This Day in ONE Championship History: A New Era took place

ONE: A New Era ushered in a new era of martial arts in Japan. The 15-bout fight card, which emanated live from the Ryogoku Kokugikan on March 31, 2019, delivered as expected.

The Singapore-based promotion’s first venture to bring martial arts to one of its founding countries was the promotion’s grandest spectacle at that point in time.

Fittingly, Japanese mixed martial arts icon and hometown hero Shinya ‘Tobikan Judan’ Aoki featured in the night’s main showdown. The former division king earned his shot at Eduard ‘Landslide’ Folayang’s gold following three first-round finishes against Ev Ting, Shannon Wiratchai and Rasul Yakhyaev.

He maintained that hot streak of form with another quick submission over the very man who snagged the strap from his shoulder two years prior. The grappling wizard traded leather with the Wushu specialist early in the frame before shooting for a takedown and pinning the Filipino warrior with an arm-triangle choke in 154 seconds.

Long before Aoki was covered in gold confetti and had the lightweight world title resting on his shoulder, several other martial artists put their skills on display inside the Japanese capital city’s iconic sporting venue.

In the co-main event, two superstars went toe-to-toe for the ONE women’s strawweight world title. ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee moved up a weight division in an attempt to dethrone ‘The Panda’ Xiong Jing Nan.

They put on a show – a match that is arguably one of the most memorable women’s fights in the history of combat sports.

Lee had to survive Xiong’s onslaught in the striking department from the get-go, while the longtime division queen had to ensure that she stayed one step ahead of the Singaporean-American star’s grappling prowess.

‘Unstoppable’ trapped the Chinese fighter on the canvas with multiple tricks from the Brazilian jiu-jitsu textbook. Somehow, ‘The Panda’ hung on. As the match went on to its championship rounds, Lee was visibly growing in frustration. Xiong perhaps recognized that and started imposing her dominance in the match.

She walked forward into enemy territory, landed a sidekick to Lee’s midsection and followed up with another right cross at the same target that instantly forced ‘Unstoppable’ to drop her guard.

As the challenger retreated towards the circle's fence, ‘The Panda’ advanced, unloaded more shots and kicks onto her rival’s abdominal section, which caused referee Kemp Cheng to stop the match at 1:37 of the final round.

Before that absolute barnburner, then two-division king Aung La N Sang exerted his dominance in the promotion’s middleweight division with a fourth-consecutive KO on the global stage. ‘The Burmese Python’ sent Ken Hasegawa to sleep with a huge right hand and followed up with a couple more hammerfists to seal the deal.

Then-ONE bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes was another athlete who held onto his world title. The Brazilian was declared the winner after Kevin Belingon was deemed to have landed a couple of illegal strikes a minute into the second round.

A couple of striking phenoms also picked up significant wins on this special night. In a rematch that was 11 years in the making, Yodsanklai Fairtex evened the scores against Dutch striking legend Andy Souwer with devastating boxing combinations. Rodtang Jitmuangnon, meanwhile, grabbed a decision over Hakim Hamech.

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The ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Championship

The biggest winner of the night would have to go to Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin, who reminded debuting star and multi-time MMA world champion Eddie Alvarez that the promotion's lightweight category is stacked with legitimate warriors. The pair met in the promotion’s inaugural ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Championship.

Nastyukhin’s ill-intent fists earned him the biggest scalp on his resume in the opening frame. He sent the American martial artist on wobbly feet with a stinging overhand right, before folding Alvarez in half with lightning-quick punches to book his spot in the last four.

Another UFC veteran made his professional bow on this star-studded card. As predicted, Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson impressed on his debut. The MMA GOAT contender forced hometown favorite Yuya ‘Little Piranha’ Wakamatsu to tap to a guillotine choke at 2:40 of the second frame.

In the other two brackets, Danny Kingad and Kairat Akhmetov were declared winners in a couple of tightly-contested battles. The Team Lakay star punched his ticket into the semis against Senzo Ikeda, while Akhmetov earned his spot courtesy in a back-and-forth match against Australia’s Reece McLaren.

Relive all the action below: