ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong put together a card so massive that he had to think long and hard when asked about which match he’s most excited for.
“That’s a tough question,” Sityodtong said.
After giving it some thought, however, Sityodtong said he’s most excited about two matches – the ONE Middleweight World Title bout between two-division World Champion Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang and Reinier “The Dutch Knight” De Ridder, and the ONE Featherweight World Title bout between Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen and Thanh Le.
“I would say Martin Nguyen and Thanh Le and Aung La and De Ridder, those are the two fights that I’m looking forward to as a fight fan,” he added.
The reason being is simple – all four athletes have high finishing rates.
Between Nguyen and Le’s combined 24 wins, 23 of them came by submission, TKO, or KO.
It’s the same thing with Aung La N Sang and De Ridder, ecxcept the main event is a collision course between two athletes with contrasting styles.
“The Burmese Python” comes in as a well-rounded star with 24 finishes – 12 KOs and 12 submissions. De Ridder, on the other hand, is a submission specialist with eight of his 11 finishes happening on the ground.
Based on that, it’s not surprising why the ONE Chairman and CEO chose those two matches.
“If you look at the finish rate of both the challengers and the World Champions, [they have] super high finish rates. Thanh Le obviously is an incredible striker, and so is Martin, and they both have KO power. So this will be really, really short, but it will be fun,” Sityodtong said.
“[It’s the same with] Aung La N Sang and Reinier De Ridder. Aung La has 24 finishes in his career and Reinier De Ridder has finished 11 out of his 12 opponents.”
While Sityodtong is most excited for those two matches, the rest of the bouts on the card are right on par.
The ONE Lightweight World Title clash between Christian “The Warrior” Lee and Iuri Lapicus presents another interesting clash of two of the best young athletes in the promotion, as does the ONE Women’s Strawweight World Title match between “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan and Tiffany “No Chill” Teo.
“If you’re a fight fan, this is the card to watch. It doesn’t matter what organization, this is the biggest card of the year,” Sityodtong said.
“There’s just so much anticipation because anyone can get KO’d or finished in a minute. The stakes are super high for all the athletes.”
Watch ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX next Friday, October 30, live on One Sports+ or the ONE Super App at 8:30 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (PHT). One Sports will air the event on a same-day delay at 9 p.m. PHT.
Additionally, TV5 will air the event on a next-day delay at 11 p.m. PHT on Saturday, 31 October.