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#2. Thanh Le vs. Garry Tonon - ONE Championship: X
Speaking of ONE Championship: X, they're really packing this event like it's a closing out sale. This ONE Championship featherweight title bout is one for the marvels.
For one, it features the culmination of Garry 'The Lion Killer' Tonon's journey from being a submission grappling legend to a Mixed Martial Arts champion. The grappling world will, for sure, have its eyes on this one.
Granted, many jiu-jitsu world champions like Rodolfo Vieira, Roger Gracie, Andre Galvao, Kron Gracie and Gilbert Burns have transitioned to MMA. None, however, achieved the level of success and domination like Tonon did.
The former submission grappling champion has had a clean 6-0 record in his MMA run thus far, finishing all but one of his opponents. The Danaher Death Squad member successfully translated his grappling genius to MMA and has developed a threatening stand-up game as well.
Against the Vietnamese-American ONE champion Thanh Le, Tonon will be facing a different kind of beast. The well-rounded and dangerous Le is looking forward to locking horns with a specialist like Tonon. In an interview with ONE, the champion had a very interesting insight about his challenger:
“I believe that both of us have that [specialist tag] in opposite ends of the spectrum. And we're not slouches on the other side of the coin either. So I think it's going to be a really interesting matchup for the fans because it is traditional grappler versus striker, but he’s got some striking and I've got some grappling. So if it touches the ground for two seconds, I'm not getting subbed. If he stays standing and keeps his hands up for two seconds, he's not getting knocked out.”
However this clash of styles would turn out, it's definitely a fight we can't wait to see.
#1. Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Demetrious Johnson - ONE Championship: X
ONE Championship has ventured into the unknown with its brand-new experiment: a special-rules match.
Without a doubt, this match between ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and UFC legend Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson is the most anticipated of the year so far.
The blockbuster ONE Championship fight will be fought under a hybrid ruleset. Rounds one and three will be under Muay Thai rules, while rounds two and four will be fought under MMA rules. The sheer intrigue a fight of this nature can produce harkens back to the golden age of former Asian MMA giant PRIDE.
The bout has the potential to produce moments and highlights we've never seen before. With that said, it can either be the future of something truly great or a disaster experiment never to be repeated again.
We'll just have to wait for ONE Championship: X to see the fight happen.
