5 ONE Championship MMA stars who were world champions in other disciplines

ONE Championship takes great pride in its martial arts events, which covers the full spectrum of disciplines across mixed martial arts, kickboxing, Muay Thai, submission grappling, and more. That’s what separates the Singapore-based organization from the rest of the competition.

As such, ONE has through the years signed the absolute best talents and world champions in their respective sports. Even their MMA fighters have been world champions in other disciplines prior to joining ONE Championship and making a name for themselves in the circle.

These athletes bring their discipline of expertise onto the battlefield and supplement it with whatever is missing from their overall game. The result is a unique combination of skills most casual MMA fans have never seen before. This has arguably produced more epic finishes than what one would normally expect.

Let’s take a look at five ONE Championship MMA stars who were world champions in other disciplines.

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#5. ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt - Karate

Sage Northcutt. [Photo ONE Championship]

ONE Championship signed American superstar ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt in May of 2019 to much fanfare. The 26-year-old was once seen as one of the most talented and most promising fighters in MMA.

Northcutt spent the earlier part of his career competing in the UFC, but even before that, he had already achieved a bevy of accomplishments since he began his martial arts journey at the age of four.

Training under the tutelage of his father, who introduced him to the discipline of karate, Northcutt has captured 77 karate world titles as a youth. He was even inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame in 2012. In addition to this, Northcutt is also unbeaten as a kickboxer, with a perfect 15-0 professional record.

Could we see ‘Super’ Sage grace ONE Super Series at some point? It’s certainly possible.

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#4. Stamp Fairtex - Muay Thai and kickboxing

Stamp Fairtex. [Photo ONE Championship]

There might be no female striker in the world right now who’s as well-known as the electrifying Stamp Fairtex.

The creator of the Stamp Dance captivated audiences with her bubbly and playful personality. But underneath that joyful persona is a menacing striker who has struck fear across the competition.

Stamp is arguably the best female striker of her generation and that notoriety is worth itself in gold.

The Thai superstar was once the proud owner of both the ONE atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world titles from 2018 to 2020. This feat made her the first female athlete in ONE Championship to hold two world titles in different sports.

She has since made the successful transition into MMA, wherein she displayed her elite striking and a well-rounded ground game, a surprising skill since she has been a striker for almost the entirety of her career.

Stamp submitted Indian wrestling savant Ritu Phogat to become the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Champion. That tournament victory earned Stamp a shot at the ONE women’s atomweight world title against Angela Lee at ONE X.

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#3. Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida - Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida. [Photo ONE Championship]

There are multi-time world champions, and then there’s Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida.

The Brazilian heavyweight owns a preposterous mark of 17 world titles in submission grappling. Almeida, who practically created his mythos at this point, was an absolute monster in the ADCC, BJJ world championships, IBJJF, and World Cup.

‘Buchecha’ has since transitioned into MMA with the sole purpose of adding the ONE heavyweight world champion to his stacked trophy cabinet. The 32-year-old is only getting started in his new sport, amassing a quick 3-0 record.

Although he’s only just begun, ‘Buchecha’ is already looking like a world-beater with all of his fights ending in the first round.

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#2. Arjan Bhullar - Wrestling

Arjan Bhullar. [Photo ONE Championship]

Former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera said it perfectly: Arjan Bhullar’s wrestling is in a league of its own.

Bhullar, who defeated Vera for heavyweight supremacy, was an accomplished wrestler before becoming a full-time mixed martial artist.

The Indian-Canadian star represented Canada in several international events, including the Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, and the Olympics.

Canada’s Wrestler of the Year in 2009, Bhullar carried the country’s colors in the 2010 Commonwealth Games wherein he captured gold. Since then, Bhullar’s brought his immense wrestling pedigree into ONE Championship, wherein he had the biggest win of his fighting career.

Bhullar had a spectacular debut against former world title contender Mauro Cerilli, setting him up for a world title fight against Vera. It was against the Filipino-American star that Bhullar’s star exploded to nuclear levels.

From the opening bell, Bhullar had Vera in his control and he used his superior wrestling to take the match to the ground where he would eventually finish things off in the second round.

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#1. Angela Lee - Pankration

Angela Lee [Photo ONE Championship]

From prodigy to legend, Angela Lee has done it all in martial arts.

The reigning ONE women’s atomweight world champion has been near-invincible since she arrived in ONE Championship back in 2015.

A lifelong martial artist, the 26-year-old began competing on the world stage under Pankration. It was in that discipline that Lee first achieved sporting success taking a couple of world titles in 2012.

Lee ruled the 2012 World Pangration Athlima Federation World Championships, taking the world titles in both the Agon (full contact) and Semi (semi-contact) in the Girls division.

For those uninitiated, Pankration is a primordial form of MMA that combines grappling and striking in one sport.