Does ONE Championship currently have the best roster?
9 mins read

Does ONE Championship currently have the best roster?


ONE Championship is one of the largest mixed martial arts promotions globally and is now the largest in Asia. It has the most diverse martial arts stages offering MMA, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Submission Grappling for fight enthusiasts to indulge in. With muay thai’s origins coming from Asia and spreading across the world, it has attracted countless talents globally as they compete on the ONE global stage to fight for first place. In this article, leave it up to us to answer the question: “Does ONE Championship currently have the most amazing roster?”

Combat sports today

When we talk about combat sports today, MMA, Boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling come to mind. With MMA at the forefront and leading the charge, it is the perfect demonstration of combining all martial arts into one weapon. The MMA champions all come from different martial arts backgrounds and have been champions of at least one type of martial art before entering the MMA scene.

In general, fighters who come from South America, especially Brazil, are most likely BJJ world champions with grappling as their foundation when they enter MMA. On the other hand, with the prevalence of wrestling in the United States, when an American MMA fighter excels in MMA, it is very likely that the fighter is a former wrestler.

As each region has its own specialties that will most likely determine its fighting style, outside of MMA, Nak Muay (Thai Boxers) have produced some of the best and most popular strikers in the fighting world today. Fighters such as Buakaw, Saenchai, Nong-O, Sagat Petchyindee (Sagat was the inspiration for Sagat in the popular game Street Fighter), Superlek, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, John Wayne Parr, Liam Harrison and Jean-Charles Skarbowsky (Muay Thai coach of ‘GSP) ) are some of the few successful famous fighters that Muay Thai has produced.

The global stage of the ONE Championship

ONE Championship is known not only for MMA but also for its different levels of martial arts. From kickboxing stars to Muay Thai greats, ONE is home to some of the world’s best talent and is home to legendary fighters. The global stage ONE allows the world’s best talent to test themselves against each other and has taken the lead as the leading international martial arts organization.

With many emerging superstars and legends on the roster, ONE has changed the face of modern Muay Thai. They use a global ruleset for Muay Thai, which means athletes will wear 4-ounce mixed martial arts gloves during their bouts. On the other hand, in Kickboxing, the Global Kickboxing ruleset is used and fighters competing in the lightest weight class are required to wear 8oz boxing gloves and 10oz boxing gloves for featherweight or heavier .

To test their striking skills, top Muay Thai talents and champions often compete against their Kickboxing counterparts under Kickboxing rules. Some of the hottest crossover matches were against Superlek and Takeru Segawa and Superbon and Chingiz Allazov.

A list of Muay Thai and Kickboxing

Before their arrival, the ONE World Champions were already multiple world champions in their respective disciplines and were at the peak of their careers. Currently, ONE is home to many amazing superstars and fighting legends and has a deep talent pool, especially in the lightweight classes. Let’s take a look at some of ONE Championship’s current top rosters below.

1) Prajanchai PK Saenchai

Prajanchai is the current ONE Muay Thai and Kickboxing Strawweight World Champion. Most notably, he captured the prestigious Lumpinee and Rajadamnern Stadium world titles in two different weight classes, etching his name into the history of Muay Thai.

Considered one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters on the roster, Prajanchai began his career in the ONE Championship circle in 2021. In his debut, he dethroned another legend and compatriot, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, to capture ONE. Strawweight Muay Thai title. His reign found its first challenge following his first loss to Joseph Lasiri in 2022. A year later, he regained the ONE Strawweight World Title and has retained it ever since.

Since they are just one weight class above, will we ever see Pranjanchai fight Rodtang in the future?

2) Nong-O Gaiyanghadao

Nong-O is a former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion who made notable title defenses against Felipe Lobo, Rodlek PK Saenchai and Saemapetch Fairtex on the ONE Championship Muay Thai circuit, all by knockout. Before joining ONE, Nong-O was already an established fighter on the Muay Thai circuit, having been a four-time Lumpinee and Rajadamnern lightweight world champion.

3) Jonathan Haggerty

Jonathan Haggerty is currently the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion. He joined the ONE circle in 2019 and made an astonishing debut, defeating another talented and future ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion, Joseph Lasiri. Starting training at the age of 7, Haggerty is one of the best forwards to ever represent the United Kingdom.

In 2019, Haggerty defeated legendary Muay Thai champion, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, to capture the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title.

After losing the belt to Rodtang, Haggerty moved up a weight class in 2023 and took over as world Muay Thai bantamweight champion from Nong-O via first-round TKO. After a few months, Haggerty once again captured the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing title from Fabricio Andrade, becoming a dual-sport world champion in ONE.

4) Superlek Kiatmoo9

Currently, with 11 consecutive victories, Superlek Kiatmoo9 is the current ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai and Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion. On his path to greatness, Superlek also took the throne at the famed Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and was named Muay Thai Fighter of the Year by Sports Authority in 2012.

Superlek joined ONE Championship in 2019 and captured the vacant ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Title in 2023 against Daniel Puertas.

Additionally, Superlek engaged in one of the most historic Muay Thai fights ever against Rodtang Jitmuangnon in 2023.

Since then, Superlek has been unstoppable in both Muay Thai and Kickboxing competitions, even beating Japanese Kickboxing champion Takeru Segawa.

5) Rodtang Jitmuangnon

Rodtang is the former ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion. Stripped of his belt in November 2024 due to weight loss, Rodtang vowed to reclaim his throne and rule the Muay Thai flyweight division once again.

Rodtang has won the Omnoi Stadium title twice. In 2019, he captured the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title against Haggerty, which earned him many fans. Rodtang dominated the division for five years and has since become a fan favorite for his fighting and antics.

6) Takeru Segawa

Originally from Japan, Takeru found his first love for kickboxing through the famous Japanese promotion, K-1, watching many kickboxing stars compete in the event. Takeru’s life is full of ups and downs and challenges. As a teenager, he worked several jobs to afford a plane ticket to Thailand, where he learned Muay Thai.

Takeru arrived at K-1 in 2014, went undefeated for seven years and became a three-division Kickboxing world champion.

7) Tawanchai PK Saenchai

Currently on an 8-match winning streak on the ONE Championship circuit, Tawanchai is the current ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion. He also won the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Siam Kela Fighter of the Year award and the Sports Authority of Thailand in 2018.

In 2021, Tawanchai joined the ONE roster. In 2022, he dethroned longtime ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Petchmorakot Petchyindee to win the belt.

8) Fairtex stamp

Stamp Fairtex is a ONE world champion in three sports. She is the former ONE Atomweight Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion, and after transitioning to MMA, she became the Atomweight MMA Champion.

Stamp, who is also a two-division champion from Northeastern Thailand, has earned many fans not only for her excellent fighting skills but also for her pre-fight antics, which have made her mark on the global ONE stage.

Conclusion

ONE Championship may very well have the best roster, especially in the lighter weight classes. While we’ve only listed a few champions in the list, keep in mind that ONE’s pool is full of talented fighters and is constantly growing ahead of the competition, especially now more than ever as it has received so much attention from fans around the world. particularly in the West.

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