Shinya Aoki, Brandon Vera

Featuring 11 bouts, “ONE: Reign of Kings” is the third of the four ONE Championship events scheduled in the Philippines in 2018. On the fight card were eight mixed martial arts bouts and three matches under the promotion’s striking-only league ONE Super Series.

The co-main event of the evening was an MMA bout between Shannon “OneShin” Wiratchai, 29, of Bangkok, Thailand and former ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, 35, of Shizuoka, Japan. They competed in the lightweight division.

Aoki smoothly steered to a first-round stoppage victory over Wiratchai. It quickly became the beginning of the end for the Thai martial arts superstar just minutes into the first round, as he was effortlessly taken down by the Japanese martial arts legend.

On the mat, Aoki barely gave Wiratchai room to breathe, raining down a torrent of punishing elbows that compelled referee Yuji Shimada to step in and call a halt to the contest. The victory earned Aoki the GoDaddy Knockout of the Night honors.

After losing to Aoki at “ONE: Reign of Kings,” Wiratchai now has 9 wins, 3 losses and 1 No Contest. On the other hand, Aoki improved his professional MMA record to 41 wins, 8 losses and 1 No Contest.

Now, Aoki is riding a two-bout winning streak. Before facing Wiratchai at “ONE: Reign of Kings,” the former ONE Lightweight World Champion submitted Rasul Yakhyaev, 27, of Chechnya, Russia via triangle choke at “ONE: Unstoppable Dreams” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

Currently reigning as the ONE Lightweight World Champion is Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen, 29, of Australia and Vietnam. He competed for the ONE Interim Bantamweight World Championship at “ONE: Reign of Kings” but lost to Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, 30, of Baguio City, Philippines.

The press conference for “ONE: Reign of Kings” took place at the City of Dreams Manila in Paranaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines on July 24, 2018. The fight night took place at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila on July 27, 2018.