Road To ONE X Part 1: Recounting ONE Championship's Rise To World Stage

ONE Championship is celebrating its 10th anniversary on March 26, and looking into its biggest moments is the best way to commemorate its rich history that dates all the way back to its first event in September 2011.

September 3, 2011: ONE FC: Champion vs. Champion

The upstart promotion held its first-ever mixed martial arts event which was headlined by future two-time ONE lightweight champion Eduard Folayang of the Philippines and A Sol Kwon of South Korea at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

February 11, 2012: ONE FC: Battle of Heroes

ONE Championship’s second event was also a major milestone for them as it held its first overseas show at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta, Indonesia, where lightweight Felipe Enomoto defeated Ole Laursen in the main event.

June 1-3, 2012: ONE FC Hosts First Asia MMA Summit

With just two events under its belt, it was announced in mid-2012 that ONE Championship would be hosting the first Asia MMA Summit an event where speakers of well-respected fight gyms and MMA promotions spoke about the future of the sport in the region.

June 23, 2012: First Visit To Malaysia

Barely a year since its first show, the promotion had its second overseas show as ONE Championship held ONE FC: Destiny of Warriors in Kuala Lumpur, where UFC veteran Renato "Babalu" Sobral defeated Tatsuya Mizuno in the main event.

August 31, 2012: First Show In Manila

ONE Championship graced the shores of the Philippines with ONE FC: Pride of a Nation at the Araneta Coliseum that featured the fourth matchup between UFC veterans Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia, Eric Kelly pulling off an upset victory over Jens Pulver, and the debut of current ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes.

October 6, 2012: Shinya Aoki’s Debut

On this date, the Asian MMA community was witness to the arrival of future two-time lightweight champion Shinya Aoki at ONE: FC Rise of Kings as he choked out Arnaud Lepont in the first round of their matchup.

The event also had the first three matches of the Bantamweight World Grand Prix, while Kotetsu Boku and Soo Chul Kim were crowned as the inaugural lightweight and bantamweight champions respectively.

February 2, 2013: Honorio Banario Makes History

ONE Championship’s return to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for ONE FC: Return of Warriors was a momentous occasion for the Philippines as Team Lakay’s Honorio Banario defeated Eric Kelly to earn the right to be the first featherweight champion and the first Filipino world champion in ONE’s history.

April 5, 2013: Shinya Aoki’s First Lightweight Title Win

ONE FC: Kings and Champions saw the two semifinal bouts of the Bantamweight Grand Prix plus the beginning of the Shinya Aoki era in the lightweight division after submitting Kotetsu Boku with a rear-naked choke in the second round of the main event.

May 31, 2013: Team Lakay Fails To Defend Homecourt

Due to the hype generated by Filipino fans, ONE Championship held ONE FC: Rise To Power at the state-of-the-art Mall of Asia Arena, where Bibiano Fernandes took home his first title in the promotion–the interim bantamweight championship.

However, the Philippine delegation went winless in five fights during the event as Masakatsu Ueda defeated Kevin Belingon in the Bantamweight World Grand Prix finals. Meanwhile, Koji Oishi dethroned Honorio Banario for the featherweight championship.

October 13, 2013: Bibiano Fernandes Becomes Undisputed Champion

At ONE FC: Total Domination in Singapore, Bibiano Fernandes defeated Soo Chul Kim in a bantamweight title unification bout. Meanwhile, Shinya Aoki had his one-off fight at featherweight against Cody Stevens.

November 15, 2013: Adriano Moraes’ Debut Gets Spoiled

Adriano Moraes made his debut at ONE FC: Warrior Spirit but was defeated by Yusup Saadulaev after a three-round war had the judges awarding the latter with the victory.

Also on the card was AJ Lias Mansor who defeated Melvin Yeoh to win the Malaysian National Featherweight Championship Tournament, with the Borneo Tribal Squad founder announcing that his fight purse will be donated to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

December 6, 2013: Koji Oishi KO’s Honorio Banario in Rematch

Team Lakay’s Honorio Banario had revenge on his mind when he met Koji Oishi at ONE FC: Moment of Truth, but the Japanese made sure to keep the belt around his waist with a decisive knockout of Banario in the third round.

December 10, 2013: Ben Askren Joins ONE Championship

ONE Championship netted its biggest foreign signing at the time in the form of Ben Askren, who decided to make the surprising move after being turned down by UFC president Dana White.

March 14, 2014: Inaugural Welterweight Champion Crowned

With a growing roster of welterweights, the division needed a king and Nobutatsu Suzuki took that opportunity for himself after defeating Brock Larson at ONE FC: War of Nations.

April 3, 2014: Fil-Am Boxer Ana Julaton Joins ONE Championship

As women’s mixed martial arts started establishing its foothold in the mainstream, the Singapore-based organization added former boxing world champion Ana Julaton to its stable.

May 2, 2014: Bibiano Fernandes’ First Title Defense, Julaton’s debut

ONE FC: Rise of Heroes featured the stelar title defense of Bibiano Fernandes against Grand Prix winner Masakatsu Ueda and Ana Julaton’s debut victory against Aya-Saeid Saber.

May 28, 2014: Rich Franklin Becomes ONE VP

UFC legend and former middleweight champion Rich Franklin confirmed that he would be retiring from the fight game after it was announced that he would become the vice president of ONE Championship

May 30, 2014: Ben Askren’s debut

The long-awaited debut of Ben Askren finally came to fruition at ONE FC: Honor and Glory against Bakhtiyar Abbasov, finishing the latter in the first round with a nasty arm-triangle choke.

June 14, 2014: Planting Seeds Of The Flyweight Division

As the outfit continues to focus on its growth of having a strong flyweight division, both Geje Eustaquio and Adriano Moraes earned the chance to vie for the first-ever ONE flyweight title after winning their respective eliminator fights at ONE FC: Era of Champions.

July 11, 2014: First Performance Bonus Awarded

ONE Championship visited the beautiful city of Taipei for its first and only event in Taiwan to date with ONE FC: War of Dragons, where Eric Kelly was the recepient of the promotion's first $50,000 performance bonus after a come-from-behind victory over Rob Lisita.

July 13, 2014: Former UFC Heavyweight Veteran Signs With ONE Championship

On this day, the seeds of the ONE heavyweight division were brought into the promotion as it was announced that Filipino-American UFC veteran Brandon Vera had signed.

August 29, 2014: First Event In Dubai

ONE Championship showcased the best fighters of the promotion at the time when it hosted its first and only event in Dubai, with ONE FC: Reign of Champions that was headlined by three world title fights.

September 12, 2014: Adriano Moraes Etches His Name In ONE History

The first flyweight titleholder of ONE Championship in Adriano Moraes had his crowning glory at ONE FC: Rise of the Kingdom in the promotion’s first foray in Cambodia.

November 7, 2014: Crowning Of First ONE Middleweight Champion

At ONE FC: Battle of Lions, Kazakh middleweight Igor Svirid achieved his dream by becoming the division’s inaugural champion as he defeated Leandro Ataides by TKO in the first round.

December 5, 2014: Brandon Vera Debuts In Home Country

Brandon Vera clinched his first win under the ONE Championship banner by making quick work of URCC alumnus Igor Subora at ONE FC: Warrior's Way, while Bibiano Fernandes successfully defended his bantamweight title against South Korea’s Dae Hwan Kim.

December 19, 2014: ONE Championship Visits China

As the Asian market continued to grow, so did the company and had its tentpole event in China with ONE FC: Dynasty of Champions in Beijing.

January 30, 2015: ONE makes Bold Rebranding Choice

The company would announce that it had dropped “Fighting” in its name as it hoped to push the sport and spectacle that is MMA instead of the “blood and gore of fights”.

March 13, 2015: First Event As ONE Championship

The rebranding would take effect just a few months later with ONE: Age of Champions, where Adriano Moraes defended his flyweight title against Riku Shibuya.

April 24, 2015: Ben Askren’s First Defense Ends In No Contest

The main event of ONE: Valor of Champions ended disappointingly as the welterweight championship clash between Ben Askren and Luis Santos ended via no contest after the challenger said that he could not see after an accidental eye poke.

Fil-Am Mark Striegl would also make his promotional debut at the event.

May 22, 2015: ONE’s First Strawweight Champion

Muay Thai legend Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke was crowned as the first strawweight champion after defeating Roy Doliguez at ONE: Warrior’s Quest, which also featured Shinya Aoki’s second successful title defense against Koji Ando.

