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ONE Championship announce best MMA and ONE Super Series athletes of 2021

ONE Championship on Thursday (January 6) named the best of their class in 2021 with the announcement of male and female fighters and super strikers of the year.

Ok Rae Yoon

Bengaluru, January 6: ONE Championship on Thursday (January 6) named the best of their class in 2021 with the announcement of male and female fighters and super strikers of the year.

Of the four fighters picking up the accolades, first on the list was South Korean megastar Ok Rae Yoon, who scooped up the 2021 MMA Male Fighter of the Year.

The 30-year-old athlete arrived with a respectable 13-3 record and quickly settled in at the world's largest martial arts organization with a dominant display against former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat "Cobra" Gafurov at ONE on TNT III, which premiered in April.

In the same month, the Team MAD representative added another feather on his cap by defeating four-time MMA world champion Eddie "The Underground King" Alvarez via unanimous decision.

Those wins earned him a shot at ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian "The Warrior" Lee at ONE: REVOLUTION last September. Ok made most of his chances in a tightly-contested 25-minute war at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to become the eighth lightweight world champion in the promotion.

Meanwhile, former two-sport world champion Stamp Fairtex claimed the 2021 MMA Female Fighter of the Year honors.

She entered 2021 with a perfect 5-0 slate. But in February, Ukrainian submission specialist Alyona Rassohyna ended her undefeated run at ONE: UNBREAKABLE III.

That setback proved to be the turning point of her year. After working on her all-around game for seven months, the Thai striking specialist upset Rassohyna in the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix semifinal.

Stamp went past Julie Mezabarba in the semis before triumphing against Ritu "The Indian Tigress" Phogat in the tournament's final to earn her opportunity against "Unstoppable" Angela Lee for the ONE Women's Atomweight World Title in 2022.

Janet "JT" Todd, the fighter who dethroned Stamp off her ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Title last year, took home the 2021 Female ONE Super Series Striker of the Year award.

Focusing on Muay Thai this year earned the American kickboxer back-to-back wins against Alma Juniku and Anne "Ninja Line" Hogstad.

Finally, Superbon was named the 2021 Male ONE Super Series Striker of the Year.

The 31-year-old Phatthalung native's memorable debut at ONE: NO SURRENDER last July 2020 against Sitthichai "Killer Kid" Sitsongpeenong set him up for a highly anticipated clash against kickboxing GOAT Giorgio "The Doctor" Petrosyan at ONE: FIRST STRIKE in October this year.

Superbon used his right kick to control the match from the beginning and send Petrosyan crashing on the canvas 20 seconds into round two.

The knockout made him the inaugural ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion.

Source: Media Release

Story first published: Thursday, January 6, 2022, 10:49 [IST]
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