ONE Championship has announced the final lineup for their April 7th debut on U.S. TV channel TNT. The six-fight card, “ONE on TNT 1,” includes a title fight between 135-pound MMA champion Adriano Moraes and former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson in the main event.
The fights are expected to take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore live.
The main event will be Johnson’s first title fight since making the move from UFC to ONE in 2019. He picked up three wins in his debut year for the promotion, defeating names like Danny Kingad and Tatsumitsu Wada.
Moraes will look to defend his belt for the first time in his third reign. He earned the belt back in early 2019, defeating Geje Eustaquio in a rematch.
The headlining bout will be the first appearance from both fighters since 2019.
Alvarez To Fight Former ONE Champ Lapicus
Returning after losing a title fight to Christian Lee last year, Iuri Lapicus will face former UFC champ Eddie Alvarez in April.
Prior to losing his title shot in October, Lapicus had an undefeated 14-fight pro record that included two previous finish wins in ONE.
Alvarez’s last bout saw him earn his first ONE victory, submitting Eduard Folayang within a round with a rear naked choke in 2019.
Williams Steps In For Smith In Muay Thai Bout Against Rodtang
Rodtang Jitmuangnon has received a new opponent for his fight in April, now being matched against Danial Williams instead of Jacob Smith.
Williams enters his ONE debut with experience in K-1 kickboxing and MMA fights in regional promotion Eternal MMA.
While Rodtang is the promotion’s current 135-pound Muay Thai champ, he won’t be defending the belt in this matchup.
McGuire and Magomedaliev Lead Three-Fight Prelims
ONE will present a three-fight preliminary card before switching to TNT. Airing on online service B/R Live, the “Lead Card” includes two MMA bouts and a kickboxing match.
Competing in a middleweight bout, Tyler McGuire and Raimond Magomedaliev will fight in the top fight of the prelims. McGuire earned his first ONE win in his last outing, defeating Agilan Thani in December. Magomedaliev is returning after a strong 2020 that saw him pick up two stoppage wins.
After showcasing his skills with stoppage wins in two prior appearances, Rade Opacic will fight Patrick Schmid in a kickboxing bout. Schmid was originally scheduled to fight Opacic in January, although that fight did not come to fruition. The bout in April will be Schmid’s ONE debut.
Heavyweights will kick off the card when Mehdi Barghi fights Reug Reug. Oumar Kane, also known as Reug Reug, earned his second pro win early this year, stopping Alain Ngalani within a round with strikes. Barghi is taking a quick turnaround in this fight despite his last appearance in January resulting in a finish loss.
Here is how the full card looks currently.
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 10:00AM SGT) (TNT / Youtube)
Bout 6: Adriano Moraes (18-3) vs. Demetrious Johnson (30-3-1) (135 lbs) (ONE MMA Flyweight Championship)
Bout 5: Eddie Alvarez (30-7) vs. Iuri Lapicus (14-1) (170 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Danial Williams (Muay Thai Bout)
Lead Card (8:30PM EDT / 8:30AM SGT) (B/R Live / Youtube)
Bout 3: Tyler McGuire (12-1) vs. Raimond Magomedaliev (7-1) (185 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Rade Opacic vs. Patrick Schmid (265 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 1: Reug Reug (2-0) vs. Mehdi Barghi (4-3) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
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