ONE Championship have just announced that Diogo Reis has been voted in as their ‘Submission Grappler of the Year’ for 2025. It’s a big moment for the Brazilian competitor, as it’s recognition for a long year of grinding in the training room and delivering results in competition. This has actually been Reis’ first year with ONE Championship and not only has he gone undefeated, but he finished the year as their new flyweight world champion. He’s only the second man to ever hold that belt, after Mikey Musumeci was stripped of the title and left the division behind in order to sign with UFC BJJ.
Reis made his promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 29 and he was booked against a tough opponent right from the start, likely due to how much he had already accomplished outside ONE. He faced Shoya Ishiguro; who already held a perfect 3-0 record in the promotion and looked like he was going to be next in line for a title-shot. Reis put his elite passing to work and took control of the match right from the start, eventually diving over Ishiguro to lock up a kimura. He kept on that attack and locked up a head-scissors to prevent Ishiguro from escaping, cranking on it for the finish.
He was immediately given a chance to win the vacant flyweight title in a match with Daiki Yonekura at ONE Fight Night 38. Yonekura was making his debut but had already established himself as one of the top Japanese competitors in the sport. It was a hard-fought match and although Reis couldn’t get the finish, he was able to use his passing and offense from top position to win a clear decision. With the flyweight belt wrapped around his waist, Reis is going into 2026 in an excellent position. There’s no shortage of elite competitors who would be eager to challenge him and the bantamweight title is also vacant if he has his sights set on becoming a double champion.
ONE Championship announced the news that Diogo Reis was their Submission Grappler of the Year for 2025 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
