™ against Bashir Ahmad last February in 21-seconds.
Saygid is a Dagestani fighter who made his ONE debut in January with a 32-second knockout, and he holds a 2-0 record, his other victory coming in under a minute as well. Ma Jia Wen was the runner-up in the 2015 ONE Championship™ Guangzhou tournament (RIP Jianbing Yang) and holds a 2-1 record in both ONE and in his professional career. He defeated fellow-ONE-tournament-runner-up Wang Ya Wei at the last Beijing card in November by decision. Saygid is 21 years old and Ma is 19, so the winner of this fight could very well end up having a bright future with ONE.
Narantungalag Jadambaa is an extremely underrated Mongolian fighter and a Sengoku veteran who lost his featherweight title last year in a very competitive FOTY-contender against Marat Gafurov. He holds really solid victories over fighters like Akihiro Gono (when Gono was making his lightweight debut, which was a fairly big thing at the time), Kazunori Yokota, Adrian Pang, Nam Yui-Chul, Wataru Miki, and former ONE featherweight champions Honorio Banario and Koji Oishi. He rose to prominence as a kickboxer and was known for having astonishingly competitive fights with K-1 MAX Grand Prix champions Masato, Buakaw and Albert Kraus (the Albert Kraus fight in particular was a very contentious decision that a lot of people feel deserved to go Jadambaa's way.) One of the cool things about him is that his career's been marked, not only by exciting fights and an understated skillset, but by constantly being the underdog in his fights. Just about all of his big victories were fights in which he was rubbed off as someone who was going to be crushed, and, even in defeat, he manages to be a force to be reckoned with (his most recent fight with Gafurov is an example of both of these principles in action.)
This's a very interesting fight between two contenders for the featherweight title-- not only that, but if the rumors are true that Gafurov's gonna have to move up a division since, under ONE's new rules about dehydration, he can't make the new weight limit without dehydrating, both of these fighters could end up vying for the title very soon.
Michael Pasternak and Roger Gracie both fought last in December, 2014, both of them winning their organizational debuts with a decision over Rafael Silva and a knockout over James Mcsweeney, respectively. Roger Gracie is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, and Pasternak has some accomplishments on the Polish grappling circuit. If the rumors that Jake Butler won't be receiving a title shot upon his middleweight debut aren't true, the winner of this bout could very well end up getting a shot at the middleweight belt against the winner of the co-main event.
Tatsuya Mizuno is a large Japanese fighter who holds a 14-11-1 record with 12 finishes in his victories. He was the runner-up in the DREAM light-heavyweight tournament, he's 2-3 in ONE (though his losses have been against good fighters like Ataides, Butler and Babalu Sobral) and he holds finishes over Melvin Manhoef, Ilir Latifi, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi, and Trevor Prangley. Sylvain Potard is a strong French Judoka who holds a 1-1 record in both ONE and against Jake Butler. He won the first fight against Butler by knockout in a 2013 upset and lost by decision a year later in 2014, which was his last fight.
Christian Lee, the 17-year old younger brother of main-eventer Angela Lee, is a very big prospect in ONE Championship™, and since debuting three months ago, he's amassed a 3-0 record with three first-round finishes, looking extremely impressive and dominant all the while and, in particular, showing extremely good striking for someone so young. He last fought a few weeks ago in Burma against Anthony Engelen in probably the best performance of his young career, he's still in high school (as far as I know), and he trains with his sister at EVOLVE. His opponent, Filipino Cary Bullos, holds a 7-3 record with a 100% finishing rate in his career, wins and losses, and I think he was a URCC Cebu champion. It'll be a really big upset for Bullos if he can pull a Barbarena against Lee, and it'll be another good stepping stone for Christian if he can defeat Bullos and amass a 4-0 record against good opponents not only less than 6 months into his pro career, but before he's even graduated from high school.
Another young EVOLVE prospect is Singaporean Benedict Ang, who holds a 2-0 pro record and a 6-0 amateur record. He made his pro debut in ONE last May against Pakistani fighter Waqar Umar, and defeated Indonesian veteran Yohan Mulia Legowo in Singapore again last November. Jimmy Yabo is a Filipino who holds a 5-2 record with 5 knockout victories, and he earned his first victory in ONE Championship™ against Bashir Ahmad last February in 21-seconds.
Saygid is a Dagestani fighter who made his ONE debut in January with a 32-second knockout, and he holds a 2-0 record, his other victory coming in under a minute as well. Ma Jia Wen was the runner-up in the 2015 ONE Championship™ Guangzhou tournament (RIP Jianbing Yang) and holds a 2-1 record in both ONE and in his professional career. He defeated fellow-ONE-tournament-runner-up Wang Ya Wei at the last Beijing card in November by decision. Saygid is 21 years old and Ma is 19, so the winner of this fight could very well end up having a bright future with ONE.
It looks like a good card, all in all. It seems like one of ONE's strategies for Singapore now is to use it to build up their EVOLVE prospects. If the card in Singapore doesn't have at least one of the Lees and Benedict Ang, it has the other and Amir Khan, and I think there're a couple other EVOLVE prospects that're with ONE, too.
I was kind of expecting Aoki to be on this card, but it looks like they're saving him for another card. The big Bangkok card's coming up, and they always try to save a title fight for a surprise China card, so that may be happening.
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