July 18, 2015: First event in Myanmar

ONE Championship continued to expand its influence over the Asian region nearly three years since its first event, and the promotion had its inaugural event in Myanmar with ONE: Kingdom of Warriors.

September 27, 2015: Marat Gafurov secures interim featherweight title

At ONE: Odyssey of Champions, Marat Gafurov pulled off a surprising victory against Martin Nguyen to secure the interim featherweight championship.

October 9, 2015: Vitaly Bigdash Wins ONE Middleweight Title

Vitaly Bigdash announced his presence in the promotion after defeating the inaugural middleweight king Igor Svirid at ONE: Tigers of Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

November 13, 2015: Angela Lee pulls off rare submission

ONE: Pride of Lions was supposed to treat fans to a rematch between Ben Askren and Luis Santos, but the latter failed to make weight and the fight was subsequently canceled.

However, fans were instead gifted with a rare twister submission from future women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee.

November 21, 2015: Marat Gafurov Becomes Official Featherweight King

Two months off after his interim featherweight title win, Marat Gafurov secured the main featherweight title after defeating Jadamba Narantungalag at ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing II)

December 11, 2015: Biggest Controversy To Date

ONE: Spirit of Champions will forever be remembered for two things: Brandon Vera being crowned as the promotion’s first heavyweight champion and the tragic passing of Yang Jian Bing due to weight cutting that resulted in a heart attack.

December 23, 2015: New Weigh-In Policy Instituted

Following the passing of Yang Jian Bing, ONE Championship announced that it had changed its weigh-in policy which now follows a “walk-around weight” system.

January 23, 2016: Bibiano Fernandes Defends Bantamweight title for fourth time

ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Changsha) was the first event where the company enforced its new weigh-in policy.

On the same card, Bibiano Fernandes successfully defended his bantamweight crown against Team Lakay's Kevin Belingon.

March 18, 2016: Aung La N Sang's Homecoming

“The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang stepped foot in his home country of Myanmar as he defeated Mohamed Ali by guillotine choke at ONE: Union of Warriors.

May 6, 2016: Two Inaugural Champions Crowned

The reign of dominance that has accompanied Angela Lee to this day began at ONE: Ascent To Power as she captured the women’s atomweight title, while Roger Gracie of the famed Gracie family was crowned as the first-ever ONE light heavyweight champion.

May 27, 2016: Thailand Debut For ONE Championship

Four years since its first MMA event, the Singapore-based promotion held its first event in Bangkok, Thailand with ONE: Kingdom of Champions, where Yoshitaka Naito was crowned as the strawweight king after defeating hometown hero Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke.

August 13, 2016: First Event In Macau, China

ONE Championship acknowledged its growing crowd in China by holding its first event in Macau with ONE: Heroes of the World, where Adriano Moraes became the interim flyweight champion.

September 21-23, 2016: Second Asia MMA Summit

In late September, the promotion had its second Asia MMA Summit, where women’s atomweight queen Angela Lee, ONE Vice President Rich Franklin and MMA icon Bas Rutten were the featured speakers.

October 7, 2016: Joshua Pacio Fails To Win Strawweight Title

At ONE: State of Warriors in Yangyon, Myanmar, Yoshitaka Naito successfully fended off future strawweight king Joshua Pacio thanks to a rear-naked choke.

November 11, 2016: Eduard Folayang Reaches Mountaintop

In a watershed event for MMA in the Philippines, Eduard Folayang finally won his first world title in a shocking knockout victory of lightweight champion Shinya Aoki in the main event of ONE: Defending Honor.

January 14, 2017: Aung La N Sang Vs. Vitaly Bigdash Rivalry Begins

Middleweight champion Vitaly Bigdash was originally scheduled to face Marcin Prachnio at ONE: Quest for Power and instead faced a very game Aung La N Sang on short notice whom he narrowly defeated.

March 11, 2017: First Women’s MMA Headliner In Thailand

As the women of ONE Championship began making their marks, the promotion decided to have them as the main event of ONE: Warrior Kingdom where Angela Lee successfully defended her women’s atomweight title against Jenny Huang.

