Although ONE on Prime Video 1 was held nearly three years ago, it’ll long be known as a historic night in combat sports. Let’s turn the clock back to the evening of Aug. 26, 2022, when the event was held.
That night, a few months removed from ONE Championship signing a North American streaming media rights deal with Amazon Prime Video, the Singapore-based martial arts organization began its current Friday evening timeslot of fights once a month.
What a way for ONE Championship to begin on Amazon Prime. Today, we take a look back on ONE on Prime Video 1.
ONE on Prime Video 1 Main Event: ONE Flyweight MMA Championship: Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson
ONE’s first night on Prime Video was topped off by two championship contests. Flyweight gold (135 lbs) in MMA was at stake in the main event of the evening.
Then-incumbent champion Adriano Moraes (21-5 MMA, 12-5 ONE Championship) squared off against UFC veteran Demetrious Johnson (25-4-1 MMA, 15-2-1 ONE Championship) for the belt. This contest was a rematch of a fight between the two from 2021 during ONE’s series of events on the TNT cable network.
The fight went into the fourth round, but with a little bit over a minute remaining on the clock, “Mighty Mouse” scored a vicious right hand to wobble Moraes, followed up with a knee to the body to put him away, scoring a $50,000 (USD) bonus in the process. After ONE on Prime Video 1, the two faced off in a trilogy bout during ONE on Prime Video 10 the following May, with Johnson winning that fight before retiring in September of 2024.
ONE on Prime Video 1 Co-Main Event: ONE Bantamweight Muay-Thai Championship: Nong-O Gaiyanghadao vs. Liam Harrison
Bantamweight gold in the art of eight limbs (Muay Thai) served as the focus of that evening’s co-main event. Nong-O Gaiyanghadao put his strap at risk against Liam Harrison.
Early on in the first round, Nong-O peppered Harrison with a kick to the leg. Although Harrison was wobbled, he remained upright. From there, Nong-O landed another kick to knock Harrison down.
Even as the referee administered his 10-count, it was clear to those in the arena and the viewers watching at home that Friday evening in the summer of 2022 that there’d be no getting up from this one for Harrison. Nong-O put him down and out to successfully defend the title and pocketed a $50,000 bonus for his efforts.
In the aftermath of ONE on Prime Video 1, Nong-O would continue to hold the championship until April of 2021, when he lost to Jonathan Haggerty by way of first-round knockout.
ONE on Prime Video 1 Had Thrills Right From The Start
As soon as the show went live on Amazon Prime Video that night, it was clear that ONE on Prime Video 1 would be an exhilarating evening of matches from beginning to end.
The night’s opening bout on the undercard was a catchweight affair (189 lbs) in MMA pitting Zebaztian Kadestam against Iuri Lapicus. Initially, this was to have taken place in the welterweight division (185 lbs), but was renegotiated to a catchweight after Kadestam failed to make the contracted weight the day before.
“It’s the perfect way to start the card, both planning to bring the thunder,” said blow-by-blow commentator Brent Stover. This fight was a fun one for as long as it lasted that night. Kadestam needed just 57 seconds to put Lapicus away with an uppercut, but the former ended up sustaining a broken hand in the fight, as well.
Start of An Amazing Partnership
Numerically speaking, ONE on Prime Video 1 on Aug. 26, 2022 featured seven of the nine fights contested end inside the distance. More importantly, it began the partnership between ONE Championship and Amazon Prime Video in grand style.
If, for some reason, you missed the card as it originally happened that summer’s night, go on Amazon Prime and watch the card wire-to-wire. It’s that good of a show.