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ONE Championship is home to various martial arts disciplines. The Singapore-based promotion showcases Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA, and submission grappling. That said, one can say that ONE Championship houses some of the most high-level fighters from all styles of fighting. Wouldn't it be nice to see ONE Championship's best athletes face the martial arts legends of old?
Tracing the roots of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat would be an ardous task as it has a long and complicated history. One certainty, however, is that martial arts have evolved significantly over the past four decades or so. From Bruce Lee to the Jiu-jitsu icon Rickson Gracie to UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, the way in which combat sports have changed over time is immensely fascinating.
Though not necessarily better, the champions of today fight and operate differently from the champions of the past. This list will explore how the fighters would match up if they crossed paths in their respective primes. This list might ignore weight classes and pair fighters from different generations together, nonetheless, it's a list that puts the spotlight on some of the greatest legends combat sports has ever produced. That said, let's get on with it.
#5. ONE Championship Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Dutch kickboxing legend Ramon Dekkers
Imagine the fireworks in this fight. Legendary Dutch kickboxer Ramon 'The Diamond' Dekkers is widely considered the greatest foreign Muay Thai fighter of all time. In his heyday, Dekkers threw down with the best Thailand had to offer and destroyed them at their own game. The 8-time world champion later received royal recognition from the Thai royal family for his contribution to the sport.
'The Diamond' is a frightening buzzsaw that operates at a very high-pace and has an aggressive fighting style. He pushes forward and swings with power almost every time. ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang, by his style and aggression, can be seen as the smaller and modern Thai version of Dekkers. The two are like mirror images of each other and would produce absolute heart-pounding moments in the ring. Seeing these two aggressive, fast-paced Muay Thai legends go at it would be a slice of heaven.
#4. ONE Championship Muay Thai slickster Lerdsila Chumpairtour vs. Muay Thai GOAT Samart Payakaroon
This one is for hardcore Muay Thai fans. ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai standout Lerdsila Chumpairtour is often considered the 'Mayweather of Muay Thai'. His inhuman reflexes and defensive tactics are nothing like we've ever seen in Muay Thai. It's like watching a movie. Check out any highlight reel video of Chumpairtour on YouTube and prepare to be amazed by his legendary slick movement.
Similarly, if Chumpairtour is the 'Mayweather of Muay Thai', then Samart Payakaroon is the Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson of the sport. Fighters, past and present, cite Samart as the greatest Muay Thai fighter of all time. His in-depth knowledge of the fundamentals was as close to perfection as anyone could get.
His management of distance, complemented by his perfect timing and sniper-like precision, made Samart so smooth to watch. Watching Samart dismantle his opponents was almost like watching a ballerina dazzle the crowd with technique and grace.
Watch this analysis video by Lawrence Kenshin on YouTube about the legend of the former Muay Thai and boxing world champion:
Watching these two technically proficient and smooth legends outdo each other in the ring is every ONE Championship Muay Thai lover's dream. It wouldn't just be highly entertaining, it would be something worth studying, as well.
#3. ONE Championship heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar vs. MMA legend Mark Kerr
The Richter scale would not be able to calculate the magnitude of the earthquake a battle between these wrestling behemoths would produce. A fight between ONE Championship heavyweight king Arjan Singh Bhullar and MMA legend Mark 'The Smashing Machine' Kerr would be larger than life. It's the closest we can get to a real-life battle of the titans.
Though largely known now as the subject of the heartbreaking HBO documentary 'The Smashing Machine', Mark Kerr was a force of nature in his heyday. Legend has it that former UFC champion Mark Coleman started writing the handbook for ground-and-pound. If that's true, then Kerr continued and finished it. The former NCAA wrestling champion and former ADCC submission wrestling champion is a different world of pain on the ground. His absolutely dominant top game and concussive ground-and-pound made Kerr the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter of his time.
Watch this highlight video on YouTube by user Dhamil on the greatness of 'The Smashing Machine':
ONE Championship king Arjan Bhullar, on his end, is a former Olympic wrestler and former multi-time world wrestling champion as well. The ONE Championship heavyweight king's mix of fast-paced freestyle and awkward folkstyle wrestling might bewilder Kerr. Bhullar, being a modern-day MMA fighter, also has a more holistic MMA game with better stand-up than the specialist Kerr. Once Kerr gets a hold of the ONE Championship title holder and puts him on his back, however, it becomes a wildly different story. It doesn't matter where you're from or what era you're fighting in, if a prime Mark Kerr is on top of you, you're in for a long night.
#2. ONE Championship grappling phenom Gordon Ryan vs. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu legend Rickson Gracie
It's new school vs. old school Jiu-jitsu. ONE Championship grappler/MMA fighter Gordon 'The King' Ryan is widely considered today as the greatest submission grappler in the world. Ryan's unsolvable attacking system and wildly inventive leg locks allowed him to dominate every grappling tournament he's in. 'The King' is so far ahead of his competition it's crazy.
Enter the legendary Rickson Gracie. The 9th-degree red belt in Gracie Jiu-jitsu is the consensus best in the clan that invented the martial art. Though disputed by his own family, Rickson claimed to have fought 400 times and dominated his opponents. True or not, looking at Gracie's undefeated MMA record (11-0) and how he soundly defeated all his foes, that number might not be far from fiction.
A heavy advocate of the old-school style of Jiu-jitsu, it would be interesting to see how Gracie deals with Ryan's modern leglock attacks. On a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, the Jiu-jitsu legend shared an interesting take on modern day leglocks.
Watch the full segment of this YouTube video uploaded by user TDHH:
Making this match a ONE Championship MMA fight raises the intrigue through the roof. Gracie's flavor of Jiu-jitsu has always been about martial arts and how to apply it in a real fist fight. Ryan's Jiu-jitsu game, though arguably the best in the world, is centered mostly around pure competitive grappling. What an intriguing ONE Championship match this would be.
#1. ONE Championship flyweight Grand Prix winner Demetrious Johnson vs. the master himself, Bruce Lee
The father of mixed martial arts vs. the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time. It doesn't get more poetic than that.
MMA was arguably invented by Bruce Lee, who showed numerous times that the best style is no style. He famously erradicated any specific form to make way for a holistic and ultimately mixed style of martial arts. The opening scene of 'Enter the Dragon' was a straight MMA fight where Lee used various trips and throws and ended the fight with a straight armbar. That's unheard of at the time it was screened more than two decades before the first televised MMA event happened:
Not just in movies, but Lee can truly fight as evidenced by numerous accounts of his street fights and closed-door contests throughout his life. His 1968 public demonstration showed Lee's insane fight IQ, speed, and otherworldly physical prowess.
Watch the demonstration in this YouTube video by Worldwide Martial Arts:
Bruce Lee, facing off with arguably the greatest product of his philosophy, would be an interesting sight to see. ONE Championship flyweight Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson is often considered the most complete MMA fighter ever, excelling in all aspects of the game like no other. Like Lee, ONE Championship's Johnson doesn't lean too much on any style as he prefers to utilize all the best aspects of fighting, from the standup to the ground. If in another dimension this fight ever takes place in the ONE Championship Circle, don't blink. These two legends would be swift and furious from the get-go.
