5 ONE Championship champions vs. UFC champions: who wins?

ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion Reinier de Ridder (left) could give newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira (right) a run for his money. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship and UFC)
ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion Reinier de Ridder (left) could give newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira (right) a run for his money. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship and UFC)

#4. ONE Championship flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes vs. UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling

This ONE Championship vs. UFC match is quite interesting. Truth be told, many would argue that 'Funk Master' Aljamain Sterling shouldn't be recognized as the true UFC bantamweight king. To this we say, let's give the guy some credit.

His disqualification win over Petr 'No Mercy' Yan stands as an official title win, despite him arguably losing the fight prior to the illegal knee.

One can make the case, however, that Sterling's 5-fight winning streak leading up to the Yan fight deserves some major props. Until Yan finishes the job he started, Aljo is officially the UFC bantamweight champion at the moment.

With that said, pitting 'Funk Master' against ONE Championship flyweight world champion Adriano 'Mikinho' Moraes could be a recipe for disaster for the American.

Moraes famously shocked the world by knocking out GOAT-contender Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson inside two rounds. Johnson is one of the greatest of all time and he couldn't last more than ten minutes with 'Mikinho'.

Most people would attribute the ruleset difference between the UFC and ONE where knees to the head of a grounded opponent are allowed.

Most people forget, however, that it wasn't the knee that caused the downfall of 'Mighty Mouse'. It was Moraes' speed and power that led to him catching Johnson with an uppercut that sent the UFC great to the canvas. The knee was just the icing on the cake.

If Sterling cannot keep his intensity up for five rounds against a powerful striker with speedy agility, he won't last long against Moraes. He can try to bring the fight to the ground but with Moraes holding a blackbelt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well, Sterling won't stand a chance.

Winner: Moraes


#3. ONE Championship atomweight world champion Angela Lee vs. UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas

Dominant ONE Championship atomweight world champion Angela 'Unstoppable' Lee might pose a serious threat to UFC strawweight champ 'Thug' Rose Namajunas.

'Thug Rose' has had problems with strong grapplers before, like Carla Esparza and Jessica Andrade. Lee, during her utter decimation of ONE Championship's atomweight division, proved that she's one of the best grapplers in the world.

Namajunas, however, is light-years ahead of Lee when it comes to striking. Learning from MMA tactician Trevor Wittman, Namajunas's kickboxing allowed her to knock out famous strikers like Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Zhang Weili.

Angela Lee's KO loss to ONE Championship strawweight champ Xiong Jing Nan showed that she has a long way to go to match Namajunas' striking acumen.

This boils down to who imposes her gameplan first and sticks to it till the end. Lee will have to make Namajunas respect her striking first in order to set up a takedown successfully. Under Wittman's guidance, however, we don't see Lee getting past Namajunas' stand-up assault.

'Thug Rose' takes this one in under 3 rounds.

Winner: Namajunas

Quick Links