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MANILA, Philippines – Two Filipino fighters will don the country’s colors on the undercard of ONE FC: Battle of Lions on Friday, November 7 at the 12,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
Rocky Batolbatol squares off with Australian standout Martin Nguyen in a three-round featherweight tussle, while Carry Bullos faces 145-pound contender Major Overall.
Batolbatol (5-0) is a 29-year-old stalwart from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, who made a name for himself in Philippine-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organizations such as Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), Mindanao Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts and Ground & Pound Championship.
“I am very excited for this fight because this is my first international bout. It has always been my dream to showcase my talent and skills on a global stage like ONE FC,” Batolbatol tells Rappler.
Since making the transition from boxing to MMA in 2011, Batolbatol spearheaded his MMA career with four-straight stoppage victories, knocking out the likes of Elmer Tortogo and Erving Mosico and owning back-to-back submission wins over Johnjier Edu Torbiso.
The 5-foot-7 “Outlaw” went the distance for the first time in October of last year when he outpointed Darl Laurel via unanimous decision at URCC: Bacolod Brawl 2013.
With the aim to be a more versatile competitor than his cage counterpart, Batolbatol revealed that he put more emphasis on the grappling department in training camp.
“I wanted to be comfortable anywhere the fight would go. That is why I focused on my wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for this fight. Bu of course, I did not neglect my striking, which is my bread-and-butter for years,” he confided.
Like Batolbatol, Nguyen (3-0) is also undefeated in his professional MMA stint and instantly took ONE Fighting Championship’s attention when he captured the featherweight belt in Australia’s BRACE promotion
“I know it will be an interesting fight versus Martin Nguyen, but I want to leave a mark inside the ONE FC cage. It’s my goal to win decisively and have more fights at future ONE FC events,” Batolbatol said of his bout against Nguyen.
On the other hand, a tough test awaits Bullos as he locks horns with Overall, who is coming off a successful ONE FC debut this past May.
Arguably the best MMA combatant today from Cebu, Bullos (7-1) has never won by way of scorecards, finishing seven of his last eight outings by either knockout or submission.
However, the 31-year-old Bullos has not fought since January 2013 when he thwarted Hideo Morikawa via first-round technical knockout in the main event of URCC Cebu 8: Survival.
Meanwhile, Overall (5-1) is riding high on a three-fight winning streak and holds notable triumphs over AJ Lias Mansor and Bruno Pucci.
In his first promotional appearance at ONE FC: Honor & Glory last May 30, Overall made blatant statement as he decimated a highly-touted prospect in Pucci with a soccer kick in the first round.
ONE FC: Battle of the Lions is headlined by Leandro Ataides taking on Igor Svirid for the inaugural middleweight championship. – Rappler.com
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