What Could Be Next For The Big Winners Of ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES?

ONE Championship kicked off a momentous October with a bang on Friday night.

The world’s largest martial arts organization made Singapore roar with ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES, and most of the fights on the card ended in highlight-reel fashion.

A legend reigned supreme, a top flyweight continued his ascent, a knockout king rediscovered his magic, and a trio of phenomenal stars continued their meteoric rises.

With that said, here is what could be next for three of the night’s biggest mixed martial arts winners.

Reece McLaren

Reece “Lightning” McLaren proved why he’s one of the best flyweight mixed martial artists on the planet with a spectacular knockout in the night’s co-main event.

The Australian sensation opted not to utilize his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt expertise and instead used his underrated striking to hand Finnish juggernaut Aleksi “The Giant” Toivonen his first professional loss.

McLaren rocked Toivonen with a right cross and then stalked him with various strikes until a knee to the body crumpled the powerful Finn in the final minute of the opening stanza.

“Lightning” could go in many different directions from here, but it would be incredibly fun to see the #5-ranked contender face former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio next.

Eustaquio is a wushu specialist who loves to stand toe-to-toe with his opponents. And just like the Aussie, he’s coming off a body-shot knockout. That came in November 2019 when the Filipino stopped his old rival, Toni “Dynamite” Tauru, with an unforgettable spinning back kick to the liver.

While “Gravity” would have the advantage over McLaren in the striking department, he loves to grapple against the world’s best BJJ practitioners, which would delight the Australian and play into his biggest strength.

This potential matchup would undoubtedly be full of nonstop action. Additionally, McLaren would be extra motivated to get the win – not only to keep climbing ONE’s Athlete Rankings, but because he previously lost to Eustaquio’s Team Lakay stablemates Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon and Danny “The King” Kingad.

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Amir Khan

On Friday night, Amir Khan earned the single most important victory of his mixed martial arts career.

Motivated to make his ailing father proud, the Singaporean hero blasted Rahul “The Kerala Krusher” Raju with a perfectly placed elbow and then rained down punches until the referee called off the bout in the final seconds of the opening round.

The win gave Khan his record ninth knockout in ONE history – breaking a tie with lightweight king Christian “The Warrior” Lee – while signifying the first step of his “rebirth” following a tough stretch.

But while the Singaporean is happy with the first-round win, he knows there is still much work to be done before he can crack the rankings and earn another World Title opportunity. A good next test would be a tilt with Kazuki Tokudome.

Tokudome is a former Pancrase Lightweight World Champion who possesses a strong judo background, solid cardio, and tremendous punching power. In fact, 10 of the Japanese star’s career victories have come by way of knockout.

A battle-hardened veteran like Tokudome would truly push Khan and force him to take his skills to an even higher level.

Roshan Mainam

Roshan Mainam produced his most outstanding mixed martial arts performance yet on Friday night.

The multiple-time Indian Wrestling Champion went head-to-head with ONE Hefei Flyweight Tournament Champion Liu Peng Shuai, took the Chinese star’s best shots, and overcame them to earn a second-round submission victory.

Following an explosive opening stanza, Mainam attacked Liu with hard right hands, clearly rattling his rival. Next, the Indian hit a takedown and kept advancing his position until he sunk in the bout-ending rear-naked choke.

Mainam’s wrestling has always been his bread and butter, but it would be fascinating to see him test his all-around skill set against Chan Rothana.

Rothana has the poise to push the Evolve star and the Kun Khmer background to test Mainam’s stand-up arsenal.

Additionally, the Cambodian possesses terrific grappling defense, which was displayed in his most recent victories over Gustavo “El Gladiador” Balart and Rudy “The Golden Boy” Agustian. He would force the Indian to work for every inch and push him into the deeper rounds. 

Read more: Full Card Revealed For ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES II On 16 October