ONE Championship News Roundup: Superlek vs. Panpayak set as Muay Thai GP final, Jonathan Haggerty renews mixed-rules challenge against Demetrious Johnson, Aung La N Sang promises barnburner versus Yushin Okami
Welcome to today's edition of the daily Sportskeeda ONE Championship News Roundup, where we present the promotion's most important stories.
In today’s issue, we talk about the final of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix, Jonathan Haggerty calling out Demetrious Johnson and Aung La N Sang’s legendary upcoming bout against Yushin Okami.
#3. Superlek and Panpayak's ONE Championship Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix Final confirmed for ONE 164 in Manila
ONE Championship’s return to the Philippines won’t just feature world title fights, it will also see the culmination of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix.
Thai superstars Panpayak Jitmuangnon and Superlek Kiatmoo9 will face each other in the final of the tournament at ONE 164: Pacio vs. Brooks. The event is set to go down on December 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila.
Superlek, a four-time Muay Thai world champion, earned his spot in the final when he blasted through Taiki Naito in the quarterfinals and Walter Goncalves in the semifinals.
Panpayak, meanwhile, made his way to the final match through a different path. The seven-time Muay Thai world champion only fought in the semifinals of the tournament after ONE flyweight Muay Thai Rodtang Jitmuangnon was forced to withdraw from his match against Savvas Michael.
With Rodtang out of the tournament, Panpayak took his place and knocked Michael out in the second round of their match at ONE on Prime Video 1 this past August.
Although Rodtang was supposed to be a part of the tournament, he’ll still be a major presence in the aftermath of the Grand Prix. The winner between Panpayak and Superlek gets the opportunity to challenge ‘The Iron Man’ for the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title.
#2. Jonathan Haggerty renews his call to face Demetrious Johnson in special mixed-rules fight
Jonathan Haggerty may have moved up to bantamweight, but there is still one more legendary flyweight that he wants to share the circle with.
In an interview with The MMA Superfan, the former ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai world champion once again called out Demetrious Johnson, the reigning ONE flyweight world champion, to a mixed-rules fight.
Haggerty will face Vladimir Kuzmin in his bantamweight debut in ONE Championship at ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 18 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Despite that, ‘The General’ isn’t ruling out a return to his former stomping grounds if that means facing off against Johnson.
“Now I’m out of the flyweight division, but I still feel the closest with the flyweight division. I’d love to go with ‘Mighty Mouse'. I grew up watching him. He’s the GOAT, he’s the best in the world. There’s no doubt about it.”
Johnson and Rodtang met in a mixed-rules match at ONE X this past March, with the American mixed martial arts legend taking the second-round submission win.
The four-round match had alternating rulesets, with rounds one and three to be fought in Muay Thai and the second and fourth under mixed martial arts rules.
#1. “Find out who the best Asian middleweight is” - Aung La N Sang vows fireworks vs. Yushin Okami
Aung La N Sang and Yushin Okami are two of the greatest mixed martial artists to have come out of Asia. Now, the two icons are set to face each other in a titanic match at ONE 163 on November 19 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Both Aung La and Okami hold distinguished careers and are considered the best Asian middleweights of their generation. However, the Burmese superstar wants the distinction all to himself.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, the former ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight world champion said he’s gearing up for a potential firefight against Okami.
“Tune in, it's going to be a fun fight for the fans. We're going to find out who the best Asian middleweight is. I've prepared really well for it.”
Catch the full interview below:
Aung La, who’s often regarded as one of the greatest athletes from Myanmar, created his legend in ONE Championship when he became the promotion’s second two-division world champion.
Okami, meanwhile, started his career in his home country of Japan competing in PRIDE, and later on ventured into the United States to join the UFC.