Two of ONE Championship's marquee acquisitions are set for their returns, with Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez booked to fight on August 2nd's ONE Championship 99: Dawn of Heroes event.
The former UFC Champions experienced different results in their promotional debuts, both competing on the same night as the MMA world watched on. After his historic UFC Flyweight Title reign had been halted, Johnson was traded to ONE Championship, trading places with Welterweight contender Ben Askren. He'd previously defended the 125 pound belt eleven times but was now starting again, entering the ONE Championship Flyweight Grand Prix.
'Mighty Mouse' succeeded, submitting Yuya Wakamatsu in the 2nd round after an entertaining encounter. Advancing to the semi-finals, Johnson now takes on Tatsumitsu Wada (21-10-2) while on the other side of the bracket, Danny Kingad (12-1) battles Kairat Akhmetov (26-2).
Moments prior to Johnson's debut win, Alvarez had suffered a different fate, being stopped by Timofey Nastyukhin in the very first round. The result was a shock to most onlookers, with Alvarez exiting the UFC as a highly ranked contender. Nonetheless, now removed from ONE Championship's Lightweight Grand Prix, Alvarez returns to take on recent title challenger Eduard Folayang (21-7).
The Filipino contender was submitted by Aoki on the same night that Alvarez debuted, but both will now collide in a must-win affair.
ONE Championship 99: Dawn of Heroes took place on August 2nd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. It will stream on the B/R Live app.