5 weirdest ONE Championship fighters ever

(From left to right) Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Adrian Mattheis, Sage Northcutt, and Dovydas Rimkus are some of the weirdest fighters in ONE Championship. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship)
(From left to right) Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Adrian Mattheis, Sage Northcutt, and Dovydas Rimkus are some of the weirdest fighters in ONE Championship. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship)

ONE Championship has seen its fair share of oddballs through the years. To be a professional fighter is, inherently, a strange way to make a living after all.

There's nothing normal about the willingness to get punched for the sake of making money. This is why professional fighters are sometimes seen as a strange bunch by most people and that's totally okay. There's nothing wrong with being different.

As far as we can see, fighters are the type of people who refuse to conform with the normalcy of the world. They are awesome mostly because they are not afraid to go against the grain.

This truth is pretty much common knowledge to fight fans but occasionally, we see a fighter who would cause us to collectively say, "that dude's wired differently, isn't he?"

Sometimes, these oddball personalities make it to the big leagues of combat sports, such as ONE Championship. ONE fighters who are undeniably talented but also manages to be stranger than everyone else in an already strange line of work.

Today, we list down five of the weirdest fighters in ONE Championship history.


#5. ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon

Just by watching three minutes of a Rodtang fight, you'll have two clear realizations. One, he's one of the most dangerous Muay Thai fighters in the world and two, he's all kinds of different inside the ring.

One of the more defining traits of Rodtang's fighter profile is his unusually intense and angry persona once the bell rings. Seriously, watching him batter his opponents would have you thinking that they owed him money.

Just like the Incredible Hulk, the more Rodtang gets hit the angrier and more savage he seemingly gets. Check out this highlight reel and let us know if that's not the real-life version of the strongest Avenger:

The current ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion is bound for a special rules match against MMA legend Demetrious Johnson at ONE: X. We're interested to see if he can bring his unusual level of savagery to that match.

Though he is a rather nice and peaceful man outside the ring, Rodtang seemingly transforms into something else inside of it. In the already savage and violent sport of Muay Thai, Rodtang manages to out-savage and out-violence everyone else.

That's why he deserves a spot on our list.

Watch more of Rodtang's most savage moments here:

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#4. ONE Championship Muay Thai fighter Lerdsila Chumpairtour

Much like Rodtang, what made Muay Thai living legend Lerdsila into our list is the unusual style he brings inside the ring.

If Rodtang is all intense and giving it his all, Lerdsila looks like he's just playing. Dubbed 'The Mayweather of Muay Thai', Lerdsila's defense is unlike anybody else the sport has ever seen.

Lerdsila admittedly doesn't take fights too seriously, as he doesn't care much about winning or losing, but to have fun inside the ring. He likes taunting, keeping his opponents guessing and aggravating them with his elusiveness to break their concentration.

He is extremely good at using the Teep kick and head movements into his defense, something that's not seen a lot by traditional Muay Thai fighters today.

Watch this analysis video by Lawrence Kenshin to understand the complexity of Lerdsila's unusual tactics:

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#3. Former UFC fighter and ONE Championship lightweight Sage Northcutt

When then-19-year-old 'Super' Sage Northcutt made his UFC debut looking like the absolutely jacked lovechild of Ivan Drago and Mr. Robinson, the whole MMA world was put on notice.

Though he could have been mistaken as an underwear model because of his unbelievably chiseled physique, Northcutt utterly dismantled Francisco Treviño in less than a minute. He then proceeded to call everyone Mr. or Mrs. in his interviews, while sporting a smile that would give Ken dolls a run for their money.

And yeah, he also did a standing front flip.

What puts Northcutt on our list is how unbelievably nice and wholesome he is. Though we have seen a few fighters who are genuinely good people but can still mess anybody up, Northcutt is on a different level.

He's the closest to an angel one could possibly see. If an angel is a 170-pound Adonis who can put anyone to sleep, that is.

The ONE Championship fighter's always-positive attitude and child-like wholesomeness is a rarity in a sport that's made a name out of sheer violence. This is not a made-up persona or a fake visage Northcutt puts on in front of the camera. This is 100% what he is 100% of the time.

His very existence is an oddity in the savage sport of MMA and that's why he deserves a spot on our list.

Watch this YouTube video by Mype Sports featuring Northcutt being a nice man for three minutes:

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#2. ONE Championship kickboxing phenom Dovydas Rimkus

Now it's time to get really weird.

Lithuanian ONE Championship kickboxer Dovydas 'Rimkenzo' Rimkus sports a bowl-cut that would make Anton Chigur from No Country for Old Men proud. That alone should earn him a spot on our list.

Rimkus catches your attention at first glance with his eccentric haircut, leopard-print shorts and flamboyant antics in the ring.

Not only is he an oddball inside the ring, Rimkus' peculiar ways spill all over his life outside of it.

Just a quick glance at his antics on his social media would have you thinking you're watching an episode of Jackass. The man sees the world as his playground, it seems, and he's unapologetically loving it. We do too.

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#1. ONE Championship strawweight Adrian Mattheis

Where do we start with this one? When we wrote the line "that dude is wired differently," we had Adrian 'Papua Badboy' Mattheis in mind.

The ONE Championship strawweight is truly wired in ways we really can't even begin to comprehend. We are, however, absolutely entertained by all of the Indonesian's strange ways.

Though he may be the only one who can ultimately explain what truly goes on inside his head, Mattheis continually surprised fans with his crazy antics. The ONE Championship strawweight standout is so strange and peculiar that it has to be authentic. You absolutely cannot make up half of what he does inside the ring.

From his over-the-top celebrations to his weird dancing to his intense emotional outbursts, Mattheis is a lovable oddball the sport has never seen before and most likely will never see again. This is why he put him at the top of our list.

Watch this video to see Mattheis' brand of entertainment in its full, unusual glory:

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Edited by Harvey Leonard