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[UPDATE] ONE Athlete Rankings: Kim Jae Woong Climbs Up, Christian Lee Gets Demoted, and More
“The Fighting God” Kim Jae Woong is the #1 ranked athlete in the ONE featherweight mixed martial arts division. He rose to the top of the weight class, following his stunning knockout win over Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen at ONE: REVOLUTION on Friday, 24 September.
The South Korean star’s victory meant that former two-division World Champion Nguyen moved down to the #2 spot.
Meanwhile, the division’s grappling sensation Garry Tonon remained at #3. But that could change should the American athlete defeat ONE Featherweight World Champion Thanh Le at ONE X, which is set for Sunday, 5 December.
Christian Lee dropped two spots to currently sit at #4, while Japanese sensation Koyomi Matsushima closes out the top five rankings in the featherweight division.
ONE Athlete rankings update in other divisions
The latest edition of the ONE athlete rankings also revealed some movement across three other divisions.
On the same night that Kim stunned the world by putting Nguyen to sleep, Joshua Pacio retained his ONE Strawweight World Championship against his old nemesis, Yosuke Saruta. However, the Japanese star still maintained his #1 spot while Bokang Masunyane, Hiroba Minowa, and Alex Silva moved up a spot, respectively.
Filipino star Lito Adiwang enters the strawweight rankings at #5, following his commanding display against “Wolf of the Grasslands” Hexigetu in their ONE: REVOLUTION lead card battle.
In the lightweight division, former ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki climbed one spot to #2, while Dagestani phenom Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev moved down to #3.
Aoki has been on a hot streak following his loss to Christian Lee in May 2019, earning four straight victories. There hasn’t been any news on whether “Tobikan Judan” will compete soon, but during a recent Road to ONE event in Japan, the martial arts icon surprisingly challenged Yoshihiro Akiyama to a fight.
The final division to undergo a shift – albeit a slight one – was the ONE bantamweight kickboxing division. Petchtanong Petchfergus’ win against Zhang Chenglong on 24 September, saw them swap spots as the #4 and #5-ranked contenders in the weight class. The top three in the division remained unchanged – Alaverdi Ramazanov (1), Nong-O Gaiyanghadao (2), Hiroki Akimoto (3).
Read More: WATCH: Superbon Secures Gold With an Insane Head Kick Knockout Win at ONE: First Strike
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