Belingon counts on Filipino support in Singapore for ONE unification bout

MANILA, Philippines – Kevin Belingon has a chance to prove that he is the one true king in ONE Championship’s bantamweight division and he counts on the Filipino community in Singapore to help him reach that goal.

Belingon, the interim bantamweight titlist, seeks to become the unified champion as he faces bantamweight world champion Bibiano Fernandes in the ONE: Heart of the Lion card on November 9 in Singapore. 

“Fighting in Singapore is almost like fighting in Manila. Thousands of Filipinos are based there, and they never fail to show support when their fellow Filipino is scheduled to compete at a ONE Championship event,” Belingon said. 

It won’t be the first time Belingon and Fernandes will lock horns, though. 

Back in 2016, the Filipino faltered in his bid of snatching the belt from the Brazilian champion following a first-round submission loss. 

But due to a lengthy injury to Fernandes, Belingon eventually became the interim titleholder after defeating former two-division world champ Martin Nguyen last July 27 at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

Belingon’s triumph over Nguyen set up his keenly-awaited unification match versus Fernandes, and he looks to draw the same rowdy Filipino crowd in Singapore just like when Eduard Folayang nabbed the ONE lightweight belt. 

“I was there (Singapore) when Eduard Folayang pulled off the unexpected against Shinya Aoki to capture the ONE lightweight world title in 2016,” he said. 

“Filipino fans were cheering for Eduard from start to finish, and the stadium erupted from the chants of countless Filipinos when he was officially crowned as the new ONE lightweight world champion.”

Belingon has since rode on a dominant six-fight winning streak since his loss to Fernandes.

He is one of 3 Team Lakay stalwarts currently holding a world title, the other two being flyweight world champion Geje Eustaquio and strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio. – Rappler.com