Year-End Sports Recap: Best Moments, Fighters From ONE Championship's Stellar 2021

Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE Championship had itself a terrific year despite the Southeast Asian country’s bouts with the global pandemic.

Here are the best moments, fighters, and event of ONE Championship in 2021.

Best Male Fighter: Ok Rae Yoon

Ok Rae Yoon achieved the impossible by knocking off Christian Lee for the ONE lightweight title in the main event of ONE: Revolution in late September.

The 30-year-old South Korean’s road to the title was not without hardship as he had to defeat both former ONE featherweight champion Marat Gafurov in his promotional debut on April 7 and MMA legend Eddie Alvarez a few weeks later on April 28.

Back-to-back upset victories over Gafurov and Alvarez landed Ok the title shot against Lee.

Both the challenger and champion traded momentum throughout the five-rounder, but it was Ok’s efficient striking and grappling defense that swayed the fight in his favor, which prompted the Singaporean to go on a tirade after the match.

The new lightweight king is awaiting whether the promotion will have him face Christian in a rematch or have him fight a fresh face for his first title defense.

Best Female Fighter: Stamp Fairtex

Former two-sport queen Stamp Fairtex enjoyed a spectacular 2021, punctuated by winning the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix on December 3.

The Thai atomweight had her own brand of poetic justice as she kicked off the calendar year with a submission loss to Ukraine’s Alyona Rassohyna and secured the Grand Prix crown over Indian wrestling phenom Ritu Phogat with a stunning armbar in the second round.

Stamp rematched Rassohyna to reclaim her first MMA loss in the quarterfinals before facing tournament alternate Julie Mezabarba in the semifinals.

Winning the entire tournament allows the 24-year-old standout to face reigning ONE atomweight queen Angela Lee in 2022.

Knockout of the Year: Adriano Moraes def. Demetrious Johnson

In what could be argued as one of the biggest upsets of the year, Adriano Moraes defended his flyweight title in spectacular fashion after knocking out former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in the second round of the main event of ONE On TNT I last April 7.

Prior to the fight, Moraes had yet to earn a knockout within the promotion since joining ONE Championship back in 2013.

The two flyweights pushed the pace against each other, but Johnson’s over-aggression was rewarded with an uppercut from Moraes that led to a flurry of blows from the Brazilian before firing a missile-like knee to the face of the MMA icon for the knockout victory.

Johnson had never been knocked out in his entire career before, which proved that Moraes can hang with the best the world can offer.

Submission of the Year: Jenelyn Olsim def. Maira Mazar

Team Lakay standout Jenelyn Olsim announced her intentions of being a longtime fixture in the promotion with a superb submission victory over Maira Mazar at ONE: Fists of Fury 3 in February.

Olsim had split her first two fights in the promotion and facing Mazar allowed her to flex her entire arsenal.

The then-No. 5-ranked women’s strawweight fighter felt the full force of Olsim’s Muay Thai background as the latter put Mazar on the backfoot for the majority of the fight before patiently working her way into a power guillotine choke early in the third round.

Olsim went on to fight and defeat Vietnamese-American striker Bi Nguyen in July before being named as a replacement fighter in the ONE Women’s Atomweight Grand Prix semifinals against Phogat.

Fight of the Year: Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev vs. Timofey Nastyukhin

Saygid Arslanaliev and Timofey Nastyukhin’s dust-up at ONE: Winter Warriors on December 4 was the absolute best fight that the organization had for the year.

The two ranked lightweights first met back in 2018 with Arslanaliev picking up the victory by knockout early in the first round, and the second fight was no different.

Nastyukhin, with the thoughts of avenging his loss to Arslanaliev, went all out in this fight and was the first to draw blood before the 27-year-old Russian returned the favor a few minutes later in the first round.

The two fighters were not hesitant to trade blows, but Arslanaliev’s power was simply too much for Nastyukhin to overcome and referee Justin Brown called a stop to the contest early in the third round.

Fight fans were treated to a superb mix of skill and grit from both fighters that was the event’s show-stealer.

Male Prospect of the Year: Jhanlo Sangiao

Team Lakay’s ever-growing stable of fighters added Jhanlo Sangiao to the mix, having a highly-impressive debut against Paul Lumihi at ONE: Winter Warriors II on December 17.

The 19-year-old is the progeny of the Philippines-based training camp’s founder and head trainer Mark Sangiao, who also acted as the cornerman during his fight.

Against Lumihi, Sangiao flexed every bit of fight knowledge that he had gleaned from working with the current and former champions of the promotion which allowed him to pull off the submission win with ease.

Sangiao’s debut had been highly anticipated by his fellow countrymen and teammates as his all-around proficiency is a glimmer of hope for the country’s next generation of fighters.

Female Prospect of the Year: Victoria Lee

ONE Championship’s most prominent fighting family added another name to the already stacked list with the debut of Victoria Lee in February.

Aptly nicknamed “The Prodigy,” Victoria went on an absolute tear in her first three fights with the promotion, winning all of them with ease.

Victoria dominated both Sunisa Srisen and Luping Wang in her first two fights, picking up submission victories along the way before forcing a TKO stoppage on Victoria Souza at ONE: Revolution in September.

The 17-year-old’s talents were on full display against her three opponents, and fans are eagerly waiting how she fares against top competition in 2022.

Event of the Year: ONE: Revolution

ONE: Revolution showcased was hands-down the best event that the promotion had for the year, featuring multiple high-stakes bouts.

To kick off the card, ONE: Revolution was where Victoria experienced her first TKO victory, heavyweight Anatoly Malykhin punched Amir Aliakbari’s lights out and South Korea’s Kim Jae Woong scored an upset knockout of then-No. 1-ranked featherweight Martin Nguyen.

ONE strawweight champion Joshua Pacio successfully defended his title against Yosuke Saruta to open the upper half of the card prior to ONE bantamweight kickboxing champion Capitan Petchyindee Academy doing the same against Mehdi Zatout leading into the stellar fight between Ok and Christian for the ONE lightweight title.

All in all, ONE: Revolution was the card that the company was hoping for as all fights, save for the final two fights, ended with a knockout and set up a ton of mouth-watering storylines for 2022.