On this day in ONE Championship history: ONE: Enter The Dragon took place

[Image Credits: ONE Championship] ONE Enter The Dragon - Christian Lee and Shinya Aoki
[Image Credits: ONE Championship] ONE Enter The Dragon - Christian Lee and Shinya Aoki

On this day in ONE Championship history, May 17, 2019, ONE: Enter the Dragon took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The fight card was loaded with knockouts and was headlined by a lightweight title fight. It featured both MMA and Kickboxing.

ONE: Enter The Dragon was headlined by a title fight between Japanese MMA veteran Shinya Aoki, who was looking to defend his championship against Christian Lee.

The main event saw Lee win the title. He defeated Aoki by way of TKO early in the second round. He cornered the then-champion and landed heavy punches to put Aoki down.

Lee went on to defend his title against Iuri Lapicus and Timofey Nastyukhin, defeating both via TKO. He would later lose his belt in a close and controversial match against Ok Rae Yoon in 2021.

Shinya Aoki has previously stated that Lee deserved to come away with the victory against Yoon. At a virtual press conference, he said:

“If I say Christian won, the decision will never change. But I thought Christian won in that match."

After losing the title to Lee, Aoki would go 4-1, losing to 'Sexyama' Yoshihiro Akiyama at ONE: X. He will next compete at ONE 157 on May 20 in a submission grappling match against Kade Ruotolo.


ONE: Enter the Dragon was a milestone event

The ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship was also introduced at this event. Regian Eersel defeated Nieky Holzken by way of decision. With an impressive four title defenses, Eersel is still the reigning champion to this day.

Two legends locked horns at the event as Giorgio Petrosyan and Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy squared off in a kickboxing bout. It was originally declared a split decision for Petchmorakot. However, the competition committee later changed the result to a no contest due to illegal clinching.

Petchmorakot will next fight at ONE 157 on May 20 and is looking to defend the ONE Muay Thai Featherweight Championship against Jimmy Jimmy Vienot.

ONE: Enter the Dragon also saw Cosmo Alexandre welcome Sage Northcutt to ONE Championship. Alexandre knocked out Northcutt just thirty seconds into round one.

Garry Tonon also earned a quick heel-hook submission victory. He submitted Yoshiki Nakahara in less than a minute. Tonon will next compete against Tye Ruotolo at ONE 157 in a submission grappling match.

ONE: Enter the Dragon was filled with knockouts and exciting martial arts action, which happened on this day in history.

Watch a recap of the event below:

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