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On this day, March 31, ten years ago, ONE Championship held its third event, ONE FC: War of the Lions at Kailang, Singapore. It was an action-packed event that saw 8 out of its 11 bouts ending via stoppage. The card had some famous fighters competing, namely Tatsuya Kawajiri, Melvin Manhoef, Masakazu Imanari, Eduard Folayang, and Kevin Belingon.
The event featured a much-anticipated match between Filipino MMA legend Eduard ’The Landslide' Folayang and Filipino-born Danish fighter Ole Laursen. The two were supposed to meet in the main event of ONE's first-ever event, ONE Championship: Champion vs. Champion.
However, Laursen had to pull out and was replaced by A-Sol Kwon. On the War of the Lions card, Laursen beat Folayang via split decision.
The event also had another notable fighter on its cards. Nicole Chua, who beat India's Jeet Toshi, was Singapore's first female MMA fighter. Speaking to MMA Mania ahead of her fight, Chua discussed what it meant to be leading the charge for women's MMA in her country:
"It is a great honor and I am very proud to be able to represent Singapore, Evolve MMA and aspiring female mixed martial artists in Asia. There is some pressure and it is a great responsibility, but I am prepared and confident in my abilities. There are not yet many women in Singapore doing MMA, but I hope that I will lead the way and inspire more women to compete."
Considering that Chua made her ONE debut more than a year before Ronda Rousey first fought in the UFC, the Singaporean should be considered a pioneer of women's MMA in Asia.
Here's an event highlight video by YouTube user Cynthia Vance:
ONE Championship's 10th-year anniversary show, ONE X, more than lived up to the hype
Almost 10 years to the day since its very first event, at ONE X, ONE Championship delivered on its promise to bring one of the greatest martial arts events of all time.
The three-part martial arts extravganza had some of the biggest names in ONE and had half of the 20-bout card ending via stoppage. The event also produced some timeless moments the sport will never forget.
Speaking at the post-event media scrum, ONE Championship CEO and founder Chatri Sityodtong expressed how satisfied he was at how ONE X turned out:
"Man, it was magnificent. It was everything I thought it would be. The co-main and main just blew the stadium away. Just blew the whole world, really, you know? It was insane. So much fun."
With 10 finishes and heaps of action, ONE X will truly go down in as one of the best martial arts events in history. Not a single bout was disappointing and fans of all martial arts were happy by the time the final bell rang.
