ONE Championship bolstered its ranks recently with the signing of eight highly regarded international mixed martial artists to its roster. Mark Striegl, Kuat Khamitov, Marcos Ratinho, Riku Shibuya, Dae Ryeong Kim, Jordan Lucas, Christian Uflacker and Rajinder Singh Meena have been added to the burgeoning ONE Championship roster.

Mark Striegl is a Filipino mixed martial arts superstar who has found success in every promotion he has competed in. Mark Striegl has a proven grappling pedigree, and has won eleven of his bouts by submission. The former PXC Featherweight champion dropped a weight class to bantamweight in his last bout, and is expected to make his ONE FC debut in that weight class.

Kuat Khamitov is a Kazakhstani lightweight who has won his last six bouts. He is one of the most experienced mixed martial artists to emerge from Central Asia and has won 18 of 21 bouts. Khamitov will look to emulate the success of countryman Igor Svirid, who is the reigning ONE FC Middleweight World Champion.

Marcos Ratinho is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with more than 20 years of experience in the sport. He is a CBJJ World Championship Silver Medalist and a winner of multiple national tournaments in Brazil. He is now coaching at Evolve MMA after a brief stint as the coach for the Presidential Guard in the United Arab Emirates.

Riku Shibuya is one of the most promising flyweights to emerge from Japan. He has not lost since his third professional fight back in 2009, and has an impressive 11-2-2 record. Shibuya has professional kickboxing experience and will prove to be a stern test for any contender in the flyweight division. He will make his ONE FC debut by challenging reigning ONE FC Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes at ONE FC: AGE OF CHAMPIONS on March 13.

Dae Ryeong Kim is an undefeated mixed martial artist from South Korea. He is the older brother of recent ONE FC Bantamweight World Championship contender Dae Hwan Kim and has cornered his brother in all his bouts in ONE FC. He is also a welterweight champion in his native country, defeating all the opponents he has faced thus far.

Jordan Lucas is the reigning bantamweight champion for ONE FC network partner Brace. He has won all seven of his professional bouts, including claiming the Brace Bantamweight Championship in his last bout. He now joins a stacked bantamweight division currently ruled by kingpin Bibiano Fernandes.

Christian Uflacker is a 2nd degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the legendary Carlos Gracie. Uflacker was a multiple-time grappling champion in his native Brazil before moving to the United States to train and coach. He has an undefeated mixed martial arts record of five wins with no losses. He has competed in both Strikeforce and Bellator, and will now get the opportunity to showcase his skills to mixed martial arts fans all across Asia.

Rajinder Singh Meena is an Indian mixed martial arts veteran. The lightweight is one of the leading stars in the MMA scene in India, having competed in the main event of several shows held in the country. Singh Meena is also a proven finisher, and all of his victories have come via either submission or knockout.

These eight fighters are added to an already growing repertoire of top flight mixed martial artists under the ONE Championship banner. Currently, the promotion boasts rights to top pound-for-pound fighter Ben “Funky” Askren of the United States, Japanese grappling specialist Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and former women’s boxing world champion, Ana “Hurricane” Julaton.

Loren Mack is a volunteer member of the prestigious Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame (NVBHOF), a member of Community Unity of Sullivan County, New York, and has been an integral part of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) industry for years now. He now serves as the director of public relations for ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) headquartered in Singapore. Follow him at @LorenMackBlog

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Source: The Jakarta Globe