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MANILA, Philippines – After a successful mixed martial arts (MMA) debut this past May, former boxing world champion Ana Julaton returns for another stint inside the cage as she takes on Irina Mazepa on the undercard of ONE FC: Reign of Champions.
ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) publicly confirmed the three-round women’s flyweight tussle, which has a weight limit of 125 pounds, on Monday morning, July 14.
Julaton, a 34-year-old Filipina who was born and raised in San Francisco, California, decided to make the transition from boxing to MMA by signing a multi-fight deal with Asia’s largest MMA promotion in March of this year.
For her first assignment as a ONE FC competitor, Julaton was slated to square off with Egyptian kickboxing champion Aya Saeid Saber at ONE FC: Rise of Heroes, where she stopped her gritty opponent via third-round technical knockout.
Prior to her time in MMA, 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 sport nicknamed as “Sweet Science” by claiming the vacant International Boxing Association (IBA) junior featherweight strap against Kelsey Jeffries.
The 5-foot-5 “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.
Furthermore, 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.
On the other hand, Mazepa is a decorated kickboxer and wushu practitioner, who will be making her first MMA appearance against Julaton.
Her dangerous striking prowess gave the 31-year-old native of Saint Petersburg, Russia the opportunity to win the K-1 super featherweight title by knocking out Veronica Vernocchi in December 2012.
Aside from the Julaton-Mazepa confrontation, ONE FC has booked two more fights for the aforementioned fight card, which takes place at the World Trade Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on August 29.
READ: Four title tilts booked for ONE FC’s first event in Dubai
Herbert Burns (3-0) locks horns with Japanese featherweight Hiroshige Tanaka, while former UFC fighter Roger Huerta (21-7-1, 1 NC) battles undefeated lightweight Christian Holley (10-0).
ONE FC: Reign of Champions 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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