5 of ONE Championship’s craziest fights of all time

When ONE Championship was founded 10 years ago, the aim was to set a high standard for the athletes competing, lining up the company to be the world’s premier martial arts organization.

Today, that lofty standard remains. Throughout its existence, Asia's largest MMA promotion has treated fans around the world to the highest level of martial arts competition, night in and night out. The organization continues to hit its goal today, existing as the world leader in martial arts.

Part of the allure of ONE Championship is the international aspect to the athletes on the roster.

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Currently, ONE’s 22 world champions come from 10 different countries. Among the fighters ranked in the top five of their respective divisions, more than 20 different nations are represented. This, in turn, has bred the desired high-level of competition envisioned at the organization’s conception.

As the talent pool is filled with athletes from around the world competing under the ONE Championship banner, the stakes continue to rise. Through this, fans have witnessed their fair share of wild fights.

But which ones are the craziest of them all? Let’s break it down. Here are five of the craziest battles in the history of The Home of Martial Arts.

#5. Paul Cheng vs. Mahmoud Hassan - ONE: War of Dragons (July 11, 2014)

Deep in the ONE Championship archives lives one of the most underrated bangers of all time!

Cheng, a former Canadian Football League defensive lineman, clashed with Mahmoud Hassan, a heavyweight boxer turned mixed martial artist. While fans may not have been overly familiar with either combatant prior to the fight, they would not forget the battle that ensued.

Cheng and Hassan immediately met in the middle of the Circle like two bulls. Both men inflicted copious amounts of damage upon the other, engaging in two hellacious rounds of mixed martial arts action.

In the end, even with his eye swollen shut, Cheng’s onslaught was too much, as Hassan elected to retire on the stool following the second round. Although the ending came between rounds, the fight is remembered as one of the best in ONE history and rightfully so.

#4. Xiong Jing Nan vs. Tiffany Teo II - ONE: Inside the Matrix (October 30, 2020)

Rematches are an interesting concept in any combat sport, including ONE Championship.

For one athlete, they will be tackling a challenge that they have already surpassed. Does this mean added motivation or reduced motivation?

For the other, they will attempt to climb a mountain on which they had previously fallen short of conquering. This could lend itself to newfound motivation or a shortage of confidence, depending on the athlete.

For Singapore’s Tiffany Teo, this meant a reinvigorated title challenger ready to face the dominant Xiong Jing Nan, the women's strawweight world champion. And although Teo fell short once again, she firmly left her mark, putting on a fight for the ages and earning the respect of the champ and fans around the world.

The fight represented all the pillars that ONE Championship was built upon: integrity, honor, respect, courage, humility, discipline and, following the bout, compassion.

Xiong continues to be the only person Teo has yet to conquer in her professional MMA career. Although she lost two opportunities against her, you can bet that 'No Chill' will still look for a third shot at the ONE Championship gold.

#3. Vitaly Bigdash vs. Igor Svirid - ONE: Tigers of Asia (October 9, 2015)

In this battle of Russia vs. Kazakhstan, the real winner was the ONE Championship fans.

Seconds after the opening bell of the first round, Bigdash and Svirid looked as if they were in a fight that was being replayed at 150 percent speed. Alas, they were not. The torrid pace they kept through the first round was very real, ending with Bigdash sinking in a rear-naked choke, only for Svirid to be saved by the bell.

The second round didn't follow suit. Bigdash opened the round by putting Svirid into the clinch before introducing the Kazak athlete to his left knee, followed by a rain of hammer fists.

That ended the bout just 36 seconds into the penultimate round, awarding Bigdash with victory in what will be remembered as one of the most intense fights in ONE Championhip’s 10-year existence.

#2. Aung La Nsang vs. Ken Hasegawa - ONE: Spirit of a Warrior (June 29, 2018)

The ONE Championship event set in Yangon, Myanmar had Aung La Nsang's hometown crowd roaring inside the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium.

With “Aung La, Aung La,” chants raining down onto the ONE Championship Circle, the 'Burmese Python' and his Japanese opponent put on a fight for the ages.

The athletes brought mirroring styles to the dance, with each determined to knock the other out. The fight was highly competitive until the fourth and fifth rounds when Hasegawa began to slow down.

Damage inflicted by Aung La had added up and, suddenly, Hasegawa looked like a zombie moving forward. With less than two minutes remaining in the bout, Aung La put an emphatic stamp on the fight, unleashing an uppercut which lifted him into the air as it connected with Hasegawa’s chin.

The shot was the seminal blow, sending the crowd into a frenzy as a victorious Aung La knelt down in the Circle exhausted. “Aung La, Aung La, Aung La…”

The fight etched its place in the record books of ONE Championship, as it is considered one of the greatest fights in the promotion's decade-long history.

#1. Dagi Arslanaliev vs. Timofey Nastyukhin - ONE: Winter Warriors (December 3, 2021)

In the pantheon of unbelievable mixed martial arts bouts, Arslanaliev versus Nastyukhin is among the best. In an event featuring a Grand Prix Finale and a world title fight, these lightweights stole the show.

Throughout the first two rounds of action, both men inflicted significant amounts of damage on each other, with both falling into danger of being finished on multiple occasions. Back and forth they went, sending announcers Michael Schiavello and Mitch Chilson into a frenzy, as it was hard to believe what was before their very eyes.

Then, at the beginning of the third round, Arslanaliev’s cardio saw him claim victory as he was just fresh enough to land a duo of massive right hands to the chin of his Russian opponent.

The combination was too much for Nasyukhin’s body to withstand, sending him tumbling to the canvas before the referee mercifully ended the contest. Dagi celebrated on the canvas, which he and his adversary had gleefully painted red.

Recently, ONE Championship honored this rematch as the 2021 MMA Fight of the Year, besting several exciting matchups that happened over the past year.