TWISTER | Angela Lee gets the chance to be called champion this Friday (Photo : ONE Championship)
ONE Championship officials knew what they were doing when they entitled the upcoming event in Singapore ONE: ASCENT TO POWER. On 6 May from inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, two brand new ONE World Champions will be crowned.
Angela Lee and Mei Yamaguchi meet in one of the most talked about women's mixed martial arts bouts ever in Asia, with the winner being named the ONE Atomweight World Champion - the first major women's MMA world championship in Asia.
And, after an injury to ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash scrapped his planned fight with Aleksei Butorin, the promotion has put the inaugural ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship on the line when Roger Gracie meets Michal Pasternak.
Lee and Yamaguchi have already held serve in the media over the past month, as the bout announcement was picked up by every major news outlet in Asia. It's no surprise really, given the credentials of both title challengers and their status as two of the best women's fighters in the region.
Just 19 years old, Lee (5-0) has finished all five of her opponents, including a 2015 Twister submission of Natalie Gonzalez Hills that vaulted "Unstoppable" to the top of the heap. She's also earned first-round finishes against Mona Samir and Aya Saber, while her last two bouts against Rebecca Heintzman and Lena Tkhorevska were stopped in the second round.
Yamaguchi (15-8-1) presents an incredible challenge for the youngster, as she is 14 years her elder and has over four times as many professional fights. This will be her debut with ONE Championship, following three straight wins competing for the Deep Jewels promotion last year and capturing the promotion's Featherweight Championship in the process. Yamagauchi has shared the cage previously with big world-ranked names such as Megumi Fujii and Ayaka Hamasaki, underlying the depths of her experience.
Now, it is the recently-announced ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship title bout that has the media's attention. Roger Gracie, whose last name means he requires no introduction, was already going to meet undefeated Polish powerhouse Michal Pasternak in the cage, but the stakes have just been raised dramatically after Bigdash's withdrawal.
Gracie (7-2) added ONE to his resume with a 2014 front-kick finish of James McSweeney, with the Black House fighter and member of the famed Gracie family having also competed for the UFC and Strikeforce during his 10-year career. This bout is especially important to him, as he now has the chance to become the first Gracie MMA world champion since the legendary Royce Gracie.
Standing in his way is Pasternak (11-0), who would like nothing more than to keep his perfect record intact, win gold, and add the Gracie name to his list of career wins, which includes a 2014 decision over Rafael Silva. Six of his 11 victories have been stoppages, including five via submission, showing he is no slouch on the ground either.
However, you can be sure the ground is not the place Pasternak will want to go against Gracie, who is a third-degree black belt in BJJ and a ten-time BJJ World Champion.
With two such compelling matchups with so much on the line, ONE: ASCENT TO POWER looks like an event not to be missed.
