October saw ONE Championship kick off its 2021 ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix alongside the continuation of the ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix. And both tournaments forced movement within the official ONE athlete rankings.
In the main event of ONE: First Strike, Superbon completed one of the best knockouts of the year when he flattened the greatest featherweight kickboxer of all time, Giorgio Petrosyan, in the second round to capture the inaugural ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Championship.
For the first time in many years, the featherweight division has a new king. Superbon sits atop the division with the gold, but the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix will give him his next challenger.
The odds-on favorite to take the tournament, Marat Grigorian, entered as the #2-ranked contender in the division. However, following his second-round TKO over Andy Souwer and the subsequent knockout of Petrosyan, he sits in the top spot.
Sitthichai, who won his quarterfinal contest on the event, stayed firm in the #3 slot.
Chingiz Allazov, who was previously unranked, blitzed Samy Sana in under 40 seconds. The result of the knockout pushed him into the #4 spot in the rankings over Tayfun Ozcan, who came up just short against Sitthichai in their quarterfinal contest.
Grigorian has a bigger target on his back as the #1-ranked contender and the favorite of the tournament. Each of the remaining semi-finalists will be seeking to steal his thunder and challenge Superbon in 2022.
The semifinals of the ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix saw two alternates try their hand at making the most of the opportunity, but Stamp Fairtex and Ritu Phogat shut them down to set up their marquee final contest.
Stamp’s victory moved her ahead of Seo Hee Ham, who was unable to compete in the semifinals following her narrow win over Denice Zamboanga. The Thai superstar is now the #2-ranked contender in the division.
Phogat remained in the #4 slot, but a victory over Stamp in the finals will move her up without question and secure the title shot against “Unstoppable” Angela Lee. Everything both women want remains in front of them when they meet in December in the finals.
As 2021 nears the end, expect more movement in the official ONE athlete rankings. More events between contenders will be coming. At ONE: NextGen II, a previously recorded event, top-ranked bantamweight Muay Thai contender Saemapetch Fairtex welcomes Rittewada Petchyindee Academy to the organization.
ONE: NextGen II airs on Bleacher Report at 8:30 a.m. EST/5:30 a.m. PST on Friday, November 12.
