The launch of ONE Championship’s women’s atomweight tournament will be on an all-women’s fight card.
The four quarterfinal matchups of ONE’s women’s atomweight grand prix will take place May 28 in Singapore, officials told ESPN on Thursday. The event itself will be named ONE: Empower.
In the main event, ONE women’s strawweight champion Jingnan Xiong defends her title against Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout Michelle Nicolini.
ONE’s atomweight grand prix features some of the best lighter weight female fighters in the world, including top atomweight and UFC veteran Seo Hee Ham. ONE’s atomweight division is contested at 115 pounds and below, similar to the UFC’s strawweight division.
Ham, the South Korean former Rizin super atomweight champion, fights Denice Zamboanga in the quarterfinals May 28. Muay Thai star Stamp Fairtex takes on Ukraine’s Alyona Rassohyna; China’s surging Meng Bo meets Indian wrestling champion Ritu Phogat; and Japanese prospect Itsuki Hirata takes on American prospect Alyse Anderson to round out the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the Ham vs. Zamboanga and Fairtex vs. Rassohyna winners will face off, as well as the Bo vs. Phogat and Hirata vs. Anderson winners. The champion of the tournament will take on ONE women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee later this year. Lee is currently sidelined due to pregnancy.
There will be another major women’s fight added to the card separate from the tournament, as well as grand prix alternate bouts announced in the future, ONE officials said.
ONE: Empower will be the first live event following its April broadcasts on TNT, which finishes up April 28.