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Your Daily Dose: 5 One Championship fights to watch

Just because the sports world has stopped doesn't mean your sports consumption has to. In this Daily Dose series, Sazali Abdul Aziz looks at the five best One Championship fights. TOMORROW: Best goals in Singapore football

Xiong Jingnan landing a punch against Angela Lee when the Chinese fighter successfully defended her One strawweight title in Tokyo in March last year. But Lee had her revenge in October and the fight world eagerly awaits the trilogy. PHOTO: ONE CHAMP
Xiong Jingnan landing a punch against Angela Lee when the Chinese fighter successfully defended her One strawweight title in Tokyo in March last year. But Lee had her revenge in October and the fight world eagerly awaits the trilogy. PHOTO: ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

ANGELA LEE V XIONG JINGNAN (TOKYO, MARCH 31, 2019)

Lee, whose father is Singaporean and mother Korean, is the poster girl for the women's division in One and it is not hard to see why.

At 23, she has already been in a number of memorable fights, from her maiden atomweight title win over Mei Yamaguchi in May 2016, to the successful defence of her belt against Istela Nunes despite battling pneumonia in the lead-up.

A must-watch is Lee's first career loss, which came in March last year to Xiong Jingnan.

Going up one weight class to hunt for the Chinese's strawweight title, she was on the verge of submitting her opponent, but a late collapse saw the Shandong native claim a technical knockout win.

The pair faced each other again seven months later in an equally exhilarating rematch that Lee won, and a trilogy is on the cards.

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VITALY BIGDASH V IGOR SVIRID (KUALA LUMPUR, OCT 9, 2015)

Kazakh fighter Svirid started his middleweight title defence like a house on fire, dropping Russian contender Bigdash multiple times in the first round with precise punches.

The contest seemed headed for an early finish but Svirid simply could not put his rival away - and a monstrous knee by Bigdash in the dying seconds suddenly changed the complexion of the fight.

Within seconds of the second round, Bigdash connected with another knee, then a cross to Svirid's jaw and that was enough for the referee to stop the fight.

All action, from start to finish.

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RODTANG JITMUANGNON V JONATHAN HAGGERTY (MANILA, AUG 2, 2019)

Rodtang is one of the world's top muay thai fighters today, and more than held his own when he went toe-to-toe with Japan's kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa (of Floyd Mayweather Jr fame) in June 2018.

Still only 22, his defeat of the Briton Haggerty to capture One's muay thai flyweight title underscored his talent. After a slow start, he outclassed his rival to score the unanimous decision victory over four rounds, breaking down in tears when presented with the belt.

The duo faced each other in a rematch four months later and, this time, the Thai retained his title with ease, posting a technical knockout win in the third round.

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AUNG LA N SANG V KEN HASEGAWA (YANGON, JUNE 29, 2018)

To say Aung La is a hero in Myanmar is an understatement. The 34-year-old has a bronze statue in his likeness in his home town, which was erected in 2018.

Powered by a packed 10,000-capacity Thuwunna Indoor Stadium, he took on Japanese fighter Ken Hasegawa in Yangon in his first middleweight title defence.

The pair traded blows for five rounds before the Myanmar champion claimed the bout with a sweet uppercut that floored his opponent with less than two minutes left.

While it might not be the best technical bout and a little plodding at times, the electric atmosphere certainly made it special - so much so that mixed martial arts promotion One made it No. 1 in its list of top 100 fights in September 2018.

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OLE LAURSEN V EDUARD FOLAYANG (SINGAPORE, MARCH 31, 2012)

When two fighters with superb striking ability are pitted against each other, fans are in for a treat.

This was the case when two Filipinos, Laursen and Folayang, faced off in what was just One's third live event.

Laursen, with his muay thai and kickboxing background, and Folayang, twice an Asian Games medallist in wushu, traded punches, kicks and elbows in a thoroughly entertaining fight which helped One establish a reputation for exciting fights.

Laursen won via split decision but Folayang would go on to become a two-time lightweight champion, with his first title coming in November 2016 against Shinya Aoki, also a bout worth watching.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 07, 2020, with the headline Your Daily Dose: 5 One Championship fights to watch. Subscribe