'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The first quarter of 2019 could very much set the tone for the rest of the year for Singaporean-based mixed martial arts organization ONE Championship.
As revealed by Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, ONE will be staging the start of their much-anticipated Lightweight and Flyweight Grand Prix tournaments within the first three months of 2019.
“SAVE THE DATE: The ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix kicks off on February 22 in Singapore, and the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix commences on March 31 in Tokyo,” Sityodtong announced via Twitter.
This comes after ONE kicks the year off with a massive card in Jakarta with ONE: ETERNAL GLORY on 18 January, featuring a ONE Strawweight World Championship title bout between reigning champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio and challenger Hayato Suzuki.
The Grand Prix tournaments were announced back in November during the official pre-event press conference for ONE: HEART OF THE LION in Singapore, and Sityodtong explained that the tournament would feature the eight-best talents from each division.
The winner of said tournaments will have proven themselves worthy to be called the division’s rightful world champion.
“The format is basically an eight-man Grand Prix, flyweight, one fight per night, and it’s just going to basically be three fights to win the entire Grand Prix, and win the world title as a result. Same thing for the lightweights, we’ve got the eight best athletes from the lightweight division,” Sityodtong elaborated.
The two stacked divisions are currently ruled by a pair of Filipino stars in ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang and ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio, both from the famed Filipino mixed martial arts stable Team Lakay, along with fellow world champions Pacio and ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon.
Adding anticipation to the tournaments will be the participation of newly-acquired superstars in Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez and Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, who are both expected to make their promotional debuts in the preliminary round of their respective division tourneys.
“That’s our big welcome to Eddie and our big welcome to DJ, and I think the fans are going to enjoy every moment of it,” said Sityodtong.
Lightweight stars like Folayang, Alvarez, Aoki, Ev Ting, and Amir Khan could very well be putting their talents on display on February 22nd in Singapore, while Eustaquio, Johnson, Adriano Moraes, and Kairat Akhmetov might be stealing the show on ONE’s maiden trip to Japan in March 31st.
