ONE Championship is setting up shop in the “Land of the Rising Sun.”

The Singapore-based organization, already the largest sports media property in Asia, continues to aggressively expand its growth and reach all over the world. On Tuesday, 8 November, the promotion named Yoshiaki Ito to the position of President of ONE Championship (Japan).

“I am elated to join ONE Championship, one of the greatest global sports brands. It’s amazing to be a part of the rapid growth of MMA in Asia. I will focus my efforts on developing the budding Japanese market,” Ito said in a statement. 

“Japan has always enjoyed sports entertainment and ONE Championship’s unique live event atmosphere is something I am delighted to share with Japanese fans.”

Ito is a highly accomplished business executive with over 20 years of experience. He is the Founder of X-TANK Consulting, the former CEO of Haier Asia Group, and a former Senior Vice President at Sony Pictures Entertainment. 

In addition to those positions, he has won a variety of honors including the Money Ball Award and the Global Best Leader Award from Sony Pictures Entertainment, proving his remarkable capability.

This latest signing follows ONE’s desire to add brilliant minds and incredible talents to its global team, which relentlessly develops and builds the brand all over the world.

“ONE Championship continues to seek out the top executives from various fields to become part of our elite senior management team,” Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Championship, said in a statement. 

“Yoshiaki Ito is an excellent asset to have on our team. He, along with our very capable leadership, will be responsible for taking our organization to the next level and beyond.”

With the appointment of Ito, fans can expect to see the ONE cage and the promotion’s brightest stars such as ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki and ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka Naito, in Japan sometime in the near future.

That is a tantalizing prospect indeed, and should be no surprise, given ONE Championship’s track record in putting on blockbuster events in new cities every year. 

ONE: DEFENDING HONOR’s epic rematch for ONE Featherweight gold as seen by ONE Championship lead commentator and Fox Sports Presenter Steve Dawson 

The rematch between Narantugalag Jadambaa and Marat Gafurov at the Singapore Indoor Stadium this Friday gives us a great opportunity to see history perhaps repeat itself.

The fourth-round stoppage from their first fight had a basic pattern that’s likely to continue without much variation in the Lion City, and that is good news for all of us.

The relentless stalking and high-speed, two-handed, two-legged attack unleashed by Jadambaa was a thrill to watch. The Mongolian is the aggressor by nature, but that was ultimately his undoing in their first encounter. 

By ducking under a steaming overhand right, Gafurov was able to use his quick mind and feet to step to the side, grab Jadambaa’s back, and reel off a series of ground attacks that ultimately led to a technical submission with only one of these thrilling combatants still conscious.

Although Jadambaa (12-4) will want a different result this time around, it is hard to see him changing his game plan. At times, Gafurov looked a punch away from being out on his feet. 

If Jadambaa can avoid the kind of critical mistake that led to his downfall last time, there is every reason to believe that despite regular ground assaults, he could win this rematch on points or by knockout.

But Gafurov is so highly-skilled that the danger he emits is ever present, as many have found to their cost. His unbeaten (14-0) record has come about by beating some of the toughest, most skillful and experienced fighting men on the planet. 

As if the scalp of Jadambaa wasn’t impressive enough, add Ev Ting, Martin Nguyen, and Rob Lisita to the list of beaten men who’ve crossed his path.

Jadambaa has an equally impressive beat sheet. Adrian Pang, Honorio Banario, Eric Kelly, Koji Oishi, and Kotetsu Boku have all tasted defeat at the hands of the Team Tungaa featherweight.

While I cannot see Jadambaa slowing down by design, I wonder if his choice in the matter will be restricted. The human buzzsaw will be 41 next month, and if his unforgiving pace has been key to his victories, how long can it be before things start to slow down?

Will he realize the approach of Father Time and adjust his approach? Will he rage forward regardless and keep on pressing? Or will the pace start to tell in the championship rounds and become his downfall?

If I had to select one, I’d choose the last scenario. Gafurov is a master of patience and execution, just the man to wait out the inevitable onslaught. But he had better keep that chin tucked away in the interim.

Steve Dawson is ONE Championship’s lead commentator, a Fox Sports presenter and an author of sporting biographies. He can be found on Twitter & Instagram as @Gulasahi and on Facebook as Steve Dawson.

Egyptian flyweight Walaa “Katyusha” Abbas will attempt to capture her first victory under the ONE Championship banner at ONE: DEFENDING HONOR on Friday Night, 11 November, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Cairo, Egypt native is set to square off against the undefeated and highly-touted prospect, Tiffany “Soul Crusher” Teo. It will be her third bout with the organization.