April 21, 2017: Eduard Folayang defends lightweight title, Filipino boxing legend makes appearance

With the weight of Philippine MMA on his shoulders, Eduard Folayang rose to the occasion as he defended his lightweight title for the first time against Ev Ting at ONE: Kings of Destiny, with boxing icon and ONE shareholder Manny Pacquiao awarded the title to“The Landslide.”

May 26, 2017: First Grappling Super-Fight

ONE: Dynasty of Heroes was headlined by the two successful title defenses of Angela Lee and Ben Askren, and it featured a grappling masterclass from Shinya Aoki and Garry Tonon.

June 30, 2017: Aung La N Sang Vs. Vitaly Bigdash II

Aung La N Sang earned his first title in the promotion by defeating archrival Vitaly Bigdash for the middleweight title at ONE: Light of a Nation, making him the first Burmese fighter to become an MMA world champion.

August 5, 2017: Milestones For Adriano Moraes, Bibiano Fernandes

At ONE: Kings and Conquerors, interim flyweight titleholder Adriano Moraes defeated Kairat Akhmetov by unanimous decision to become the undisputed division kingpin, while Bibiano Fernandes choked out Andrew Leone for his sixth straight bantamweight title defense.

August 18, 2017: Martin Nguyen Conquers Marat Gafurov

Martin Nguyen knocked out Marat Gafurov in their rematch to become the ONE feathweright champion at ONE: Quest for Greatness.

September 2, 2017: Ben Askren Headlines Shanghai Card

Ben Askren was tasked with putting on a show for the company’s first event in Shanghai, China with ONE: Shanghai, and he delivered by smothering and knocking out Zebaztian Kadestam in the main event.

November 10, 2017: First Double Champion In ONE History

Three months after his knockout victory over Marat Gafurov, Martin Nguyen did the impossible by knocking out Eduard Folayang at ONE: Legends of the World to become the first fighter in the promotion’s history to hold two world titles simultaneously.

Adriano Moraes also successfully defended his title against Danny Kingad to extend his reign over the flyweight division.

November 18, 2017: ONE Warrior Series Announced

ONE Championship announced the establishment of the developmental league dubbed as “ONE Warrior Series” as the promotion searched for the best fighters from across Asia.

November 24, 2017: Ben Askren’s 'Farewell' Fight

The dominance of Ben Askren with ONE Championship had a fairytale ending by defeating Shinya Aoki at ONE: Immortal Pursuit to extend his then-unblemished record to 18 victories and announced his retirement shortly after.

However, it would turn out that the retirement was short-lived.

December 9, 2017: Alex Silva Becomes Third Strawweight Champion

At ONE: Warriors of the World, Alex Silva toppled Yoshitaka Naito to take his place atop the strawweight division after going on a six-fight win streak.

January 20, 2018: First-Ever Women’s Strawweight Champion

Xiong Jing Nan etched her name in the promotion’s record books by becoming the inaugural women’s strawweight champion after defeating Tiffany Teo by TKO at ONE: Kings of Courage.

January 26, 2018: Geje Eustaquio Earns First ONE Title

ONE: Global Superheroes was a notable event for both Muay Thai fans and flyweight fans as the event featured the organization’s first-ever Muay Thai fight, while Geje Eustaquio won the interim flyweight title after defeating Kairat Akhmetov.

February 23, 2018: Second Two-Weight World Champion

Aung La N Sang joined Martin Nguyen in the promotion’s record books by becoming the second fighter in ONE history to hold two world titles at the same time. He picked up the victory over Alexandre Machado for the vacant light heavyweight title at ONE: Quest for Gold.

March 24, 2018: Bibiano Fernandes Prevents History

Bibiano Fernandes spoiled Martin Nguyen’s bid to add another world title by successfully defending his bantamweight title in the main event of ONE: Iron Will.

March 31, 2018: First ONE Warriors Series Event

Rockie Bactol, Kim Woon Kyoom and Dae Sung Park were announced as the first winners of the $100,000-plus ONE Championship contracts by the end of the night.

April 20, 2018: ONE Super Series Revealed

The iconic all-white, five-rope ring that has since become synonymous with the promotion’s Muay Thai and kickboxing-focused ONE Super Series was revealed at ONE: Heroes of Honor.

