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

ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion Reinier de Ridder (left) could give newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira (right) a run for his money. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship and UFC)
ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion Reinier de Ridder (left) could give newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira (right) a run for his money. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship and UFC)

#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.

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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


#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

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Edited by John Cunningham
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