Five Reasons To Watch ONE on TNT 1

2. Welcome back, Eddie!

As big of a deal as Johnson’s arrival in ONE Championship was that of Eddie “The Undergorund King” Alvarez. The former UFC Lightweight Champion came to the promotion in 2018 aiming to show that he’s the bar when it comes to the division. But his first two bouts were a mixed bag, with Alvarez losing to Timofey Nastyukhin in the first round of their ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix at ONE: A New Era in March 2019, before bouncing back with a first round submission win over former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang at ONE: Dawn of Heroes in August that year.

Not helping his case was an injury that forced him to withdraw from the final of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix, where he was supposed to face Saygid Guseyn “Dagi” Arslanaliev at ONE: Century Part 1. Two years later, The Underground King is hungry to finally get his due and it all starts with his lightweight showdown against no. 2-ranked Iuri Lapicus of Moldova in the co-main event.

3. The Home of Martial Arts, indeed

ONE on TNT 1 isn’t only peppered with marquee matches between the traditional protagonists. The Home of Martial Arts lives up to its name with the staging of muay thai and kickboxing bouts in the six-fight card. Reigning ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon accepts the challenge of the United Kingdom’s no. 1 fighter Jacob Smith in a hard-hitting muay thai showdown.

Jitmuangnon, the world’s top muay thai fighter, is aiming to preserve his clean 9-0 slate inside the ONE Circle and raise his four-fight win streak in the first match of the main card. Meanwhile, Serbia’s Rade Opacic and Switzerland’s Patrick “Big Swiss” Schmid lock horns in a heavyweight kickboxing showdown in the lead card, setting the tone for the hard-knocks night that is about to come.

4. Educate yourself!

Unlike other promotions, ONE Championship uses a unique set of rules for competition called the Global Martial Arts Rule.

The usual finishes through knockout, submission, verbal tapout, technical knockout, corner stoppage are still in place for its bouts, which lasts in three rounds of five minutes, or five rounds of five minutes for championship matches.

What sets ONE Championship apart, however, is the judges’ decision which blends a combination of the best practices from Asian and non-Asian rules. That means that unlike others which uses a 10-must system per round, judges’ scorecards will call the match in its entirety, basing the criteria on near knockout or submission, damage (internal, accumulated, superficial), striking combinations and cage generalship (ground control and superior positioning), earned takedowns or takedown defense, and aggression. It guarantees that the winner of the match will definitely be the one who dominated the bout, ensuring action-packed rounds from bell to bell.

5. It’s ONE’s first night on TNT!