May 12, 2018: Yoshitaka Naito Gets His Revenge

By the end of ONE: Grit and Glory, it was Yoshitaka Naito who had the last laugh as he regained the strawweight title from the man who had taken it away from him in Alex Silva.

May 14, 2018: Official Launch Of ONE Super App

During the pre-fight press conference of ONE: Unstoppable Dreams, the organization officially launched the ONE Super App--a mobile app that gives fans around the world access to every ONE Championship live event and its complete library of digital content for free.

May 18, 2018: Title-Laden Event At ONE: Unstoppable Dreams

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao was crowned as the first-ever ONE Muay Thai flyweight champion on the same night that Angela Lee and Martin Nguyen successfully defended their titles.

June 23, 2018: Geje Eustaquio Does The Unthinkable

Geje Eustaquio exacted revenge on Adriano Moraes for his Team Lakay brother Danny Kingad as he unified the flyweight titles at ONE: Pinnacle of Power.

July 7, 2018: Inaugural ONE Kickboxing Women’s Atomweight Champion Crowned

Kai Ting Chuang of China defeated Yodcherry Sityodtong via unanimous decision to earn the right to be called the first-ever ONE kickboxing women’s atomweight champion at ONE: Battle for the Heavens.

July 27, 2018: Kevin Belingon Earns First Interim Title

Kevin Belingon followed Geje Eustaquio’s footsteps as he upended Martin Nguyen for the interim bantamweight title at ONE: Reign of Kings.

September 22, 2018: Joshua Pacio Attains Championship Dream

The youngest of the famed gym from the Philippines silenced his doubters by defeating Yoshitaka Naito in a rematch for the ONE strawweight title at ONE: Conquest of Heroes.

October 6, 2018: First boxing match in the promotion, Stamp Fairtex’s rise

WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defeated challenger Iran Diaz by unanimous decision, while Stamp Fairtex won her first kickboxing atomweight title by dethroning Kai Ting Chuang at ONE: Kingdom of Heroes.

October 16, 2018: ONE Championship Welcomes Eddie Alvarez

ONE Championship founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that they had signed former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

October 27, 2018: Blockbuster Trade Between ONE Championship, UFC

In a move that few saw coming, ONE Championship traded Ben Askren (who still had a live contract with the organization despite retiring) to the UFC for Demetrious Johnson in a deal that had not been seen before in the industry.

November 7, 2018: Two New Grand Prix Events Announced

The promotion announced that the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix and ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix tournaments would be happening in 2019.

November 8, 2018: Miesha Tate Joins ONE Championship As VP

Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate agreed to join ONE Championship in the executive role of vice president, joining fellow mixed martial artist Rich Franklin.

November 9, 2018: Kevin Belingon Becomes Undisputed Bantamweight King

Kevin Belingon put his demons to rest by outlasting Bibiano Fernandes via split decision in their bantamweight title unification rematch at ONE: Heart of the Lion.

November 17, 2018: Zebaztian Kadestam Hits World Title Goal

Tyler McGuire was the only obstacle standing in the way for Zebaztian Kadestam on his road to securing the vacant welterweight title, and the Swede hard-hitter finally reached the Promised Land by delivering the knockout blow in the fifth round of the main event of ONE: Warrior’s Dream.

November 23, 2018: Eduard Folayang Caps Off Banner Year For Team Lakay

Team Lakay ended the calendar year with four world titles under their belt after Eduard Folayang defeated Amir Khan to capture the vacant lightweight belt at ONE: Conquest of Champions.

November 30, 2018: 'Sexyama' Signs With ONE

Famed Japanese finisher Yoshihiro Akiyama announced that he would be kickstarting the “last challenge” of his career by signing with ONE Championship three years after his last bout in the UFC.

December 1, 2018: Sage Northcutt Joins ONE Championship

Sage Northcutt signed an exclusive deal with ONE Championship after his UFC contract expired, with promotion CEO Chatri Sityodtong proudly declaring the signing via social media.

December 14, 2018: ONE Championship Seals Deal With Turner Sports

ONE Championship found a broadcasting home in the United States with Turner Sports, agreeing to a three-year partnership that saw most of the promotion's major fights cards being aired on B/R Live.

Data used in this article were gathered by International Business Times sports editor and combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano.