ONE: Revolution Preview

ONE: Revolution Preview

ONE Championship is back in action on Friday night with ONE: Revolution, a stacked card featuring no less than three world title fights. Revolution will air live on September 24th (Singapore time), from the promotion’s home arena, the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In the main event, ONE Lightweight Champion Christian Lee (15-3) will attempt to defend his title for the third time and halt the momentum of challenger Ok Rae Yoon (15-3).

23-year-old Lee is fresh off a blistering knockout of Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE on TNT 2 in April, a win that followed another first-round stoppage over Iuri Lapicus back in October. ‘The Warrior’ has held the belt since May 2019, when he stopped Japanese legend Shinya Aoki in the second round at ONE: Enter The Dragon.

Ok, for his part, is riding a wave of momentum following decision wins over former ONE Featherweight Champion Marat Gafarov and former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez. The South Korean will go in as a heavy underdog once again, however, against the in-form Lee.

The co-main event will see Thai star Capitan Petchyindee Academy (144-40-2) attempt the first defence of the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing title he captured with a vicious knockout of Russia’s Alaverdi Ramazanov in January. The 28-year-old takes on a multiple-time WBC Muay Thai world champion in 38-year-old Frenchman Mehdi Zatout (77-39-1).

The third world title bout of the card features ONE Strawweight Champion Joshua Pacio (19-3), as he embarks on the third defence of his second title reign, this time in a trilogy bout with former ONE and Shooto champion Yosuke Saruta (21-9-3) of Japan.

The pair are 1-1 so far in their series, with Yosuke taking Pacio’s title by split decision in the first meeting at ONE: Eternal Glory back in January 2019, only to lose the rematch by headkick KO three months later at ONE: Roots Of Honor.

‘Tobizaru No.2’ has since fought his way back to contention with a knockout win over Daichi Kitakata at ONE: Century on home soil back in October 2019 and a decision win over Yoshitaka Naito in the ‘Road To ONE’ series back in September 2020.

Pacio has rattled off two wins of his own since his last meeting with Saruta. ‘The Passion’ defeated 40-year-old long-time ONE staple and compatriot Rene Catalan by arm-triangle submission at ONE: Masters Of Fate in November 2019 and backed that up with a decision win over Brazilian former champion Alex Silva at ONE: Fire And Fury in January 2021.

The 25-year-old Filipino star Pacio should start as a warm favourite, given his dominance last time out against his 34-year-old two-time foe Saruta.

Also, former two-weight champion Martin Nguyen (13-4) is looking to rebound from his featherweight title loss to Thanh Le back in October 2020. ‘The Situ-Asian’ will get his hands on South Korean contender Kim Jae Woong (11-4) after the bout was sensationally scrapped on two occasions due to unfortunate contacts with COVID cases.

Elsewhere on the card, Christian Lee’s younger sister Victoria will be looking to add to the perfect 2-0 start to her ONE career, against undefeated Brazilian Victoria Souza (5-0). Filipino excitement machine Lito Adiwang (12-3) will also be one to watch, as he takes on China’s Hexigetu Hexi (9-4).

Meanwhile, long-time Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson training partner James Yang makes his professional debut in the opening bout of the 11-fight card, taking on experienced Filipino Roel Rosauro (5-3).

Yang sat down exclusively with MMA Manifesto to talk about his background, debut matchup, and training alongside ‘Mighty Mouse’. Hear from him here.

ONE: Revolution Main Card:

ONE Lightweight MMA World Title:

Christian Lee (Singapore/United States) (C) vs. Ok Rae Yoon (South Korea)

ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title:

Capitan Petchyindee Academy (Thailand) (C) vs. Mehdi Zatout (Algeria)

ONE Strawweight MMA World Title:

Joshua Pacio (Philippines) (C) vs. Yosuke Saruta (Japan)

Featherweight MMA:

Martin Nguyen (Australia) vs Kim Jae Woong (South Korea)

Heavyweight MMA:

Amir Aliakbari (Iran) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (Russia)

Women’s atomweight MMA:

Victoria Lee (Singapore/United States) vs. Victoria Souza (Brazil)

Lead Card:

Strawweight MMA:

Lito Adiwang (Philippines) vs. Hexigetu Hexi (China)

Flyweight Muay Thai:

Petchdam Petchyindee Academy (Thailand) vs. Taiki Naito (Japan)

Heavyweight MMA:

Marcus Almeida (Brazil) vs. Anderson Silva (Brazil)

Bantamweight kickboxing:

Petchtanong Petchfergus (Thailand) vs. Zhang Chenglong (China)

Featherweight MMA:

James Yang (United States) vs. Roel Rosauro (Philippines)