ONE FC: Osman replaces Mazepa to face Julaton

Nissi Icasiano

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ONE FC: Osman replaces Mazepa to face Julaton
Ann Osman, Malaysia's first professional female mixed martial arts fighter, will face Ana Julaton at ONE FC: Reign of Champions

Ann Osman, Malaysia’s first professional female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, has stepped in for Irina Mazepa to battle former boxing world champion Ana Julaton on the undercard of ONE FC: Reign of Champions.

Julaton was originally penciled to lock horns with Mazepa in her second MMA bout, but the 31-year-old Russian was forced to pull out from her scheduled encounter with the 5-foot-5 Filipina due to an undisclosed injury that she sustained in training.

ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) officials quickly found a fitting replacement in Osman (0-1), who was last seen in action against Singaporean rival Sherilyn Lim at ONE FC: Total Domination in October of last year.

Osman stood up and exchanged heavy leather with Lim from bell to bell, but her opponent managed to walk away with the split decision victory to spoil her MMA debut. (RELATED: Sherilyn Lim and Ann Osman put women’s MMA back in spotlight)

Due to the stellar outcome of the strawweight scuffle, both ladies were booked to face each other again at ONE FC: War of Nations last March 14.

Unfortunately, the rematch was cancelled when Lim tipped the scales three kilograms over the contracted weight limit, which equates to nearly seven pounds more than the 115-pound border.

In her three-round tussle versus Julaton, Osman will be moving up to flyweight, which has a weight perimeter of 125 pounds.

On other hand, Julaton decided to make the transition from boxing to MMA by signing a multi-fight deal with Asia’s largest MMA promotion in March.

For her first assignment as a ONE FC competitor, Julaton was slated to square off with Egyptian kickboxing champion Aya Saeid Saber this past May at ONE FC: Rise of Heroes, where she stopped her gritty opponent via third-round technical knockout.

Prior to her MMA stint, Julaton (13-4-1, 2 KO in boxing) highlighted her prizefighting career in September 2009 when she became the first Filipina world champion in the “Sweet Science” by claiming the vacant International Boxing Association (IBA) junior featherweight strap against Kelsey Jeffries.

Ana Julaton sets up her offense in her MMA debut against Aya Saber. Photo by Nevin Reyes/Rappler

The 34-year-old “Hurricane” doubled her feat by winning the inaugural World Boxing Organization (WBO) female super bantamweight belt when she closely outpointed Maria Elena Villalobos in June 2010.

She went on to successfully defend the 122-pound trinket three times before dropping it to Yesica Patricia Marcos in a lopsided contest in March 2012.

Since her disappointing setback to Marcos, the Pinay pugilist won three of her four boxing matches, defeating the likes of Yolanda Segura, Abigail Ramos and Perla Hernandez.

ONE FC: Reign of Champions, which takes place at the World Trade Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on August 29, is set to feature four championship clashes in one night, including the welterweight title tilt between Nobutatsu Suzuki and Ben Askren. – Rappler.com

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