Three Pinoys slated for ONE FC’s November card in Singapore

MANILA, Philippine – Three Filipino mixed martial arts (MMA) competitors will compete on the undercard of ONE Championship’s “Pride of Lions” event at the 12,000-capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on November 13.

Edward Kelly squares off with Australia’s Martin Nguyen in a three-round featherweight bout, while Cebu’s Jimmy Yabo faces Singaporean featherweight Amir Khan.

Kelly (6-2) is coming off a first-round submission victory over compatriot Yabo this past April after suffering two-straight excruciating defeats at the hands of Herbert Burns and Ev Ting.

Meanwhile, Nguyen (4-1) is fresh from his 41-second submission loss to Marat Gafurov for the interim ONE featherweight title last September.

Fighting a Filipino fighter is not new to Nguyen as he foiled former boxer Rocky Batolbatol with a second-round rear-naked choke in November 2014.

In the other match-up, a tough test awaits Yabo as he locks horns with Khan, who is looking to redeem himself following a split decision setback to Shannon Wiratchai in May.

Prior to the disappointing loss to Wiratchai, Khan (3-2) had scored 3 consecutive knockouts, including two first-round finishes.

Before being signed by Asia’s largest MMA organization, Yabo (4-1, 1 NC) was a proud product of Universal Reality Combat Championship’s Cebu chapter, winning 4 of his 5 outings in the promotion by knockout.

Also being featured at ONE: Pride of Lions is Filipino-Australian Natalie Gonzales Hills (2-2), who takes on highly-touted prospect Angela Lee (2-0).

ONE: Pride of Lions is headlined by two championship clashes as welterweight titleholder Ben Askren meets Luis Santos in a rematch, while Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke defends his strawweight strap for the first time against Yago Bryan Farias de Morais. – Rappler.com