Walaa is facing a number of interesting challenges on various levels as she is fighting Teo in her opponent’s home country, on her promotional debut, and on her birthday at that. 

However, she is not worried how any of those factors play into the fight itself once the cage door closes. After all, she is accustomed to, and comfortable with the idea of, fighting in enemy territory.

“We at Egyptian Top Team always seem to fight our opponents in their hometown. It is not a big problem for us,” the 32-year-old explains. “We are usually on that side of things. 

“I am ready to fight anyone at any time in any place. I am coming for our honor and to bring the fight to her. It is my life.”  

Walaa established a respectable career in boxing, even winning her country’s national boxing championship, before her transition to mixed martial arts. Teo, on the other hand, comes from a strong Muay Thai background.

The Egyptian expects a stand-up showcase with a dramatic finish as she envisions her hand being raised at the end of the contest. 

“I think she is training more on the ground for me, but I am ready,” Walaa says. “I am training more and more to reach a higher level in MMA, especially because I am facing a good fighter, a big fighter, in her hometown. I think this fight might end by TKO or KO.”

“Katyusha” has spent the majority of her time training at the aforementioned Egyptian Top Team in her home country, where MMA is relatively new to that region of the world. 

The acceptance of the sport by the Egyptian people has been an inspiring factor for all of the talented fighters who reside there, and the popularity has grown leaps and bounds in such a short period of time.

“We have big fans of the sport of MMA,” she says. “Now it is the biggest sport in Egypt. Many people knew me as a kickboxer, [but] now they know me as an MMA fighter in ONE Championship.”

Walaa is a talented fighter. She had an unsuccessful MMA debut in 2012, but she bounced back the following year with a pair of TKOs in the Egyptian Fighting Championships. 

The flyweight signed with ONE soon thereafter, but lost two very tough fights against top level competition in Ann Osman and Ana Julaton. Even though her record shows losses for both fights, Walaa feels she showed great promise and won certain aspects of the match with Julaton.

“With Ana Julaton, I feel I won the fight. You can watch the fight yourself. I won by out-boxing her,” Walaa says. “A lot of people talk to me about her being the number one boxer in Asia. I dominated her and beat her in all three rounds in boxing.”

Sporting a winless record for ONE, Walaa certainly feels a little pressure to pick up her first win in the organization. The stress come from various directions, but Walaa has the ultimate goal of victory and sharing every bit of success she has with her fellow countrymen, who have shown such great support to her and her team.

“I am always under pressure,” she admits. “Egyptian fans are very angry when we do not win. My coach always wants his fighters to do well, to win, and to be victorious in all fights. I feel pressure from my coach and my team because I want to get the victory for all of us.”

The chance to get that victory is rapidly approaching, and on fight night, it will be up to Walaa to seize it.

TEAM Singapore’s 13-strong contingent from the 2016 Para-lympics were honoured in a parliamentary motion yesterday as the country’s leaders hailed their achievements at the Rio de Janeiro Games.

However, only nine of the athletes – Maximillian Tan, Gemma Rose Foo, Nur Syahidah Alim, Theresa Goh, Yip Pin Xiu, Toh Sze Ning, Nurulasyiqah Mohammad Taha, Suhairi Suhani and Muhammad Diroy Noordin – were present for the occasion, which saw them receive a standing ovation in the Chamber.

Missing were Norsilawati Sa’at, Laurentia Tan, Jovin Tan and Yap Qian Yin.

Yip’s two golds (50m backstroke S2, 100m backstroke S2) and Goh’s bronze (100m breaststroke SB4) made it Singapore’s best showing at the quadrennial meet.

The class of 2016 was also the country’s largest Paralympics contingent, a clear sign of how far disability sport has progressed.

In a speech, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu said: “Our Pa- ralympians, with their incredible feats in Rio, have uplifted the nation.

“Adding to an already impressive haul of one gold, two silvers and three bronzes from past Games, our Paralympians brought home another two gold and one bronze medals.

“This year, we had 13 athletes qualifying and representing Singapore across six sports and 21 events – almost double the contingent of eight athletes at the 1988 and 2012 Paralympic Games.

“My heartiest congratulations to all of you. Beyond medals, each Paralympian has shown us what it means to be a champion – to be counted among the world’s best, and fly our flag high at the world’s biggest stage for para sports.”

siangyee@sph.com.sg

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