Ben Askren headlines ONE FC’s Manila event in April

MANILA, Philippines – ONE Championship makes its way back to the Manila suburb of Pasay to stage its 40th fight card dubbed “Global Rivals” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on April 15.

For the main attraction, ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren will defend his gold-plated belt against Russian fighter Nikolay Aleksakhin.

Asia’s largest mixed martial arts promotion confirmed the 5-round championship clash after an initial report from Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday, February 25.

2015 was a rollercoaster ride for Askren (14-0, 1 NC), who is universally recognized as one of the best welterweight competitors today.

Askren fought to an anticlimactic no contest with Luis Santos in April 2015 as the Brazilian could not continue due to an eye poke.

The 31-year-old wrestler from Milwaukee, Wisconsin had the chance to settle the score with Santos this past November, but the much-awaited rematch was cancelled after the challenger failed to meet the contracted weight limit.

Santos struggled to make weight as he tipped the scales two pounds heavier than the welterweight perimeter of 170 at the official weigh-in.

Askren, who easily weighed 169.5 pounds, was willing to face Santos as long as the Brazilian stalwart would not exceed 190 pounds.

However, Santos did not agree to the demand of Askren, prompting ONE officials to pull the plug on the title tilt.

Prior to his meeting with Santos, Askren had competed twice under the ONE banner since his departure from Bellator MMA, submitting Bakhtiyar Abbasov with an arm-triangle choke in May 2014 before thwarting Nobutatsu Suzuki in the first round to claim the 170-pound division’s top prize 3 months later.

On the other hand, Aleksakhin (16-3) made his promotional debut last November, forcing Burenzorig Batmunkh to tap with a third-round rear-naked choke.

The 25-year-old Russian is also riding high on a 6-fight victory parade, winning 4 of them by way of stoppage.

Both fighters will be subjected to ONE Championship’s recently-adopted weigh-in policy, which requires athletes to compete at their “walking around” weight. – Rappler.com