ONE Championship: "Destined for success" - Fans loving the rise of ONE 168: Denver headliners from child prodigies to dominant world champs

"Destined for success" - Fans loving the rise of ONE 168: Denver headliners from child prodigies to dominant world champs

By Anatoly Pimentel

Modified Aug 23, 2024 17:30 GMT

From left to right: Jonathan Haggerty, Superlek Kiatmoo9, Mikey Musumeci, and Kade Ruotolo | Image credit: ONE Championship

The main stars of the upcoming ONE 168: Denver card on September 6 were highlighted in a recent Instagram post of ONE Championship, as they shared their old photos as child prodigies.

The promotion used a social media trend to feature the humble beginnings of Mikey Musumeci, Kade Ruotolo, Jonathan Haggerty, and Superlek Kiatmoo9 to become the superstar they are today.

They wrote the video's caption with:

"Same faces, but upgraded 💪 Which fight at ONE 168: Denver excites you the most? 🤩 @mikeymusumeci @ruotolobrothersjiujitsu, @jhaggerty_ @superlek789"

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

The aforementioned athletes will headline and co-headline the stacked card inside the Ball Arena in Colorado as Musumeci moves two divisions up to challenge Ruotolo for his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title.

Meanwhile, in the headliner, Superlek looks to become a two-division world champion and strip Haggerty's ONE bantamweight Muay Thai championship.

This video has pumped up the fans, as users @chuvi_bjj, @ovab2K, @im_running_out_of_names, @bragajiu_jitsukl, @_tooturntej, @amberinasia, and @red_forest_studio_llc showed their excitement through their comments:

"Destined for success 👏🔥"

"Kade lookin like the lil bad kid on the block"

"This is going to be so good!! I can't wait to see it"

"🙌👏 🔥 @onechampionship monsters 👏👏"

"Mikey shoulda stuck w the gloves 🤣"

"Superlek looks the same! :)"

"I'm gonna say @jhaggerty_ has got to be the fight that excites me most plenty of awesome fights on the card absolutely but this one is one I personally will enjoy no matter"

ONE 168: Denver card is loaded with other stars from the promotion's roster

Aside from Superlek, Haggerty, Ruotolo, and Musumeci, the world's largest martial arts organization brought other top stars from their roster to put up an incredibly stacked event in its return to American soil.

Other notable names seeing action in the card are Liam Harrison, Seksan Or Kwanmuang, Aung La N Sang, John Lineker, Alyse Anderson, Adrian Lee, and Johan Ghazali.

ONE 168: Denver will transpire at the Ball Arena during U.S. primetime on Sept. 6. Tickets for the event are available on Ticketmaster.

About the author

Anatoly is an MMA writer with six years of experience. He covers ONE Championship at Sportskeeda, where he has contributed over 1000 pieces. He previously served as the lead MMA writer for BetMGM’s blog.

Anatoly holds a bachelor's degree in communication, which he feels has had a significant impact on his career.

Jon Jones’ submission win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in 2011 got him hooked to MMA. His favorite fighters include Eduard Folayang, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Anatoly provides Sportskeeda with exclusive pieces and has previously interviewed the former ONE flyweight MMA world champion, Adriano Moraes. While writing his pieces, he follows an extensive research process, referring only to credible sources like the UFC’s official website, Sherdog, and ESPN. He also likes to provide insights to his readers by keeping in mind important pillars of communication like media literacy and audience dynamics.

Anatoly advocates for a healthy and fit lifestyle by including boxing in his routine. He also loves to travel.

Know More

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

Edited by Tejas Rathi