ONE: Kings of Courage poses to be the best fighting event to kick off 2018

ONE Championship will kick off 2018 with a blockbuster night of martial arts action.

The organisation will hold its first card of the year, ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE, at the Jakarta Convention Center on Saturday, 20 January.

Featuring a clash for the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight World Championship and contests between some of the world’s best martial artists, fireworks are bound to set off in Indonesia.

Indonesia has always been a hotbed for martial arts in Southeast Asia, and the country is starting to produce some excellent athletes.

ONE Championship has regularly held blockbuster shows in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta ever since the organization’s second-ever card in 2012.

Company chairman Chatri Sityodtong revealed that ONE Championship is preparing a blockbuster event for its return on Indonesian shores this weekend.

“January 20th in Jakarta is going to be a massive, massive event. We are going to have a blockbuster card for the passionate fans in Indonesia. We’re going to see some fireworks. It will probably be our biggest event in the country. I can confidently say that this card is the best event to start our year,” he stated.

ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE is headlined by a five-round title tilt as undefeated Singaporean Tiffany “No Chill” Teo collides with Chinese martial arts prodigy “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan for the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight World Championship.

“It is our first global broadcast of 2018 and we are going big by having Tiffany Teo go up against Xiong Jing Nan. These two women are exemplary martial artists who compete at the highest level of skill. It should be an exciting bout for all the fans watching, and at the end of the night, we will be crowning our first ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion,” Sityodtong said.

Undefeated at 7-0 and bursting with confidence, Teo has all she needs to realize her dreams.

By defeating Xiong, Teo would become the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion and add the greatest accolade of her career to an impressive trophy cabinet.

Teo has been busy honing her all-round game. Besides training under BJJ black belt and former ONE athlete Major Overall to polish her submission skills, she is spending half of her camp at Thailand’s famous Tiger Muay Thai & MMA, where she is sharpening her stand-up repertoire under world champion Thai kickboxers.

By the time she steps into the cage, Teo will be ready to face any challenge presented to her as a victory for “No Chill” would produce Singapore’s second world champion next to ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee.

“I’ve always kept my head down and let the hard work and my achievements speak for itself,” Teo declared. “This title shot means a lot to me and I am excited to get right back in the cage. This one is for my fans in Singapore. I will bring the belt home for you guys.”

On the other hand, Xiong is already a hot property in the ONE Championship cage as she is being considered among the top three female martial arts talents in mainland China.

A former professional boxer, Xiong is known for her aggressive style and powerful hands, but a gold medal at the 2017 China Open BJJ Tournament proves she is just as capable on the ground.

The 30-year-old from Beijing sports a near-flawless record at 13-1, and just one more win will clinch her the inaugural belt and a place in history as China’s first-ever world champion in the cage.

Becoming a world champion is a dream that Xiong has had since she first discovered martial arts.

Now that she has the chance to realize her dream of becoming a world titleholder, Xiong’s attack-first mentality is sure to produce pinwheels as she goes head-to-head with Teo in the center of the cage.

“I have been training and dreaming of becoming a world champion for a long time and I am ready to defeat whoever is standing in front of me. My entire career has been about making this dream come true, and now it’s time for me to make that dream a reality,” Xiong stressed.

Aside from the women’s strawweight championship clash between Teo and Xiong, seven outstanding Indonesian homegrown talents will don the country’s colors on the undercard of ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE on 20 January at the iconic Jakarta Convention Center.

One of the hottest talents ever produced in Indonesia, Stefer Rahardian is eagerly anticipating his next challenge at ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE against Pakistani athlete Muhammad “The Spider” Imran.

Meanwhile, “The Terminator” Sunoto draws another Cambodian contender in Rin Saroth at ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE.

Unbeaten featherweight contender Victorio “Indra” Senduk is set to return to the ONE Championship cage against compatriot Yohan Mulia Legowo.

Ternate, Indonesia-bred flyweight Riski “King Kong” Umar aims to do an encore of his winning performance at ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE when he meets Arnol Batubara.

Female martial artist Priscilla Hertati Lumbangaol of Jakarta, Indonesia will look to emerge triumphant in her next appearance inside the ONE Championship cage, when she takes on the Malaysia’s Audreylaura Boniface.

Also featured at ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE is the return of former ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash, who squares off with ex-title contender Leandro Ataides of Brazil.

Touted as one of the best pure grapplers in professional martial arts competition today, Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki meets former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov in a Grappling Super-Match.

Yusup “Maestro” Saadulaev dukes it out with Masakazu Imanari, while Rene Catalan is looking for his fourth-straight triumph in ONE Championship against Peng Xue Wen.

“It’s going to be another memorable night of action for fans in Jakarta and from all over the world,” Sityodtong guaranteed.