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, we discuss the extent of Gantumur Bayanduuren’s injury, Stamp Fairtex not looking forward to facing Anissa Meksen, and Demetrious Johnson on what separates him from other MMA GOAT contenders.

---

#3. Bayanduuren tears MCL, ACL, meniscus and breaks ankle in Mikey Musumeci fight

Mikey Musumeci is regarded as one of the greatest submission grapplers of his generation. His signature 'Mikey Lock' is one hold that should never be trifled with.

Mongolia's Gantumur Bayanduuren decided to try it, and he paid a hefty price for it.

According to the South China Morning Post, Bayanduuren suffered a slew of injuries after he toughened out Musumeci’s signature hold.

Bayanduuren, who lost via unanimous decision to Musumeci at ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video, suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus. He also had a broken ankle following the 10-minute match.

Musumeci, who retained his ONE Championship flyweight submission grappling world championship, said during his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson that he heard Bayanduuren’s leg pop several times:

“His [Bayanduuren's] leg popped like 20 times, I never felt someone's legs go like that. But he didn't tap so the fight kept going on.”

There’s no official timetable for Bayanduuren’s return, but an injury that severe would likely put him on the sidelines for 12 months.

As for Musumeci, 'Darth Rigatoni' improved to 3-0 in ONE Championship after his successful world title defense.

---

#2. Stamp Fairtex not looking forward to fighting Anissa Meksen

Stamp Fairtex was supposed to have a landmark mixed-rules superfight against striking superstar Anissa Meksen at ONE Fight Night 6 in Bangkok.

While it would’ve been a historic match as only the second time that a mixed-rules bout would have been staged in ONE Championship, the showdown between the two fighters never materialized.

Meksen didn’t show up for the official weigh-ins, as well as the pre-fight press conference, later putting her absence down to family problems.

The multi-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion apologized to Stamp, but the Thai superstar isn’t too keen on facing off against ‘C18’ in the foreseeable future.

In an interview with SCMP, Stamp said:

"I am not really looking forward to fighting Anissa [Meksen] because I consider this unprofessional. I think for the next fight, she’ll just be unprofessional like this and it affects me badly in a negative way.”

Despite Meksen’s absence, Stamp still fought at ONE Fight Night 6 and took a split decision win over Anna Jaroonsak in a kickboxing match.

She also called out ONE atomweight Muay Thai world champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues and Janet Todd, the ONE atomweight kickboxing and interim atomweight Muay Thai world champion, in the hope of reclaiming the belts she once owned in ONE Championship:

"For Allycia [Hellen Rodrigues] and Janet Todd, I called them out because I want to reclaim my titles in Muay Thai and kickboxing.”

Watch Stamp's entire interview below:

---

#1. ONE Championship's Demetrious Johnson on what separates him from other GOAT contenders

Demetrious Johnson is an absolute legend in mixed martial arts and he’s considered a prime contender to be called the sport’s greatest of all time.

It’s a distinction that’s reserved to a select few, and Johnson feels that he has one special trait that separates him from others.

During the post-fight interviews for ONE Fight Night 6, ‘Mighty Mouse’ discussed the GOAT conversation, naming what separates him from the other icons of the sport:

“A lot of athletes when they suffer a huge defeat and get knocked out, they get kind of gun-shy. But for me, I think I'm just getting more warmed up as a mixed martial artist and just getting better or that separates me, different from the others, people who are on the list of the greatest of all time.”

Johnson showed tremendous heart this past year when he captured the ONE flyweight world title at ONE on Prime Video 1 against Adriano Moraes, the only man to ever knock him out in his storied career.

The American legend’s knockout finish of Moraes was his first world title win in ONE Championship, and doing so made him the only man to hold world titles in both ONE and UFC.

Johnson is also a tournament winner in ONE Championship, having captured the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Title. He's also the UFC record holder for most consecutive world title defenses at 11