On Saturday the Guangzhou Tianhe Gymnasium played host to ONE Championship: Dynasty of Champions. With three intriguing feature bouts, and Chinese one-night tournaments at both flyweight and featherweight, there was plenty to get excited about. The action did not disappoint.
LWOS BOOKS THE FIGHTS: DYNASTY OF CHAMPIONS
Here’s what we hope is in store for all the major winners and losers from ONE Championship: Dynasty of Champions.
Timofey Nastyukhin: Following a destructive finish of Yusuke Kawanago on Saturday, Nastyukhin is 2-0 with ONE Championship and has won nine straight. With reigning featherweight champion Jadamba Narantungalag expected to defend against Marat Gafurov, featherweight is quickly becoming the company’s most interesting division. Shannon Wiratchai returned to the cage last month, beating Amir Khan with a gutsy performance and a fight between Wiratchai and Nastyukhin would set the winner up to meet whoever is holding the belt once Narantungalag and Gafurov are done.
Yusuke Kawanago: The veteran has now lost both of his contests in the ONE Championship cage, but would serve as an interesting test for many of the division’s developing stars. Evolve MMA’s Amir Khan has been fasttracked to a level of quality opposition, and showed plenty of promise despite losing a razor thing decision to Shannon Wiratchai in May. A match between Kawanago and Khan would tell us a lot about where both fighter’s careers are at.
Marcos Santana: The BJJ standout made his ONE Championship debut with a first round submission win over Ruel Catalan. A fight with Malysian prospect Gianni Subba, who also holds a win over Catalan, and produced a highlight reel finish of Thang Vu in March, would serve as an exciting next opponent.
Zorobabel Moreira: Moreira finds himself in a tough position following his bout with Christian Holley, which ended with Holley verbally tapping after 14 seconds due to injury. Having suffered crushing defeats to Kotetsu Boku and Koji Ando in previous ONE Championship appearances, Moreira’s route to a title shot is blocked. “Zoro” remains one of the top lightweights in the company, and a bout with Ariel Sexton, who beat Eddie Ng in May, would serve as another intriguing contest.
The Tournament Winners: Both Wu Ze at flyweight and Huang Di Yuan at featherweight, did plenty on Saturday to suggest they can become notable stars for the company when they return for subsequent shows in China. For Wu Ze a rematch of a close tournament final against Yang Jian Bing should be the end result, but we may see him face the likes of Ruel Catalan in the mean-time. Expect to see Huang Di Yuan booked in a similar manner.
