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Why 'Mighty' Johnson happy to be mid-card at ONE: A New Era
“It’s an honor to be part of this historic event – four world title fights. It’s an opportunity to build a fight for my ‘brother from another mother’, Bibiano Fernandes. ... I go out there and compete, then take a shower and head back out there to watch my friend fight. I’m excited for that, man. I get to see my buddy Bibiano Fernandes hopefully claim his belt back. ... I won’t disappoint you guys, I’ve been training very hard. I haven’t taken Yuya Wakamatsu lightly. He’s a great Japanese athlete. It’s going to be interesting. He comes from a great camp, Tokyo Tribe, It’s been a long time coming for me to be here in Japan." h/t SCMP
Chatri Sityodtong makes FOTN prediction for ONE: A New Era
“I think the fight of the night is probably going to go to Angela versus Jingnan. So much is at stake. Two world champions facing off at a higher weight class. It’s gonna be so exciting. ... I actually love Angela Lee and I love Jingnan. Both of them are such sweethearts outside the cage. But inside they are absolutely the best female martial artists on the planet. Just absolute warriors. It’s a tough one. I like them both. They are two warriors with their own strengths. May the best female warrior win. ... We are unleashing real-life superheroes who give the world hope, dreams, strength and inspiration. It’s a whole different mission. Every other organization in the world that we compete against, their job and their mission is to sell fights. We are building heroes for the whole world to celebrate. ... It’s not just a job for us. It’s a passion to bring back Japanese martial arts to the greatest glories again so that all of Japan can celebrate its greatest cultural treasure.” h/t South China Morning Post
Shinya Aoki: ONE is much bigger than PRIDE and ...
Shinya Aoki, who rematches lightweight champ Eduard Folayang in the main event of ONE: A New Era, live and free on the Super App: “I want to die a year after I retire. Martial arts is what I live for. ... I do not think of myself as a legend. I’m just trying to do my best in this fight. That is all I want to do. I try not to think about previous success. Being a part of ONE Championship is a highlight of my career. I am thankful that I’ve been given this huge platform to showcase my skills. I think ONE Championship is everything that is good about Pride and about martial arts all rolled into one. It is much bigger than Pride, and the potential is absolutely massive. Seven years ago, nobody believed that ONE championship would grow like this, but I knew that this organization would explode.”
h/t Sherdog
Hermansson submits Branch in less than a minute
'Knockout Artist' Josh Emmett floors Johnson in third round
'Bear Jew' gets another late triangle submission finish
After five decisions to start the night, Desmond Green turns up the heat in Philadelphia
Chatri Sityodtong: 'Shocking' number of superstars want to come to ONE
“I would tell you that so many of the top global MMA superstars have already made inbound requests to ONE Championship. You will be shocked at how many names want to come. So I’ll just say that much." What about Conor McGregor? “I’d rather not comment. Conor is going through a difficult time personally. I just wish him well. We are all human and we make mistakes." What about GSP? “Georges and I, we see the world in the same way. We share the same values. I have so much love and respect for George. I was blown away by how kind he is, how genuine he is. In the future, well anything can happen. I dunno. I’ll just say that George and I have a mutual love and respect for each other." On Sunday ONE holds A New Era, the biggest show in it's history, live and free on the Super App. h/t IB Times
Conor McGregor wants a record changed! ;-)
Joe Schilling found success at Bellator 219 doing something Cowboy told him not to do
Kickboxer turned now full-time MMA fighter Joe Schilling was mounted by Keith Berry at Bellator 219 but against prior advice, he reversed, eventually winning via decision: “It’s funny – I was doing that in practice and ‘Cowboy,’ we actually got in like an argument about it, and Jafari Vanier and I were just talking about it in the background. ‘Cowboy’ is like, ‘That will never work. Don’t do that. You’ve got to push the knee down. You’ve got to do whatever.’ Then that same practice, I hit ‘Cowboy’ with it, but it was like, ‘Yeah, whatever, but it will never happen in a fight.’ So, ‘Cowboy,’ I know that was like half-ass and not the thing to do, but it worked, again. Again!” h/t MMA Junkie
Shinya Aoki: ONE: A New Era is a great step forward for Japanese martial arts
Shinya Aoki, 35, of Japan is one of the six Japanese heroes competing at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, live and free on the Super App. In the main event, 'Tobikan Judan' challenges reigning ONE lightweight world champion Eduard 'Landslide' Folayang, 35, of the Philippines in a rematch. “I am thankful that ONE Championship is in my home country," said Aoki. "This is a great step forward for martial arts in Japan. I am laser focused for this coming match. I’ve trained very hard for my opponent. This Sunday night, I am confident I can achieve victory and become world champion once again.” h/t Conan Daily
Karate Cutie crushes massive girl scout cookie goal
Chatri Sityodtong aims to beat the NFL
“Internally and externally, we genuinely believe we can be bigger than the NFL. People say it’s crazy, it’s dumb. Three years ago people said it was crazy when I came out and said we’re going to be a billion-dollar property. I could see it then, at that moment, the trajectory was taking off and I knew at that point, if you’re growing 10x every 18 months, eventually you’re going to be large, right. The way the sports media business works is the most important thing is actually viewership numbers, viewership per event, and social media metrics, fan engagement. It’s exactly like WhatsApp. WhatsApp was sold for US$19 billion with 40 employees, zero revenues. It’s because there’s 100 million users of WhatsApp. That’s literally how media businesses are built, so ONE Championship has massive scale of reach, frequency and engagement: 140 countries, a reach of 2.6 billion potential viewers. That’s the magic, and in every single country we’re blowing our TV ratings. No one in the sports media industry in Asia has ever seen these kinds of numbers, full stop.” h/t Sports Pro Media
Karate Hottie makes case for women's atomweight division in the UFC
“If there are girls fighting at atomweight [105], then they should make a division for that in the UFC. If you build it, they will come. Give them a place to shine, and they will come and they will perform and they will pour their hearts out just like the rest of the girls have coming into the UFC. Dana White’s seen it, and he’s been able to reap the benefits of the passion that all the females bring to the UFC, to the sport of mixed martial arts, and to martial arts in general. There are little girls who have trained since they were three, four years old doing karate, jiu-jitsu, and they want a platform when they grow up. So just give it to them. Give it to them.” h/t CageSidePress • Watch
Jacare plans to beat Romero and wait for a title shot, or else
Ronaldo Souza fights Yoel Romero on April 27 at UFC on ESPN 3, and with a win, he wants a title shot, or says he will move on: ”I wanna sit and wait for my shot, for my chance. If UFC doesn’t give me the chance, I’m going to open a jiu-jitsu school for me. I don’t have a problem with retiring. Right now my body is good, my hormone is great, everything is good. I don’t have a problem with this. I’d be retiring to my jiu-jitsu on top. So I have to win this fight and wait on the UFC.” h/t BJJee • Watch
