MMA event pushed back
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One Championship has postponed a live show for the first time since it restarted staging such events in Singapore last October due to the coronavirus situation, the mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation announced yesterday.
The upcoming One: Empower event, scheduled for next Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, was to feature its first all-female fight card, headlined by China's Xiong Jing Nan defending her women's strawweight title against Brazil's Michelle Nicolini.
It was to be the ninth live event held here since October.
One said: "As always, the health and safety of our athletes, staff, and fans is our top priority. A new date for the event and other details will be announced at a later date."
Nicolini, 39, who beat MMA star Angela Lee by unanimous decision in a strawweight bout in 2019, said in an Instagram post that the fight is likely to be pushed back to mid-June. She added: "Keep rooting for me and sending good vibes!"
In its place, the company will air a tape-delayed event, One: Full Blast, featuring five fights, including a muay thai bantamweight contest between Thais Saemapetch Fairtex and Kulabdam Sor. Jor. Piek Uthai.
Last month, One staged four events in as many weeks, in the morning and without fans, so they could be aired in the United States at prime time on American television network TNT.
The ratings for the One on TNT series events have fluctuated. After drawing an average of 196,000 viewers for the first show, they saw an almost 70 per cent jump to 337,000 for the second, but dropped to 290,000 for the third.
