ONE Championship held a ONE Championship open workout at Xtreme Couture MMA Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States featuring the promotion’s American fighters Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, 32, and Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez, 34. They were accompanied by ONE Championship vice presidents and mixed martial arts legends Rich Franklin and Miesha Tate and the promotion’s newly signed athlete Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort, 41, of Brazil.
Both Johnson and Alvarez will make their ONE Championship debuts at “ONE: A New Era,” which will take place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on March 31, 2019. Details about Belfort’s promotional debut have yet to be announced.
“ONE: A New Era”
At “ONE: A New Era,” Johnson will face Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu, 24, of Japan. They will compete in the quarter-final round of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix.
“I’ve been fighting for a very long time,” Johnson stated. “I’ve been champion for six years.”
Johnson said there is no surprise that Wakamatsu is going to look through his fights and look through his wins and losses, efficiencies and deficiencies, which is what athletes do. The American contender said, “But a fight is a fight.”
“A lot of people, when I get into the ring or cage with them, the first thing they notice is my speed,” Johnson continued. “I’m going to go out there, fight my butt off, use my heart, my technique, and my skill set, and go out there and take it to him.”
On the other hand, Alvarez will face Timofey Nastyukhin, 29, of Russia in the lightweight division at “ONE: A New Era.” The American contender admitted that he also does research on his opponents and he has done the same for his Russian opponent.
“I know he beat Eduard Folayang, he beat Amir Khan, he beat some of the top guys in ONE Championship,” Alvarez said of Nastyukhin. “He’s dangerous. He hits hard. He comes to fight and I accept the challenge.”
“I want the most vicious, dangerous guys ONE Championship has to offer,” Alvarez added. “I always show up so I can’t wait.”
CONAN Daily 