ONE Championship news roundup

Welcome to today's edition of the daily Sportskeeda ONE Championship News Roundup, where we present the promotion's most important stories.

Today’s issue will discuss Danial Williams’ lofty praise of Anatoly Malykhin, Lito Adiwang’s confidence in Muay Thai superstar Rodtang Jitmuangnon, and Danielle Kelly’s prediction for the trilogy bout between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.

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#3. Danial Williams believes Anatoly Malykhin will always be a fighter to watch out for in ONE Championship

Anatoly Malykhin certainly took 2022 by storm, but strawweight contender Danial Williams believes that the Russian juggernaut is just starting.

Malykhin became the ONE interim heavyweight world champion when he knocked out Kirill Grishenko at ONE: Bad Blood in February. He then followed it up with one of the greatest wins in ONE Championship history.

‘Sladkiy’ decimated Reinier de Ridder to add the ONE light heavyweight world title at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December. Williams, in an interview with ONE Championship, said that Malykhin's brand will grow bigger and that the knockout machine will be the marquee name in 2023:

“I think he’s so compact that if he hits you, it’s going to hurt you or stop you. That’s why it’s exciting to watch him. Seeing how he is, he’s always happy, smiling, and funny, and really good for the promotion. If he’s going to be on a card, you know you’re going to watch him. He’s going to do some damage.”

Malykhin, who’s as confident outside the Circle as inside of it, was named the ONE Championship 2022 MMA athlete of the year after his dominant run in the past year.

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#2. Lito Adiwang confident Rodtang Jitmuangnon will demolish Jiduo Yibu at ONE Fight Night 6

Rodtang Jitmuangnon is one of the most dominant strikers of his generation, and MMA star Lito Adiwang believes the Thai buzzsaw will once again display that level of class in his next match.

The reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion will make his kickboxing return against Jiduo Yibu at ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video this January 13 at Impact Arena.

Rodtang’s fight, and the rest of the Bangkok card, is available for free to all North American subscribers of Prime Video. Adiwang, in an interview with The MMA Superfan, said Rodtang has such a dangerous style that he’ll completely dominate Jiduo during the bout:

“I think, with all respect for Rodtang’s opponent, but I see this fight being one-sided with Rodtang demolishing his opponent again.”

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#1. Danielle Kelly predicts "more technical" Demetrious Johnson to beat Adriano Moraes in trilogy

The first two fights between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes produced some of the greatest knockouts in MMA history. Danielle Kelly, though, expects the third fight between the two flyweight greats to become a tactical chess match.

Johnson will defend his ONE flyweight world title for the first time against Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video in ONE Championship’s US soil debut at 1stBank Center in Colorado.

The May 5 card, just like any of the organization's cards in Amazon, is available live and for free to all existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.

Kelly, in an interview with ONE Championship, said:

“If I have a prediction I think it would be, I think 'DJ' has it the third time. I think he has that fire in him. He doesn’t wanna lose like he did the first time. That being said, Adriano has a big size advantage. I noticed that when they last fought. I think 'DJ' will come back more technical for sure.”

Moraes first beat Johnson with a spectacular knee strike in their first meeting at ONE on TNT I in April 2021, marking the first time the American legend got stopped in his career.

Johnson then returned the favor at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August of last year when he knocked out Moraes with a calculated flying knee to claim the flyweight gold.

The win was also a historic feat since it made Johnson the first and only person to hold world titles in both ONE Championship and UFC.

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