Our quarterfinal matchups for the ONE
Atomweight World Grand Prix! Who makes it to the next round?
@_itsuki_h_
@PhogatRitu
#WeAreONE
#ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/rW44NBsoRf— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship)
March 12, 2021
The One Championship atomweight tournament will
officially begin on May 28.
On Thursday night, ESPN
announced that One would commence its atomweight (115 pounds) grand
prix on May 28. Although the existence of the tournament and its
field was
previously publicized, the brackets have now been unveiled.
Additionally, the event titled “Empower”
will exclusively consist of female fighters for the promotion, and
it will take place in Singapore. Finally, a strawweight (125
pounds) title tilt will sit atop the event. One shared this
information shortly after the ESPN report via press release, while
stating that other bouts may be added to this card in the
future.
In the main event, Jingnan
Xiong (15-2) will put her 125-pound crown on the line against
Michelle
Nicolini (6-2). The champ has never lost when competing at the
flyweight division, with her only two setbacks coming in a
catchweight above 130 pounds and when she dropped down to face
Angela
Lee for One’s atomweight throne. China’s Xiong took home the
belt in 2018, when she claimed the vacant strap by knocking out
Tiffany
Teo, and she has defended it four times to date.
Facing Xiong will be grappling specialist Nicolini, who may only be
on a one-fight win streak but it came over former Xiong rival
Angela
Lee. The Brazilian has won by submission in five of her six
career victories, with Lee the only woman she could not tap out in
victory. The 39-year-old made her way into the promotion by
submitting Mona Samir,
Irina
Mazepa and Iryna
Kyselova in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively, all in the first
round. A setback to Teo did not deter her hopes of a future title
shot, as the Lee triumph propelled her into contention.
The eight-woman atomweight tournament contains the top-four ranked
fighters in the division from One’s rankings, and the winner will
earn a crack at Lee and gold at the end. Number one ranked Denice
Zamboanga (6-0) will put her unbeaten record on the line
against Sherdog’s
pound-for-pound talent Seo Hee Ham
(23-8) on the first leg. On the same side of the tournament, a
rematch will be put together when #3 Alyona
Rassohyna (13-4) squares off once more against #4 Nong Stamp
(5-1). The two met in February, and Stamp tapped out with seven
seconds left from a guillotine choke, only to protest the stoppage
and cry foul about her first career defeat. The promotion has
elected to run that match back in the first stage of this
tournament.
On the other side of the bracket, the #2 Meng Bo (16-5)
will try to eject powerful Indian wrestler Ritu
Phogat (4-0) from the ranks of the unbeaten. Finally, fearless
finisher Itsuki
Hirata (7-0) will come to blows with Invicta Fighting Championships standout
Alyse
Anderson (5-1). The winners of Zamboanga-Ham and
Rassohyna-Stamp will face off for a spot in the finals, as will the
victors between Bo-Phogat and Hirata-Anderson.