ONE FC: Banario falls anew but Belingon wins via spectacular KO
ONE FC: Moment of Truth ended a bitter note for the Filipino fans as Koji Oishi knocked out Honorio Banario once more to successfully defend his ONE FC featherweight title at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Oishi caught Banario with a right for a knockdown and he closed out the show with four strikes to the downed Filipino, who was rescued by the referee from taking even more damage. The end came at the 1:43 mark of the third round.
In his last ONE FC fight, Banario walked into the cage carrying the world on his shoulders. Four of his fellow Team Lakay members lost their fights earlier that night. It was up to him to salvage some pride for Philippine mixed martial arts. He was overly aggressive and ended up losing his title via second-round knockout.
For his rematch against Oishi, Banario only needed to think about himself.
However, the lack of pressure was not enough to carry him to victory as Koji Oishi’s fists sent Honorio stumbling again. The Japanese caught Banario with a overhand right, the same punch he used to knock out the Filipino in their first fight.
Some people said the first knockout was from a lucky punch, but now no one can deny that Oishi is simply the better fighter.
The two were tentative to start the fight as they were fully aware of each other’s power. Banario went for a front kick to start the fight but Oishi replied with a right uppercut. Banario finally unleashed a flurry with a three-punch combination punctuated with a head kick.
Banario was more aggressive in the second round but he paid for it as he was rocked with counters from Oishi twice.
After gaining confidence from his second round success, Oishi began stalking Belingon in the third round.
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In the supporting main event, Kevin Belingon scored what is perhaps the biggest and most impressive win of his career as he knocked David Aranda out cold with a picture-perfect left to the temple followed by a right while the Spaniard was already on the ground.
The end came a the 3:23 mark of the first round
Aranda inexplicably stood up and traded with Belingon who was the far superior striker. In Aranda’s nine victories, eight came via submission but he never tried to take the fight down.”
The two fighters were both moving forward when Belingon ended the fight abruptly with the left hook.
“I’m glad the opportunity came and I grabbed the opportunity,” Belingon said after the fight. “It depends on ONE FC if they want to give me a title shot.”
