ONE Championship Brings Out the Big Guns for US MMA Market Push

ONE Championship is debuting a 4-part “ONE on TNT” Event Series to take place every Wednesday night in April. This partnership is a big play on ONE’s part and one can assume will help it to capture more of the American MMA market. 

Bringing out the big guns for the big show

It’s clear that ONE is bringing out the big guns for this series. Returning the exalted pound-for-pound great, and former UFC Flyweight Champion, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, along with former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez, ONE looks to bring some familiar faces back to capture the eyes of Western MMA fans. 

MMA on Wednesday nights? Yes please.

ONE’s event series’ network debut will get even more eyeballs now that they will be on live during primetime Wednesday nights. The coveted spot is the perfect space for ONE to plant its flag for this series. What MMA fan doesn’t want live fights on Wednesday nights? Surely this can start to fill that TUF sized hole in our hearts.

The GOAT gets his shot - ONE on TNT I

The event series is set to start with a bang on April 7’s “ONE on TNT I”, as reigning ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes (18-3), takes on one of MMA’s pound-for-pound best, and current ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (30-3-1) for the Flyweight title.

The inaugural event with also feature a lightweight match between Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez (30-7) and #2-ranked contender Iuri Lapicus (14-1), as well as an explosive non-title matchup between ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon (265-42-10) against the British striking savage, Jacob Smith (N/A).

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Christian Lee vs Timofey Nastyukhin - ONE on TNT II

“ONE on TNT II” will air on April 14 and will showcase a main event title fight between ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee (14-3) vs #3-ranked contender Timofey Nastyukhin (14-4).

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Aung La returns at ONE on TNT III

“ONE on TNT III” airs on April 21. Headlining the card will be the hotly anticipated trilogy match between former ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash (10-2) against the other former middleweight champ and reigning ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion, Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang (26-11). The winner is expected to become the #1 contender to face the ONE Middleweight World Champion, Reinier “The Dutch Knight” de Ridder (13-0).

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Last in the upcoming series, “ONE on TNT IV” will take place on April 28. Details on the matchups are likely to be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Who ya got?

All ONE Championship events will be showcased on the Fanatics Fantasy MMA app for fans to make their picks. Download the app now.