5 ONE Championship champions vs. UFC champions: who wins?

ONE Championship has become a force to be reckoned with in the fight business and it's hard to deny this fact anymore.

While the UFC has been establishing itself as the 'major league' in MMA for almost thirty years now, ONE has been putting Asian MMA on the map. Proudly bringing martial arts back to the continent where it came from, the Singapore-based promotion now houses some of the greatest martial artists in the world.

2021 saw the dominance of the Asian promotion over its fellow fight leagues. Former UFC champions and standouts fell to ONE Championship fighters upon entering the ONE Circle. Famous names like Eddie Alvarez, Sage Northcutt, Yushin Okami, and Demetrious Johnson all had a hard time maintaining winning streaks in ONE Championship.

Today, we look at how the current UFC champions would fair if ever they entered the Circle and faced ONE Championship champions.The match-ups will done be according to weight as ONE weight classes are 10 pounds above the UFC's.

We know these are largely dream matches as cross-promotional champion vs. champion matches are relics of the past. Still, we can dream right?

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#5. ONE Championship strawweight world champion Xiong Jing Nan vs. UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko

ONE Championship strawweight champ 'The Panda Bear' Xiong Jing Nan is the first MMA world champion to come from China. Long before Zhang Weili became the first Chinese UFC champion, Xiong was already raising the flag for her country.

The current ONE strawweight queen, who fights on January 14 at ONE: Heavy Hitters, matches well with UFC flyweight champion Valentina 'Bullet' Shevchenko.

Xiong is like a bigger, more powerful Jessica Andrade. Her lethal boxer/brawler style and innate power has overwhelmed even the most technical fighters around. We've seen 'Bullet' experience difficulties against powerful strikers like former bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

Just like for Jessica Andrade and many others, however, Shevnchenko is just too much to handle. The dominant UFC champion is not just great in every area of MMA, she's almost peerless. From boxing to Muay Thai to wrestling to judo, no one comes close at 125 pounds. Her technique, precision and fight IQ are just head-and-shoulders above everyone else.

Xiong's power and aggression might be able to pose some problems and surprise Shevchenko early on, but this one's not going to be close. Shevchenko takes the fight within 4 rounds.

Winner: Shevchenko

#4. ONE Championship flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes vs. UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling

This ONE Championship vs. UFC match is quite interesting. Truth be told, many would argue that 'Funk Master' Aljamain Sterling shouldn't be recognized as the true UFC bantamweight king. To this we say, let's give the guy some credit.

His disqualification win over Petr 'No Mercy' Yan stands as an official title win, despite him arguably losing the fight prior to the illegal knee.

One can make the case, however, that Sterling's 5-fight winning streak leading up to the Yan fight deserves some major props. Until Yan finishes the job he started, Aljo is officially the UFC bantamweight champion at the moment.

With that said, pitting 'Funk Master' against ONE Championship flyweight world champion Adriano 'Mikinho' Moraes could be a recipe for disaster for the American.

Moraes famously shocked the world by knocking out GOAT-contender Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson inside two rounds. Johnson is one of the greatest of all time and he couldn't last more than ten minutes with 'Mikinho'.

Most people would attribute the ruleset difference between the UFC and ONE where knees to the head of a grounded opponent are allowed.

Most people forget, however, that it wasn't the knee that caused the downfall of 'Mighty Mouse'. It was Moraes' speed and power that led to him catching Johnson with an uppercut that sent the UFC great to the canvas. The knee was just the icing on the cake.

If Sterling cannot keep his intensity up for five rounds against a powerful striker with speedy agility, he won't last long against Moraes. He can try to bring the fight to the ground but with Moraes holding a blackbelt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well, Sterling won't stand a chance.

Winner: Moraes

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#3. ONE Championship atomweight world champion Angela Lee vs. UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas

Dominant ONE Championship atomweight world champion Angela 'Unstoppable' Lee might pose a serious threat to UFC strawweight champ 'Thug' Rose Namajunas.

'Thug Rose' has had problems with strong grapplers before, like Carla Esparza and Jessica Andrade. Lee, during her utter decimation of ONE Championship's atomweight division, proved that she's one of the best grapplers in the world.

Namajunas, however, is light-years ahead of Lee when it comes to striking. Learning from MMA tactician Trevor Wittman, Namajunas's kickboxing allowed her to knock out famous strikers like Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Zhang Weili.

Angela Lee's KO loss to ONE Championship strawweight champ Xiong Jing Nan showed that she has a long way to go to match Namajunas' striking acumen.

This boils down to who imposes her gameplan first and sticks to it till the end. Lee will have to make Namajunas respect her striking first in order to set up a takedown successfully. Under Wittman's guidance, however, we don't see Lee getting past Namajunas' stand-up assault.

'Thug Rose' takes this one in under 3 rounds.

Winner: Namajunas

#2. ONE Championship bantamweight world champion Bibiano Fernandes vs. UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski

ONE Championship bantamweight champion Bibiano 'The Flash' Fernandes and UFC featherweight champion Alexander 'The Great' Volkanovski are two of the greatest fighters alive today. Pitting them against each other would be one of the most interesting match-ups, style-wise, ever.

ONE Championship's Fernandes is a former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and has utterly dismantled his opponents on the ground. Against elite strikers, Fernandes can also hold his own. 'The Flash' uses his crafty striking to open opponents up to grappling exchanges.

Volkanovski, as great as he is in the octagon, has shown that he can get caught by submissions. After surviving two deep chokes from Brian 'T-City' Ortega, the champ ultimately mauled his challenger to win a thrilling match at UFC 266.

Fernandes, however, is miles ahead of Ortega's grappling skills. When it comes to submissions, the best defense is to not get caught in the first place. If it was Fernandes squeezing Volkanovski's neck, the Aussie may not be able to use his grit and toughness to get out.

Fernandes has this one in the bag.

Winner: Fernandes

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#1. ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion Reiner de Ridder vs. UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira

It's old man strength versus the fire of youth. ONE Championship's only double champ Reinier de Ridder is undefeated in his assault on ONE Championship's heavier divisions.

'The Dutch Knight' and UFC light heavyweight champ Glover Teixeira have similar styles as both prefer the ground to conduct their business. The biggest differences are that Texeira has proven knockout power on the feet and de Ridder is more than ten years younger.

The most interesting thing, and perhaps the most obvious difference, is that de Ridder is at the top of two different weight classes. Which weight classes? 205 pounds and 225 pounds. 'The Dutch Knight' can execute his aggressive grappling style against men who are essentially heavyweights in the UFC.

You wouldn't see Teixeira dominating former UFC heavyweight king Stipe Miocic, who last weighed in at 234 pounds. This is where the difference falls. Reinier de Ridder can and has eaten strikes from men heavier and stronger than Teixeira and was still able to dominate them on the ground.

With age and size on his side, 'The Dutch Knight' takes this one by a large margin.

Winner: de Ridder