This day in ONE Championship history: ONE FC 16 took place

On this day in ONE Championship history, May 30, 2014, would be the momentous ONE FC 16 Honor and Glory. This MMA event would feature the promotional debut of future champion and elite wrestler Ben Askren.

ONE FC 16 Honor and Glory was headlined by American grappler and former Bellator Champion. 'Funky' Askren had a notable career in collegiate wrestling, being a multi-time national champion and was a USA Olympic wrestler in 2008 as well.

His headlining opponent was Bakhtiyar Abbasov, of Azerbaijan. Abbasov had fought in organizations all over the world and earned a record of 12-2 before making his debut in ONE Championship.

Askren would win this headlining fight via arm-triangle submission in round one. In his next bout, later the same year, Askren would challenge and win the ONE Welterweight title.

'Funky' would stay undefeated in ONE Championship and defend his title multiple times before being traded for 'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson of the UFC.

When he left the organization, ONE shared on Twitter:

"Truly ONE of a kind. Thanks for the memories, Ben Askren!"

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More talent at ONE FC 16

The debut of Ben Askren was a major occasion for the organization, however ONE FC 16 had tons of other great fights on it.

Dutchman Vincent Latoel would earn a first-round TKO stoppage against Eddie Ng. Mongolia's Narantungalag Jadambaa would start his win streak by defeating Honorio Banario via decision. Caros Fodor defeated Willy Ni by way of a first-round kimura submission.

'Majee' Major Overall would TKO Bruno Pucci. Pucci would later go on to marry future ONE Atomeweight champion Angela Lee.

ONE FC 16 Honor and Glory on May 30, 2014 was an exciting MMA event which helped build what the future of ONE Championship would be. With the debut of Ben Askren, this event would later help directly lead to Demetrious Johnson.

In 2019 ONE wrote on YouTube regarding Askren, and said:

"Former ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren was truly one of a kind. The former Olympian wrestler defended his World Title belt four times while dominating opponents with unyielding grappling, a smothering top game, and a “funky” style all his own. Thanks for the memories, Ben Askren!"