FIVE Filipinos, two former UFC heavyweight champions, two Dream champions, three of the fighting Gracies and other top fighters see action in One Fighting Championship: Pride of a Nation on August 31 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Eduard Folayang heads the list of Filipino fighters while Andrei Arlovski (17-9-0) of Belarus battles Tim Sylvia (31-7-0) of the US in a battle of former UFC titlists.
Bibiano 'The Flash' Fernandes of Brazil and Shinya Aoki of Japan, champions of the defunct Japanese Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) outfit, will also see action in the event organized by Singapore-based MMA organization One FC.
The 27-year-old Folayang is raring to get back to his winning ways as he takes on Switzerland’s Felipe Enomoto, who is also coming off a loss.
Fernandes, who has an 11-3-0 win-loss-draw record, tangles with Australia’s Gustavo Falciroli (12-3-2) in a bantamweight bout. One FC has yet to announce the opponent for Aoki.
Filipino Eric Kelly, unbeaten in seven fights, sees action for the third time under the One FC banner as he battles Jens Pulver of the US (26-16-1). Kevin Belingon (9-1-0) takes on Korea’s Soo Chul Kim (5-4-0), while Honorio Banario (6-1-0) and Andrew Benibe (4-2-0) clash in an All-Filipino bout.
Brothers Rolles, Igor and Gregor of Brazil’s Gracie fighting family will appear in one fight card for the first time.
Rolles (6-1-0) takes on American Tony Bonello (16-1-1), Igor (5-2-0) battles Korea’s Jung Hwan Cha (8-6-1) and Gregor (6-2-0) takes on Nicholas Mann (4-1-0) of Australia.
Folayang suffered only his second defeat in 13 MMA fights, losing a controversial split decision to 34-year-old Fil-Danish fighter Ole Laursen in One FC 3 – War of the Lions in March.
Enomoto actually beat Laursen by submission in a match in February but the Swiss fighter saw action again just a month later in War of the Lions and now holds a record six wins, four losses and one no contest.
Other fights in the event being held in partnership with Universal Reality Combat Championship pit Phil Baroni (14-15-0) of the US against Rodrigo Ribeiro (9-9-0) of Brazil, Mich Chilson (3-1-0) of the US opposite Shannon Wiratchai (2-0-0) of Thailand.
One FC has partnered with ESPN Star Sports for a 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans across 28 countries in Asia.
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