ONE Championship braced for 'biggest month in history' with three major events in November
KEY POINTS
- The Yangon card will feature Myanmar's Aung La N Sang in an openweight super-bout.
- The Manila show will include a lightweight title fight between two champions.
- ONE's return to Singapore will see Angela Lee and Ben Askren in title match-ups.
Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE Championship has come a long way since its formation in 2011.
It is already the largest sports media property in Asian history and is currently broadcast to potentially one billion viewers around the world in over 128 countries.
Having also dominated the UFC in Asia when it comes to event attendance and viewership, ONE is now bracing itself for the biggest month in the history of the promotion with three mega events taking place in three different countries in November.
The first show of the month, Hero's Dream, will take place on 3 November in Yangon, Myanmar as hometown hero and ONE middleweight champion Aung La N Sang takes on Muay Thai heavyweight world champion Alain "The Panther" Ngalani in the main event in a non-title openweight super-bout.
ONE will follow that event up with the Legends of the World card in Manila on 10 November which will feature a first-time champion vs champion clash in the main event.
Philippines' own ONE lightweight champion Eduard Folyang will defend his title against ONE featherweight champion Martin Nguyen, with the latter having the opportunity to become the promotion's first-ever two-weight world champion.
Lastly, the Asian promotion will end the month in Singapore on 24 November with its Immortal Pursuit card, which will feature two title bouts.
In the main event, Singapore's own unbeaten champion Angela Lee will defend her ONE women's atomweight title in a rematch against Japanese martial arts veteran Mei Yamaguchi, who Lee beat in May 2016 to become MMA's youngest-ever champion at 20 years of age.
The co-main event on the night will see another undefeated star in ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren defend his title against Shinya Aoki in what will be "Funky's" final MMA fight.
"We have three live events coming up, which are some of the biggest events ever," ONE VP of PR and communications Loren Mack told IBTimes UK. "Yangon is going to be absolutely massive because Aung La N Sang is just so well-revered in his home country. He's a rockstar in every sense.
"Manila is going to be huge [too]. It's our first champion versus champion event, and Eduard Folayang and Martin Nguyen both have tremendous followings.
"And of course, Singapore is a special one. Not only is it Ben Askren's last bout as a professional, we also have one of the biggest stars in all of martial arts – Angela Lee – performing for her fans. So, you can pretty much say it's the biggest month in ONE Championship history for sure."
All of these events can be live-streamed via One Championship's official website for a $9.99 (£7.50) fee. Click here for the link.