KEVIN Belingon failed to build on the gains he made last year as he surrendered to Dae Hwan Kim in ONE FC: War of Nations on Friday night at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
After moving a step closer to a title shot following a resounding victory late last year, the 26-year-old Ifugao native’s progress was derailed this time after his Korean foe caught him with a rear-naked choke that forced him to tap out early in the first round of the co-main event.
Belingon lost for the fourth time in 16 bouts, while Kim remained undefeated in 11 fights.
The Team Lakay product actually dictated the tempo at the start, taking the fight to the Korean with strikes and a couple of takedowns, but that enabled Kim to lock him up with a choke to end the fight at the four-minute, 39-second mark of the opening round of the bantamweight bout.
It was a disappointing night for Filipinos as Harris Sarmiento lost to Herbert Burns via unanimous decision in one of the undercards.
The Ilocos Norte-born, Hawaii-raised former Pacific X-Treme lightweight champion got a taste of a higher level of MMA as he was on his back most of the time against his Brazilian opponent to drop to a 36-26 win-loss card.
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