Three Fights To Watch At ONE: Empower

ONE Championship’s upcoming blockbuster “Empower” goes down this Friday night, September 3 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

It’s shaping up to be an incredible night of action. The event is a celebration of the promotion’s women warriors as it features an all-female fight card from top to bottom.

In addition, ONE Championship has put together a high-profile, eight-participant tournament.

With the best atomweight fighters on the planet, the Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix will set out to determine the next worthy challenger to Angela Lee's throne.

While other smaller organizations have accomplished a similar feat, ONE: Empower will make history as the first martial arts extravaganza from a major global martial arts organization to feature only women.

Here are three bouts that fans cannot miss.

Xiong Jing Nan vs. Michelle Nicolini

There’s an argument to be made for China’s Xiong Jing Nan being the best 125-pound athlete in women’s mixed martial arts. The ONE women’s strawweight champion’s 15-2 professional record speaks for itself, with names like Angela Lee, Samara Santos and Tiffany Teo bowing to “The Panda.”

Xiong has finished 11 of her 15 wins and has never lost a fight in the company's strawweight division over six outings.

Enter Michelle Nicolini, an IBJJF Hall of Famer and multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion.

The Brazilian grappling specialist has smoothly transitioned to mixed martial arts, winning six of her first eight fights with five submissions to her credit.

Nicolini stands as Xiong’s most unique puzzle to date, by far the most decorated grappler that the champion has ever encountered.

Adding to the layers of intrigue, Nicolini holds a win over Lee, with the latter being the lone athlete to defeat Xiong under the ONE Championship banner.

From afar, the matchup between Xiong and Nicolini represents a well-rounded, tried-and-true mixed martial artist taking on one of the most dangerous specialists the sport has to offer.

Denice Zamboanga vs. Seo Hee Ham

At just 24 years old, Denice Zamboanga is the complete package when it comes to rising female MMA stars.

Undefeated in her first eight contests, the Philippines’ Zamboanga has shown a knack for ending fights in a variety of ways, boasting three submissions and two knockouts on her growing resumé.

Conversely, Seo Hee Ham—Zamboanga’s opponent in the quarterfinal round of the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix—has already put together a highly impressive career as a mixed martial artist, finding success in Asia and the United States.

Ham has compiled a record of 23-8, taking out opponents such as Alyona Rassohyna, Courtney Casey, Jinh Yu Frey, Ayaka Hamasaki and Mei Yamaguchi, among others.

She is widely considered the face of South Korea’s growing WMMA scene.

Both women are incredibly aggressive, come-forward fighters who won’t mind trading punches at the center of the cage.

Anissa Meksen vs. Cristina Morales

French kickboxer Anissa Meksen joins ONE Championship as one of the most decorated athletes on the entire roster, and there’s a lot of prestige that surrounds her career.

Holding an incredible professional kickboxing record of 100-5 with 32 knockouts, Meksen is a former K-1 champion, multiple-time Muay Thai world champion, Savate world champion, and even captured a French boxing title.

In other words, Meksen is a devastating striker with the accolades to back it up.

Opposing her will be Cristina Morales, an accomplished striker in her own right with a K-1 world championship to her credit.

Hailing from Spain, Morales holds a record of 48-7 and brings to the table an extensive background in karate as well.

Both women will be making their promotional debut with ONE Championship, further deepening an already abundant kickboxing talent pool.