One of the most-explosive strikers in the famed Baguio team’s roster, Kevin Belingon faces a daunting task of trying to wrest the interim ONE World Bantamweight Championship from another challenger, Vietnamese-Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) star and ONE Championship’s World Featherweight and Lightweight titlist Martin “Situ Asian” Nguyen. The two are set to tangle in the cage as the headliner of ONE Championship’s “Reign Of Kings” megacard at the Mall of Asia Arena this Friday (July 27), which will air LIVE on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD at 8:30 pm.
It’s only days before Filipino fighter, and Team Lakay stalwart, Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon steps inside the ONE Championship cage anew in his quest to finally fit a gold-plated world title belt around his waist.
One of the most-explosive strikers in the famed Baguio team’s roster, Belingon faces a daunting task of trying to wrest the interim ONE World Bantamweight Championship from another challenger, Vietnamese-Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) star and ONE Championship’s World Featherweight and Lightweight titlist Martin “Situ Asian” Nguyen. The two are set to tangle in the cage as the headliner of ONE Championship’s “Reign Of Kings” megacard at the Mall of Asia Arena this Friday (July 27), which will air LIVE on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD at 8:30 pm.
While Nguyen attempts to make history as the first ONE fighter to rule in three weight divisions, “The Silencer” is looking to be the fifth Filipino to hold a ONE Championship title, and give the Philippines the record for most championship wins in Asia’s largest fight promotions organization. Meet the elite group of Filipino warriors that Kevin Belingon hopes to join this weekend.
1) Honorio Banario, ONE Featherweight World Champion (2013)
Banario, or more popularly known as “The Rock,” was the first Filipino to receive a ONE Championship World Title when he beat compatriot Eric Kelly via a technical knockout back in 2013 in ONE’s “Return of Warriors” card. However, he fell in his first title defense against Koji Oishi. The former champ hasn’t lost since being submitted by Ev Ting in October 2015. He has strung together five impressive wins since with his most impressive knockout to date a nuclear blast straight to Jaroslav Jartim’s jaw last April 2017 in ONE’s “Kings of Destiny” card. In that span, Banario has upended the likes of Vaughn Donayre, Eddie Ng, Rajinder Meena, Jartim, and most recently, Adrian Pang.
2) Brandon Vera, ONE Heavyweight World Champion (2015)
“The Truth” came to ONE via UFC and he only had a goal in mind: to become a world champion. The 40-year-old Filipino-American wasted no time entering the ONE Championship cage and snatching the Heavyweight title from then-holder Paul Cheng in just his second fight in ONE’s arena. Vera dropped the then-champ with a crushing leg kick to crown himself the Heavyweight champion. Vera has defended his title against Japanese Hideki Sine in 2016, ending the match abruptly after crushing the challenger with punches that the referee had to step in. To this day, Vera is still looking for a worthy challenger to his throne.
3) Eduard Folayang, ONE Lightweight World Champion (2016)
Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang is a Filipino MMA icon. Many consider him the face of MMA in the country. The entire MMA community whooped it up when he pulled off a major upset in 2016 when he crushed famed Japanese grappler Shinya Aoki. Folayang is a known hard hitter and the “Tobikan Judan” felt the brunt of his power when “The Landslide” bore down on him to capture the ONE Lightweight World title. Eduard would then successfully defend his title in front of his compatriots against game challenger Ev Ting where he displayed his much-improved ground and wrestling game. However, he relinquished the title in his second defense when Martin Nguyen, the man Belingon will face on Friday (July 27), knocked the Filipino champion out. He is on a comeback trail and is scheduled to fight against Aziz Pahrudinov in “Reign Of Kings,” to follow up a successful return bout against Kharun Atlangriev.
4) Geje Eustaquio, ONE Flyweight World Champion (2018)
Eustaquio’s rise to power was not smooth. It was riddled with so many challenges and return bouts with his tormentors. But Geje prevailed especially against the biggest fights of his career when he took on Kairat Akhmetov and former ONE Championship Flyweight World titlist Adriano Moraes in succession to climb the top of the hill. The “Gravity” persevered to be crowned the undisputed ONE World Flyweight World champion despite repeated attempts by Moraes to bring the game to ground and unleash his famed jiu jitsu skills against the Filipino warrior. As he savors the biggest win of his career, Geje is looking to solidify his hold as a force to reckon with by being one of the four Filipino fighters who won a belt in Asia’s largest fight promotions company.
Witness why the Philippines is one of the most successful MMA countries in ONE Championship’s seven-year history. Don’t miss the titanic match between Kevin Belingon and Martin Nguyen for the interim ONE Bantamweight World title in ONE Championship’s “Reign of Kings.” The mega fightcard, which will air LIVE from the MoA Arena on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD this Friday (July 27) starting at 8:30 pm, will also feature Filipinos Joshua Pacio, against unbeaten Pongsit Mitsatit, and Rene Catalan, against Stefer Rahardian.For more sports news, follow @ABSCBNSports on Facebook and Twitter. For updates, follow @ABSCBNPR on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or visitwww.abscbnpr.com.