Christian Lee - Peruvian Necktie (Photo : ONE Championship)
ONE Championship's roster of elite Asian mixed martial arts talents is growing by the day. The promotion is already the largest and most prolific in the region, and the more its athletes begin to develop into budding stars, the bigger and better ONE Championship's shows get.
On Friday, March 18 at the Thuwanna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar, ONE Championship will hold its second event in the country. Once again, the promotion is showcasing a great balance of local and international fighters and while this card isn't the biggest this year, there are certainly a few fighters to watch out for.
Here are 4 fighters to keep an eye on at ONE: UNION OF WARRIORS
Photo by ONE Championship
#1 "The Burmese Python" Aung La N Sang (16-9-0)
The event is headlined by returning hometown hero "The Burmese Python", middleweight Aung La N Sang from Myanmar's Kachin State.
Aung moved to the United States more than 10 years ago, seeking asylum from his home country. He returned to Asia in 2014, debuting for ONE Championship in Jakarta with a scintillating first round stoppage of another Egyptian fighter, Mahmoud Salama.
More importantly, Aung showed fans in the region just how vicious he could be with the quick technical knockout in his promotional debut. Aung's well-calculated striking turned into a brutal assault via ground-and-pound which earned him the resounding victory.
It's been two years since we last saw him in competition, and it's high time he steps back into the cage. This time, Aung receives the opportunity to come back to Myanmar and perform at home in front of his friends and family.
Expect an epic return as much as an emotional one.
Photo by ONE Championship
#2 Christian "The Warrior" Lee (2-0-0)
There's just something about Singaporean prospect Christian Lee that makes him so frightening as a young mixed martial arts talent.
The part Canadian, part Korean Lee lives and trains in Hawaii, but when he is booked to compete in Asia, Lee spends his time in Singapore honing his striking and grappling skills with his world-champion teammates of the Evolve Fight Team.
Perhaps it's his aggressive, all-out approach to striking that lets off a youthful exuberance that is hard to keep up with. Or maybe, it's his unparalleled ability to pull off impressive hat-trick submissions at the drop of a dime that really gets to you.
Whatever it is, Lee is probably the most promising prospect in the promotion right now, and for good reason.
Lee faces Dutch mixed martial artist Anthony "The Archangel" Engelen, who serves as Lee's biggest test so far. Engelen has enough skill and grit to give Lee a good, stern challenge and has vowed to "submit" Lee in the second round of their bout, to which Lee replied: "Good luck."
Photo by ONE Championship
#3 Adriano "Mikinho" Moraes (13-2-0)
Adriano Moraes of Brazil's Federal District is the former ONE Flyweight World Champion. He lost the title to Kazakhi fighter Kairat Akhmetov back in November, finding himself on the wrong end of a split decision verdict.
Akhmetov exposed Moraes a little, as the Brazilian was out-grappled on multiple occasions by the Greco-Roman wrestler. Despite the loss, Moraes remains one of the top players in the division, and will look to get back on the right track in Yangon.
If Moraes is officially on the comeback trail, he's doing so against a tough opponent in Eugene Toquero of the Philippines. Toquero is a great litmus test to see where Moraes is at, as the Filipino wild man will look to test Moraes on the feet.
Moraes, a jiu-jitsu specialist, will have his hands full against Toquero who has defeated solid names the likes of Malaysia's Gianni Subba and China's Li Wei Bin.
If Moraes can get passed Toquero without much resistance, he can quickly work his way back up to a rematch with Akhmetov to try to get his title back.
Photo from Jordan Lucas' Facebook page
#4 Jordan "Showtime" Lucas (8-0-0)
Jordan Lucas of Melbourne, Australia was supposed to debut for ONE Championship last year, in a highly-anticipated bout against Filipino bantamweight Mark "Mugen" Striegl.
Lucas, a bantamweight champion in another organization, had long asked ONE CEO Victor Cui for a chance to perform for Asia's largest MMA promotion.
A cut above Lucas' eye which opened up during sparring just days before his debut however, forced him to withdraw from the bout.
Now, Lucas will make his much awaited introduction to the ONE Cage against the Philippines' Edward Kelly. Kelly is a key proponent in the famed Team Lakay of Baguio City, whose fighters have a reputation for being some of the region's best strikers, being master practitioners of the ancient martial art of Wushu.
Kelly is the perfect opponent for Lucas to prove his mettle, and to see if he can hang in a deep featherweight division -- perhaps ONE Championship's deepest weight class.
The unbeaten Lucas has a lot to prove, but he feels he's ready to seize the opportunity. Specifically, Lucas says he's ready to beat Edward Kelly and kickstart his ascent to a world title.
"I've revolved my whole life around this sport, and taking names like Edward Kelly's on March 18 wil get me that one step closer," he said.
