Launching at ONE: Heroes of Honor is the highly-anticipated ONE Super Series, a celebration of the world’s most effective striking arts as it invites the very best martial artists from Muay Thai, kickboxing, Karate, Taekwondo, Wushu, Sanda and more to showcase their skills on ONE Championship’s global media platform.
ONE Super Series was created to showcase the adrenaline-pumping action of top-notch martial arts on the biggest and most prestigious stage of competition, designed to showcase the purest forms of world-class striking.
As it makes its debut in Manila, Philippines on Friday, April 20, here are some of the important details that martial arts fans should know about ONE Super Series.
Four Exciting Bouts
Introducing a new global league specially for elite strikers, ONE Championship has booked four exciting striking-only contests.
The premiere offering for Manila’s ONE Super Series is a three-round kickboxing encounter, featuring international superstar Giorgio Petrosyan of Italy who takes on “Smokin’” Jo Nattawut of Thailand.
In other ONE Super Series match-ups, celebrated Thai kickboxer Nong-O Gaiyanghadao is scheduled to duke it out with French-Italian dynamo Fabio Pinca in a three-round Muay Thai tussle.
Elliot Compton shares the ring with Cosmo Alexandre in a Muay Thai clash, while Brad Riddell locks horns with Regian Eersel in a kickboxing showdown.
Introduction of ONE Super Series ring
Aside from the marquee talent debuting at ONE Super Series in Manila, the organization will also unveil its brand new five-rope ring.
Up until this point, the promotion has held martial arts bouts inside the famed ONE Championship cage, but in its 13th venture on Philippine shores, a new battlefield will be revealed.
The ONE Championship ring measures by an external dimension of 28 feet by 28 feet, while its internal dimension is 24 feet by 24 feet.
Surrounded by five ropes in bright white, the ring canvas is light gray, in typical color of the traditional ONE Championship cage.
All 11 bouts at ONE: Heroes of Honor are expected to be held inside the new ring, including matches that are officiated under the organization’s Global Rule Set.
For the first time in ONE Championship history, mixed martial arts contests will be held in the ring instead of in the cage.
Gloves and Rules
Photo from ONE Championship
ONE Super Series athletes will either wear eight-ounce or ten-ounce boxing gloves depending on the weight of the athletes. Ten-ounce gloves will be required in matches above 65.8 kilograms.
Handcrafted by Bangkok-based combat sports brand Boon, ONE Super Series gloves will be in all black with laces.
Unlike its mixed martial arts counterpart, Muay Thai and kickboxing matches in ONE Super Series will be scored in a ten-point must system and will be contested in three three-minute rounds.
Moreover, an in-ring competitor who is knocked down three times in the same round will be declared knocked out by the referee.
Elbow strikes will only be allowed in Muay Thai bouts as kickboxing matches in ONE Super Series will follow the heavily-praised oriental rule set, which was famously used by the now-defunct K-1 organization.
