Photo credit to @yodchatri on Twitter
ONE Atomweight Grand Prix: participants and kickoff date announced
The long-discussed ONE Atomweight Grand Prix finally has specifics announced. Promotional figurehead Chatri Sityodtong revealed the tournament field and the late-Spring kickoff date via his personal Twitter.
BREAKING NEWS: The ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix kicks off May 28! The ultimate winner will earn the right to face off against current ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee in November of this year for all of the marbles. Stay tuned for the tournament brackets! pic.twitter.com/PqJIHsj4l0
— Chatri Sityodtong (@yodchatri) February 24, 2021
As outlined in the above tweet, the winner of this Grand Prix will take on the long-reigning Atomweight ruler Angela Lee who is currently focusing on starting a family.
The brackets have not been set as of this writing and news of the matchups are still to come.
ONE Atomweight Grand Prix
Meng Bo is riding a seven-fight win streak with five finishes in those outings; halting the contests with both strikes and submission.
Seo Hee Ham debuts with ONE but curiously does so as the best atomweight in the world, in the eyes of some pundits. Ham enters the tournament after wresting the Rizin FF atomweight belt from divisional legend Ayaka Hamasaki at Rizin 20.
Stamp Fairtex aims to rebound from the first loss of her pro MMA career. This defeat came to fellow Grand Prix participant Alyona Rassohyna. The bout ended via third-round guillotine choke at ONE: Unbreakable III earlier this month.
Alyse Anderson is another ONE Championship debutant in this tournament and enters the field on the heels of back-to-back victories on the Invicta FC circuit. Anderson last competed in August 2019 when she earned a split decision win over Katie Saull at Invicta FC 36.
Itsuki Hirata is undefeated as a pro, has a one hundred percent finishing rate, and has largely plied her trade within the ONE Championship Circle.
Ritu Phogat is another MMA fighter in this Grand Prix with a spotless record. She also has a 75 percent finishing rate and all of those finishes have come via strikes.
Denice Zamboanga can also count herself as one of the unbeaten pros within this atomweight tournament field. The URCC vet has put together three straight wins under the ONE Championship banner since making her December 2019 promotional debut.
Who do you think wins the Grand Prix and contends for the ONE atomweight belt in the fall?
