Two former UFC champions made their ONE Championship debuts last weekend and both Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez were expected to come through their respective fights unscathed.
Johnson came good with a second-round submission victory over former Pancrase champion Yuya Wakamatsu but Alvarez endured a rough start to life in ONE Championship as he suffered a shock knockout defeat to Timofey Nastyukhin.
As part of the Japanese promotion’s A New Era card over the weekend, Johnson and Alvarez took part in Grand Prix quarter-finals in the flyweight and lightweight divisions respectively but the event proved that there is plenty of talent in the competition and that there is no such thing as a guarantee in mixed martial arts.
Johnson, who many believe to be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, came through a competitive opening frame against Wakamatsu before ‘Mighty Mouse’ ultimately cinched up a tight guillotine choke in the second round and drew the tap from the Japanese fighter.
Demetrious Johnson makes a STATEMENT in his ONE debut, submitting Yuya Wakamatsu with a tight guillotine choke at 2:40 of Round 2! @MightyMouse #WeAreONE #ANewEra #Tokyo #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/K4yOpTfmQJ
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 31, 2019
Alvarez’s fighting future remains up in the air after the former UFC lightweight champion was knocked out in consecutive fights for the first time in a storied career.
Having signed with ONE after his defeat to Dustin Poirier last summer, Alvarez’s chin was tested by Nastyukhin in the opening round of Sunday’s clash before the American was forced to cover up and was saved from further damage by the referee.
Timofey Nastyukhin SHOCKS THE 🌏! The Russian warrior knocks out Eddie Alvarez at 4:05 of Round 1 to advance in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix! #WeAreONE #ANewEra #Tokyo #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/YxUV0TSnFR
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 31, 2019
