ONE Championship announced on Wednesday that in May they would begin what they are calling “biggest women’s mixed martial arts tournament in the world.”
May 28, the ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix will begin and the eight fighters competing in the tournament were announced. The winner of the tournament will face the current ONE Atomweight Champion Angela Lee in November. Lee won the title in May of 2016 when she defeated Mei Yamaguchi via unanimous decision. Since she has defended the title three times so it seems the tournament will be the matchmaker for her next title defense.
The tournament is some welcome news coming from the Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion as they, like the rest of the world, had to postpone many events last year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Setting up something like a tournament is not only a good sign but makes for a few promising events in 2021.
The announcement was just the eight competitors in the tournament, match announcements are said to be announced soon.
Three of the eight fighters announced are currently ranked in ONE Championship Atomweight rankings. Those women are; Denice Zamboanga (#1), Meng Bo (#2), and Stamp Fairtex (#5). Fans of Invicta FC might recognize the one American fighter in the tournament, Alyse Anderson. Anderson went 2-1 in Invicta with an overall professional record of 5-1.
Check out the records and complete list of the ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix:
Denice Zamboanga (8-0)
Meng Bo (17-5)
Stamp Fairtex (5-1)
Alyse Anderson (5-1)
Itsuki Hirata (7-0)
Alyona Rassohyna (13-4)
Ritu Phogat (4-0)
Seo Hee Ham (23-8)
Lee, the current Atomweight champion certainly has a lot of time to prepare for some pretty dangerous contenders. It should be interesting to see who faces whom on May 28.
Who would you like to see fight first?