ONE Championship’s US debut worth the wait as Demetrious Johnson caps perfect card in Denver
- American legend retains his flyweight title to send raucous crowd home happy after a night of thrills, shocks, and star-making performances
- Rodtang and Stamp feel the love at 1stBank Centre as the Singapore-based promotion finally plants its flag in American territory
ONE Championship could not have envisioned a more perfect debut event on US soil.
Friday night’s spectacular ONE Fight Night 10 event, which was broadcast on Amazon Prime Video in the US, delivered in every way possible, with show-stopping knockouts, shock upsets, star-making performances, and a finish that sent the raucous crowd at Denver, Colorado’s 1stBank Centre home happy.
Having flirted with the idea of retirement during fight week, Demetrious Johnson retained his flyweight MMA title with a trilogy-deciding unanimous decision against one of the great rivals of his storied career, Adriano Moraes.
“I’ll have to check with my wife,” he said in the Circle after being grilled about whether this was indeed his final fling in the world of mixed martial arts.
But a post-fight staredown with Kairat Akhmetov, who had himself taken a decision earlier in the night against Australia’s Reece McLaren, suggested that Johnson still has unfinished business in the promotion before he can walk off into the sunset.
The Singapore-based martial arts promotion’s marquee name in the US, former UFC champion Johnson’s victory put the icing on the cake after a night that had built to a crescendo before the highly-anticipated main event.