SUMMARY
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SINGAPORE – Mixed Martial Arts has steadily gained in popularity in the world over the last few years, and the Philippines has followed suit.
Fighters like reigning Featherweight champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario and Eric “The Natural” Kelly, who fought each other last February for the title, are full-blooded Pinoy fighters making it big on the international scene.
One particular Pinoy standout will raise the Philippine flag once again this April 5th, as he continues on his quest for a world title.
Filipino fight fans have reason to cheer as Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, fighting out of Team Lakay of Baguio City, will flex his Pinoy muscle as he takes on perennial tough man Thanh “Aladdin” Vu. Belingon last fought in a win over Russian Yusup Saadulaev at Rise of Kings.
Solid contender, fan favorite
The former URCC Flyweight champion is a solid contender to the ONE FC crown due to his great stand up. Belingon likes to punish opponents with kicks, knees and elbows, all delivered at top speed with bad intentions.
This makes Belingon a fan favorite and with good reason.
He’s a powerful striker with superb conditioning, able to sustain a fast, frenetic pace consistently throughout the course of a fight making him a dangerous opponent to even the most seasoned MMA practitioners.
Although he lost to current champion Soo Chul Kim of Korea back when ONE FC held an event in Manila, Belingon bounced back with an impressive victory over Saadulaev.
The man he will have in front of him however, is certainly no push over. Thanh Vu is coming off a victory over Mohd Fouzein in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, in which he brutally stopped his opponent in just over 1 minute of the very first round.
The fight should be a good one as both fighters like to stand and mix it up at the center of the cage. A win for Belingon would mean advancing through to the final match of the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix against the winner of the other semi-final match featuring former UFC fighter, Jens “Lil’ Evil” Pulver of the USA and Masakatsu Ueda of Japan.
If Belingon can make it to the end, he’ll be ONE FC Bantamweight World Champion alongside Honorio Banario who is the Featherweight champion and the Philippines will have two MMA world champions.
Main event: Japan vs Japan
This April 5th, ONE FC will put together what I feel should be their most anticipated fight yet.
Reigning Lightweight world champion Kotetsu “No Face” Boku, who won the title over Zorobabel “Zoro” Moreira at last October, will have his hands full as he goes up against perhaps the most technically gifted mixed martial artist on this side of the world.
A full-blooded Korean who was born and raised in Japan, Boku is quite small for a lightweight.
However, he does pack a big punch which he put on fill display against Zoro, who was far taller than he was. Boku stopped Zoro via strikes to earn a Round 3 TKO win which got him the title belt. It was an impressive victory over a highly regarded opponent.
But the man he’ll face on April 5th is leagues above Zorobabel Moreira.
Boku will put his toughness to the test against who could possibly be the most feared man in Asian-MMA, Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki.
Aoki, who is Moreira’s stable-mate out of Evolve MMA in Singapore, vows to get revenge on Boku and bring a title back to Evolve. Aoki asked Victor Cui, CEO of One Fighting Championship, for a title shot after he made his debut at Rise of Kings.
The Tobikan Judan is known for his high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wide array of submissions, some of which are what Aoki fans call “flying submissions”. These skills were on display in his last fight against Arnaud “The Game” LePont, when he made quick work of the Frenchman, winning by armbar triangle choke in just 85 seconds.
Aoki is so adept at submission fighting, that it’s tough to envision a scenario as to how Boku would be able to escape if Aoki were to grab a hold of one of his limbs.
Standing at 5 feet and 9 inches, Boku isn’t exactly going to overpower Aoki, so he definitely has to catch him at the stand up. If there’s one weakness in Aoki’s game, it has to be his stand up, which gives Boku a slight chance at an upset due to his superior Kickboxing and Muay Thai.
Aoki is definitely going into this fight as the favourite despite Boku being the champion. It will be an all-Japanese barn burner that’s not to be missed.
Issa, Saadulaev try to bounce back
Leandro “Brodinho” Issa makes his return to the cage after suffering a recent setback, this time he goes up against Yusup “Maestro” Saadulaev who is also coming off a loss.
Arnaud “The Game” LePont looks to get back in the win column with a victory over a ‘game’ opponent in Eddie “The Magician” Ng, which is another highly anticipated matchup.
Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef also makes his cage return when he collides with fellow big man Middleweight Brock Larson of the United States.
Overall, it will be another night of MMA action the likes of which fans are never to forget. – Rappler.com
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