ONE on Prime Video 3: Noelle Grandjean spoils Lea Bivins’ ONE Championship debut, wins 50K

Lea Bivins made her long-awaited professional mixed martial arts debut on Friday night at ONE on Prime Video 3. Her first appearance in ONE was spoilt by another newcomer to ONE Championship, Noelle ‘Lil Monkey’ Grandjean.

Entering the promotion with a spotless record of 3-0 in MMA competitions, Grandjean looked to spoil the coming-out party for Bivins. 'First Moon' is a fighter who many believe is the next big thing for ONE Championship’s stacked atomweight division.

Bivins immediately came out looking to put pressure on her opponent. Grandjean outside tripped Bivins, dropping her to the mat. Grandjean moved into Bivins’ guard, throwing strikes in the process.

Bivins locked in a body triangle to control Grandjean, but ‘Lil Monkey’ worked her way out and back to her feet. Referee Herb Dean allowed Bivins back to her feet, resetting the two fighters near the halfway point of the round.

Bivins once again brought the pressure, throwing strikes inside the Thai clinch, but Grandjean was able to break away and utilized leg kicks to keep distance from the much longer Bivins.

With a minute to go in the round, Bivins began to look fatigued and ate a nasty uncontested body shot from Grandjean. Reeling from the blow, Bivins signaled to the referee that she’d had enough, but Grandjean was able to drop her with a flurry before the fight could be stopped. The official finish came at 4:01 of the first round.

Official result: Noelle Grandjean defeated Lea Bivins via TKO (strikes) at 4:01 of Round 1.

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Noelle Grandjean scores a $50,000 bonus for her knockout of Lea Bivins at ONE on Prime Video 3

Following her fantastic ONE Championship debut, Noelle Grandjean spoke with ONE commentator Mitch Chilson. Asked if she envisioned getting the knockout against Lea Bivins, Grandjean said:

“Actually, I wanted to finish the first round and I’m happy to get this. All respect to Lea. She’s a very good opponent. Actually, I feel so very good on the ground. I should have trusted myself first a bit more, but still got the first round finish. I’m so happy about this.”

Asked if she was specifically looking to go to the body against Bivins, Grandjean said that she believed in her power and took an opening when it presented itself:

“I feel I’ve got good power and it was open.”

Before leaving the Circle, Mitch Chilson let ‘Lil Monkey’ know that the performance earned her a $50,000 bonus.