Everyone loves a good underdog story, and ONE Championship has a lot of those.
After all, the unheralded David besting the heavily favored Goliath is a tale that stands the test of time. This holds especially true in the hurt business since it captures the unpredictability of combat sports.
For instance, the ONE circle hosted plenty of amazing fighters who defied the massive odds against them and went on to reach unprecedented heights.
On November 18, inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, several underdogs will have a chance to prove the oddsmakers wrong at ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs Lee.
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The promotion’s fourth venture into US primetime will be aired live and for free for Amazon Video subscribers.
With that said, let’s look at three fighters who could score massive upsets at ONE on Prime Video 4.
#3. Stephen Loman - ONE Championship bantamweight MMA
Bibiano Fernandes already bested one of Team Lakay’s top guns when he won three of his four matchups against Kevin Belingon. Stephen Loman would love to avenge those losses and put himself in a position to challenge for the vacant ONE bantamweight throne in the process.
As impressive as ‘The Sniper’ has looked in his first two appearances inside the circle, it pales in comparison to Fernandes’ legendary resume. ‘The Flash’, after all, ruled the 145-pound ranks on two separate occasions and holds the record for most world title defenses in the promotion with nine.
Moreover, the Brazilian superstar has won 12 of his 14 matches inside circle, with impressive victories over the Iikes of Belingon, Martin Nguyen, Andrew Leone, and Reece McLaren, among others.
Defeating arguably the most decorated bantamweight fighter in ONE Championship history is a tough task for anyone.
Good thing Loman is up for the challenge.
The No.5 ranked fighter proved he deserves to fight with the division’s big boys after impressive wins over Yusup Saadulaev and Shoko Sato.
It is worth noting that Loman previously held world titles in other promotions, and he’s used to fights of this magnitude.
#2. Joseph Lasiri - ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai
Joseph Lasiri certainly has one of the biggest turnaround stories in combat sports history. The 31-year-old Italian-Morrocan is truly an inspiration and is the epitome of hard work and dedication to his craft.
It’s hard to believe that the reigning ONE Championship strawweight Muay Thai world champion lost his first four matches inside the circle. Weaker minds would have been discouraged and inferior fighters would have simply given up.
However, that was never an option for the driven Lasiri.
Living up to his moniker ‘The Hurricane’, he brewed up a storm and won four of his next five matches inside the circle.
He embraced that underdog mentality and completed a massive upset against Prajanchai PK.Saenchai for the golden strap in his last outing.
Now, he seeks to dethrone an even bigger monster in the form of ONE flyweight world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
Unlike Lasiri, who tasted numerous defeats early in his career, the Thai megastar has won all 11 of his striking-exclusive matches in the promotion.
We’ll have to wait and see if Lasiri can continue his Cinderella story by beating one of the most feared fighters in the promotion.
#1. Christian Lee - ONE Championship welterweight MMA
It’s really hard to paint ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee as an underdog, especially after the dominant run he’s had as of late. ’The Warrior’ saw his six-fight winning streak snapped in controversial fashion by Ok Rae Yoon last year.
Then again, his redemption against the South Korean this past August was considered one of the most one-sided beatdowns in a world title match. Still, many consider Kiamrian Abbasov as the favorite in his ONE Championship welterweight world title defense against the Singaporean-American.
After all, Lee is the challenger and will be entering unfamiliar territory at 185 pounds.
This will be the 24-year-old’s debut match at welterweight, and it’s already against the best in the division. It’s crazy to think that Lee was fighting at featherweight not too long ago.
While his body and skills have developed over the years, no doubt he’ll be the smaller man against the physically imposing Kyrgzstani-Russian.
While ‘Brazen’ does not possess the same star power as Lee, he does have a terrifying fight-ending power, both on the feet and the ground. Abbasov finished tough fighters like Agilan Thani, Yushin Okami, and James Nakashima.
Plus, he’s never been knocked out in 28 career fights.
Christian Lee will definitely have his work out for him in his bid to become a ONE Championship two-division world champion.