MMASucka’s ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon staff picks

ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon will take place tomorrow morning, May 17th, from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. With that brings our MMASucka staff picks, where five of the bigger fights from the card will be predicted further below from our writing crew. The event will begin live at 7:00am ET (4:00am PT) live on pay-per-view. Stay tuned in, for a double-header is in store with a UFC Fight Night event Saturday evening.

THE FIGHTS

In tomorrow morning’s main event, 51-fight veteran Shinya Aoki will face off against Evolve MMA’s Christian Lee. Aoki has held many prestigious titles throughout his career including belts in Shooto and DREAM. In his last outing in March, he captured the ONE lightweight championship from Eduard Folayang by submission in the first. The fight was a rematch following their first battle in November of 2016, where Aoki lost the lightweight belt he had defended twice to Folayang. His opponent Lee has TKO’d back-to-back opponents in Edward Kelly and Kazuki Tokudome, both victories inside the past seven months.

Included on the card is a middleweight fight between promotional debutantes Sage Northcutt and Cosmo Alexandre. 23-year-old Northcutt rides a three-fight win streak following a solid run in the UFC, while Alexandre looks to extend his seven-fight win streak dating back to 2011.

BJJ wizard Garry Tonon meets former Pancrase fighter Yoshiki Nakahara in a lightweight contest. Also on the main card includes notables Amir Khan and Geje Eustaquio. Check out all the fights counted towards staff picks further  below.

STAFF PICKS

Throughout the year, staff picks will be composed of four different MMA promotions: UFCBellatorONE, and RIZIN. Main cards will make up both UFC and Bellator picks, while the biggest fights to make up ONE and RIZIN events will be used. The WINNER of staff picks will have a choice between receiving a championship belt from ProAmBelts or a championship chain from Championship Chains. The 2018 winner was awarded to Michael DeSantis, compiling a record of 202-101.

Check out our MMASucka staff picks for ONE Championship: Enter The Dragon below.


Staff Records after UFC 237:

Ed Gallo: 115-52
Michael DeSantis: 112-55
Connor Deitrich: 109-58
Brian Gerson: 108-59
Wesley Riddle: 104-63
Ryan Wagner: 104-55
Mike Skytte: 103-64
Jeremy Brand: 100-67
Omar Villagrana: 99-68
Mitchell Banuelos: 96-56
Patrick Auger: 92-68
Matt Bricker: 90-68
Justin Pierrot: 89-68
Ash Camyab: 89-62
Suraj Sukumar: 46-16 (inactive)
Sasha Moksyakov: 31-16
Frazer Krohn: 20-13
Ryan Hobbs: 17-17 (inactive)
Idrees Crawley: 15-7 (inactive)
Andrew Benjamin: 8-3 (inactive)
Matheus Costa: 5-4


Garry Tonon (4-0) vs. Yoshiki Nakahara (13-4)

Jeremy Brand: Tonon via Round 1 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Tonon via Round 3 SUB
Mike Skytte: Nakahara via Round 1 TKO
Justin Pierrot: Tonon via UD
Michael DeSantis: Tonon via Round 2 SUB
Ryan Wagner: Tonon via Round 2 SUB
Mitchell Banuelos: Tonon via UD
Ed Gallo: Tonon via Round 2 SUB
Omar Villagrana: Tonon via UD
Brian Gerson: Tonon via UD
Matt Bricker: Tonon via Round 2 SUB
Connor Deitrich: Tonon via UD
Patrick Auger: Tonon via UD
Sasha Moksyakov: Nakahara via Round 2 TKO
Ash Camyab: Tonon via Round 2 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Tonon via Round 3 TKO
Matheus Costa: Tonon via Round 2 TKO

Staff picking Tonon: 15
Staff picking Nakahara: 2


Geje Eustaquio (11-7) vs. Kyu Sung Kim (9-2)

Jeremy Brand: Kim via UD
Wesley Riddle: Eustaquio via UD
Mike Skytte: Eustaquio via UD
Justin Pierrot: Eustaquio via Round 3 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Eustaquio via UD
Ryan Wagner: Eustaquio via UD
Mitchell Banuelos: Eustaquio via Round 2 TKO
Ed Gallo: Eustaquio via UD
Omar Villagrana: Eustaquio via UD
Brian Gerson: Eustaquio via UD
Matt Bricker: Eustaquio via UD
Connor Deitrich: Eustaquio via UD
Patrick Auger: Kim via UD
Sasha Moksyakov: Eustaquio via UD
Ash Camyab: Eustaquio via UD
Frazer Krohn: Eustaquio via Round 1 TKO
Matheus Costa: Eustaquio via Round 2 TKO

Staff picking Eustaquio: 15
Staff picking Sung Kim: 2


Amir Khan (11-5) vs. Saygid Arslanaliev (7-1)

Jeremy Brand: Khan via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Arslanaliev via UD
Mike Skytte: Arslanaliev via Round 2 SUB
Justin Pierrot: Khan via UD
Michael DeSantis: Arslanaliev via Round 2 TKO
Ryan Wagner: Arslanaliev via Round 2 TKO
Mitchell Banuelos: Khan via UD
Ed Gallo: Arslanaliev via Round 2 TKO
Omar Villagrana: Arslanaliev via UD
Brian Gerson: Arslanaliev via Round 1 TKO
Matt Bricker: Khan via UD
Connor Deitrich: Arslanaliev via Round 1 TKO
Patrick Auger: Khan via UD
Sasha Moksyakov: Arslanaliev via Round 2 SUB
Ash Camyab: Arslanaliev via UD
Frazer Krohn: Khan via UD
Matheus Costa: Khan via UD

Staff picking Khan: 7
Staff picking Arslanaliev: 10


Sage Northcutt (11-2) vs. Cosmo Alexandre (7-1)

Jeremy Brand: Northcutt via UD
Wesley Riddle: Northcutt via UD
Mike Skytte: Northcutt via SD
Justin Pierrot: Northcutt via UD
Michael DeSantis: Northcutt via Round 2 TKO
Ryan Wagner: Alexandre via Round 1 TKO
Mitchell Banuelos: Northcutt via UD
Ed Gallo: Northcutt via UD
Omar Villagrana: Northcutt via UD
Brian Gerson: Alexandre via Round 2 TKO
Matt Bricker: Alexandre via Round 1 TKO
Connor Deitrich: Northcutt via Round 1 TKO
Patrick Auger: Northcutt via UD
Sasha Moksyakov: Northcutt via SD
Ash Camyab: Northcutt via UD
Frazer Krohn: Alexandre via SD
Matheus Costa: Alexandre via UD

Staff picking Northcutt: 12
Staff picking Alexandre: 5


Shinya Aoki (43-8) vs. Christian Lee (11-3)

Jeremy Brand: Aoki via Round 2 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Mike Skytte: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Justin Pierrot: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Michael DeSantis: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Ryan Wagner: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Mitchell Banuelos: Aoki via Round 2 SUB
Ed Gallo: Aoki via Round 3 SUB
Omar Villagrana: Aoki via UD
Brian Gerson: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Matt Bricker: Lee via Round 1 TKO
Connor Deitrich: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Patrick Auger: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Sasha Moksyakov: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Ash Camyab: Aoki via Round 1 SUB
Frazer Krohn: Aoki via Round 2 SUB
Matheus Costa: Aoki via Round 3 SUB

Staff picking Aoki: 16
Staff picking Lee: 1

FEATURED IMAGE:

ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon
Promotional poster for One Championship: Enter the Dragon. All the action will take place Friday, May 17th from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore (photo credits to ONE Championship’s Facebook page)

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