Examining ONE Championship’s Talent Pool
ONE Championship launched in 2011 with the goal of “featuring the best Asian fighters.” To date, the promotion has hosted 41 events in nine different countries and will make its debut in Thailand later this month. Despite impressive growth and expansion, at times the level of competition seems relatively stagnant. Is this the case?
To examine the talent level in ONE Championship, let’s review all 41 events in company history. For each event, let’s average the Quarterly Generated Historical Ranking of each participant and repeat the process with the fighters’ Highest Quarterly Ranking. These two composite event rankings will gives us an idea of the level of competition from both a contemporary and historical perspective. If a fighter was not ranked, they were assigned a rank of 600, which equals the lowest possible ranking in the current system.
Fight Matrix Program: UFC 198 (05-14-2016)
Heavyweight Championship (265)
[#1/#6DD/#6P4P] Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1, -158) vs. [#4] Stipe Miocic (14-2-0, +132)
Fabricio Werdum is the All-Time #3 ranked Heavyweight and #15 ranked Absolute fighter.
Stipe Miocic is the All-Time #21 ranked Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Fabricio Werdum (3-0-0)
2015-06-13: W vs. [#3HW+] Cain Velasquez (13-2-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 2:13 of round 3
2014-11-15: W vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Knee and Punches) in 2:27 of round 2
2014-04-19: W vs. [#8HW+] Travis Browne (18-3-1) via UD (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
Last 3 Fights: Stipe Miocic (2-1-0)
2016-01-02: W vs. [#7HW+] Andrei Arlovski (25-12-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:54 of round 1
2015-05-10: W vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Punches) in 2:47 of round 5
2014-12-13: L vs. [#5HW+] Junior dos Santos (18-4-0) via UD (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Fabricio Werdum 336, Stipe Miocic 133
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 4 win(s) against common opposition.
.
Middleweight (185)
[#4] Vitor Belfort (25-11-0, +249) vs. [#5] Ronaldo Souza (22-4-0, -312)
Ronaldo Souza is the All-Time #8 ranked Middleweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Vitor Belfort (2-1-0)
2015-11-07: W vs. [#12MW] Dan Henderson (31-14-0) via KO (Punches) in 2:07 of round 1
2015-05-23: L vs. [#2MW/#5DD/#10P4P] Chris Weidman (13-1-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:53 of round 1
2013-11-09: W vs. [#12MW] Dan Henderson (31-14-0) via KO (Head Kick) in 1:17 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Ronaldo Souza (2-1-0)
2015-12-12: L vs. [#3MW] Yoel Romero (11-1-0) via SD (29-28, 29-27, 28-29)
2015-04-18: W vs. [#27MW] Chris Camozzi (23-10-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 2:33 of round 1
2014-09-05: W vs. [#6MW] Gegard Mousasi (38-6-2) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 4:30 of round 3
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Vitor Belfort 189, Ronaldo Souza 154
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Vitor Belfort leads 2-1
.
Women Featherweight (140)
[#1/#4DD/#2P4P] Cristiane Justino (15-1-0, -1527) vs. [#13BW] Leslie Smith (8-6-1, +815)
Cristiane Justino is the All-Time #2 ranked Women’s fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Cristiane Justino (3-0-0)
2016-01-16: W vs. [#12FW] Daria Ibragimova (9-2-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:58 of round 1
2015-07-09: W vs. [#8FW] Faith Van Duin (5-2-0) via TKO (Knee to the Body and Punches) in 0:45 of round 1
2015-02-27: W vs. [#4FW] Charmaine Tweet (9-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:46 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Leslie Smith (2-1-0)
2016-03-19: W vs. [#31BW] Rin Nakai (16-2-1) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
2014-11-15: L vs. [#11BW] Jessica Eye (11-4-0) via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) in 1:30 of round 2
2014-07-16: W vs. [#53BW] Jessamyn Duke (3-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:24 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Cristiane Justino 119, Leslie Smith 56
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
.
Keep Reading
Fight Matrix Program – UFC 197 (04-23-2016)
Light Heavyweight Championship (205)
[*] Jon Jones (21-1-0, -543) vs. [#13] Ovince St. Preux (19-7-0, +402)
Jon Jones is the All-Time #1 ranked Light Heavyweight and #6 ranked Absolute fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Jon Jones (3-0-0)
2015-01-03: W vs. [#1LHW/#7DD/#6P4P] Daniel Cormier (17-1-0) via UD (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
2014-04-26: W vs. [#3LHW] Glover Teixeira (25-4-0) via UD (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
2013-09-21: W vs. [#6LHW] Alexander Gustafsson (16-4-0) via UD (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
Last 3 Fights: Ovince St. Preux (2-1-0)
2016-02-06: W vs. [#50LHW] Rafael Cavalcante (12-7-0) via UD (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
2015-08-08: L vs. [#3LHW] Glover Teixeira (25-4-0) via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 3:10 of round 3
2015-04-18: W vs. [#28LHW] Patrick Cummins (8-3-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:54 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Jon Jones 476, Ovince St. Preux 77
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Jon Jones leads 3-1
.
Flyweight Championship (125)
[#1/#3DD/#1P4P] Demetrious Johnson (23-2-1, -404) vs. [#3] Henry Cejudo (10-0-0, +316)
Demetrious Johnson is the All-Time #1 ranked Flyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Demetrious Johnson (3-0-0)
2015-09-05: W vs. [#6BW] John Dodson (18-7-0) via UD (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
2015-04-25: W vs. [#6FLY] Kyoji Horiguchi (16-2-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 4:59 of round 5
2014-09-27: W vs. [*] Chris Cariaso (17-9-0) via Submission (Kimura) in 2:29 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Henry Cejudo (3-0-0)
2015-11-21: W vs. [#4FLY] Jussier da Silva (18-4-0) via SD (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)
2015-06-13: W vs. [#16FLY] Chico Camus (16-7-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
2015-03-14: W vs. [*] Chris Cariaso (17-9-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Demetrious Johnson 231, Henry Cejudo 154
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 1 win(s) against common opposition.
.
Lightweight (155)
[#3] Anthony Pettis (18-4-0, -174) vs. [#16] Edson Barboza (16-4-0, +147)
Anthony Pettis is the All-Time #6 ranked Lightweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Anthony Pettis (1-2-0)
2016-01-17: L vs. [#2LW] Eddie Alvarez (27-4-0) via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
2015-03-14: L vs. [#1LW/#1DD/#2P4P] Rafael dos Anjos (25-7-0) via UD (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
2014-12-06: W vs. [#7LW] Gilbert Melendez (22-5-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 1:53 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Edson Barboza (1-2-0)
2015-12-11: L vs. [#5LW] Tony Ferguson (20-3-0) via Submission (Brabo Choke) in 2:54 of round 2
2015-07-25: W vs. [#41LW] Paul Felder (11-2-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2015-02-22: L vs. [#11LW] Michael Johnson (16-10-0) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Anthony Pettis 97, Edson Barboza 134
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Anthony Pettis leads 2-1
.
Keep Reading
Current MMA Rankings Updated (04-03-2016)
Notable Info
- An additional block clearing exception has been added to the ranking routine, which allows blocks to be cleared by blocked fighters who have ascended considerably (>= 2.0x) beyond their pre-block rating. The clearing of said block(s) can be reversed if fighters descend below this mark before expiration.