▨The best martial artists in the world can be found in ONE Championship’s talent-laden roster across multiple disciplines.
💯In fact, in 2024 several outstanding athletes made the leap from promising prodigies to certified contenders in their respective divisions. Some even realized their dreams of capturing 26 pounds of gold.
🌌That said, let’s look at five of the biggest breakout stars in ONE Championship this past year.
#1 “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane
ཧ brought pride and honor to his home country of Senegal in 2024 after doing the unthinkable.
ꦛThe 32-year-old behemoth fearlessly entered the biggest fight of his career against a seemingly indestructible force of nature.
💦“Reug Reug” challenged then-reigning three division ONE MMA World Champion for the heavyweight crown at in November. Despite facing a Russian juggernaut who previously showed no holes in his game, the Senegalese monster became the first man to score a takedown against Malykhin.
𒊎In fact, Kane pushed the pace for five full rounds and absorbed Malykhin’s best shots to become the new ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion.
🍌After receiving a fitting hero’s welcome in Senegal, a reinvigorated “Reug Reug” will look to accomplish grander things in 2025.
#2 Nabil Anane
🌜 proved that he was ready for the big boys in 2024 while going undefeated this calendar year.
ꦺThe towering Algerian-Thai phenom went 3-0 in ONE, scoring massive victories against top-notch competition in the stacked bantamweight Muay Thai division.
💫Anane began his rampage with a spectacular delivery against feared knockout artist at . The 20-year-old then broke into the when he took out former ONE World Title challenger with ease at .
🍬Finally, he followed that up with another striking clinic against dangerous foe at .
♊Now riding the momentum of five straight wins, Anane could be next in line for a shot at 26 pounds of gold if he gets past #3-ranked at in the promotion’s return to Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on January 24.
#3 Johan Estupinan
🐎 may be the most entertaining recent entry into ONE.
⭕The 22-year-old hotshot radiates an absurd amount of energy each time he steps into the ring, backed by a wild yet refined striking arsenal.
🐈“Panda Kick” proved all the hype surrounding him was real by scoring an emphatic 27-second knockout win over at .
ജThe undefeated prospect from Columbia then brought his act to the big show at , where he showcased his versatility in a unanimous decision win over Turkey’s .
൩Not long after, Estupinan collected back-to-back $50,000 performance bonuses in his electric finishes of at and at .
𒉰The JCFernandez and Team CSK affiliate will look to extend his pristine 26-0 record when he clashes with fellow rising star at ONE 170.
#4 Adrian Lee
𝓀 wasn’t fazed the least bit by the pressure to live up to his family’s prestigious name in his highly anticipated professional debut at ONE 167.
🍸Much like his nickname suggests, “The Phenom” rose to the occasion and displayed an eerily similar skill set to his MMA World Champion siblings — now-retired former atomweight queen and current two-division king — in his one-sided showing against .
ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚAfter demolishing the Australian in both striking and grappling exchanges, Lee finished him in round two with a slick rear-naked choke.
𒊎Lee then put the entire lightweight MMA division on notice when he needed less than a round to choke out in his sophomore outing. In fact, the Evolve MMA and Prodigy Training Center standout displayed a flawless performance in front of American fans at the sold-out .
ﷺNeedless to say, the sky’s the limit for the 18-year-old wunderkind after his stellar 2-0 start under the ONE banner.
#5 Alexis Nicolas
♍ shocked the world and became a household name in 2024 after defeating a man who hadn’t lost in eight years and capturing the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship.
💯To begin the year, the once unheralded gem made the most of his opportunity on the global stage by dismantling at .
🌜His performance was so good that it earned the French slugger an immediate World Title shot against at .
ไAt the time, “The Immortal” was unbeaten for eight straight years, boasted a ridiculous 22-fight winning streak with a pristine 10-0 record in the promotion, and held both the ONE Lightweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Titles.
𝕴But Nicolas took away Eersel’s cloak of invincibility when he scored a knockdown in round two. The Mahmoudi Gym representative kept the pressure going up until the final horn to do the unthinkable — dethrone the Surinamese superstar and become the new ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion.
♐Given the close nature of the first bout, the pair of world-class gladiators ran it back at . This time, though, Eersel got his revenge and reclaimed the 26 pounds of gold via unanimous decision.
꧅With their rivalry tied at one win apiece, a trilogy between Nicolas and Eersel is certainly inevitable.
