ONE FC brings world-class MMA to the Philippines
Asia's premier Mixed Martial Arts event is exploding in the Philippines on August 31, with “ONE FC: Pride of a Nation” at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
A card of at least ten bouts will thrill Pinoy MMA fans that night, according to ONE Fighting Championship CEO Victor Cui, who bared plans at the press conference in Discovery Suites last Wednesday. The card’s top fighters were in attendance, as well as Universal Reality Combat Championship founder Alvin Aguilar.
“We'll have the biggest, baddest, best fighters on our card that night” boasted Cui, a Filipino-Canadian.
One of the night's most awaited fights will be between Brazilian DREAM Bantamweight champ Bibiano Fernandes and Brazilian-born Aussie Gustavo Falciroli.
“Bibi is a superstar, with more Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu titles than maybe any other fighter” enthused Cui. “The weight of all his belts is probably heavier than him.” Fernandes, from Manaus, sports an 11-3-0 record and was a champion in DREAM, the Japanese MMA organization, in both Featherweight and Bantamweight classes.
His opponent, Falciroli, is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist who has been living in Australia since 2007. In his ONE FC debut he subdued Korean Soo Chul Kim last February in Jakarta with a rear naked choke submission after just 1:12 in the first round. Falciroli is currently the Australian Cage Fighting Champion and has a 12-3-2 record. Cui called him “one of the most accomplished grapplers in Asia.”
Other big names will also be on display on August 31. Japan's Shinya Aoki, ranked the seventh best lightweight in the world according to FightMatrix.com last April, will stake his impressive 30-6-1 record against a yet-to-be named opponent. A native of Shizuoka, Japan, Aoki combines BJJ skills with
Judo techniques and Shooto or Shoot Fighting knowledge.
“If this guy grabs a hold of your leg, you're done” said MMA enthusiast Franco Mabanta. “Bar none he is the best fighter in Japan and one of the best in Asia.” Aoki's nickname is “Tōbikan Jūdan” or “Grandmaster of Flying Submissions.”
Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski was also on hand to meet the press and drum up excitement for his bout with Australian Soa Palelei. The heavyweight from Belarus has a 17-9 record and is looking to sustain the momentum from recent KO victories over Ray Lopez and Travis Fulton. Those twin victories came after a four-match losing streak that began three years ago against the legendary Fedor Emelianenko.
Arlovski is a kickboxer who also practices the Russian martial art of Sambo. The former police officer is mentored by highly-regarded MMA guru Greg Jackson, and is also under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s trainer.
“Roach says Andrei has the most lethal hands in MMA” claimed Cui.
Mabanta believes that Arlovski’s career is back on track. “With Jackson helping him out with his MMA and Roach with his boxing, you’ve really got a formula for success. And he’s training with a camp that suits his style.”
Filipino MMA fans will be thrilled to see Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang in action. The reigning URCC welterweight champ last fought in a ONE FC fight last March in Singapore when he lost a close split decision to Filipino-Danish Muay Thai specialist Ole Laursen. Even with that setback, Folayang has an superb 11-2 record.
The 27-year old Baguio native, when asked if a rematch was on his mind, replied “kung yun ang gusto ng mga tao, gusto ko din.” His opponent for August 31 has also yet to be determined.
Aguilar practically gushed with pride when he said “the next Manny Pacquiao will come from MMA, and that’s him” as he pointed to Folayang.
Another Pinoy, featherweight Eric Kelly, will put his immaculate 7-0-0 record on the line against American veteran Jens Pulver. Kelly, nicknamed “The Natural,” had earlier beaten Korea’s Bae Young Kwon in the ONE FC Destiny of Warriors card in Malaysia last month via unanimous decision.
Pulver is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship Flyweight champ who has also been a coach in the reality series Ultimate Fighter 5. He once defeated top MMA fighter BJ Penn in the lightweight division and is vastly experienced, with a 26-16-1 slate.
ONE FC has an unprecedented 10-year contract with ESPNStar to air the fights, which use a hybrid of PRIDE rules and Nevada rules. Soccer kicks, head stomps, and elbows are permitted. “It’s a perfect blend of eastern and western practices” says Cui.
Each fight is scheduled for three five-minute rounds in a circular caged ring.
The matchups will be aired on a delayed basis by ESPNStar but live streaming will be available on the official site, onefc.com.
AKTV will be airing fights from the previous four ONE FC fight nights in the lead-up to August 31.
The event will be a homecoming for Victor Cui, whose parents are from Cebu. “I’m fiercely and proudly Filipino. Wherever we go, the loudest and craziest fans are the Filipinos. It fills me with pride.”
Tickets are available starting July 19 at all Ticketnet outlets in SM department stores and in the SMART Araneta Coliseum ticket booth. Ticket prices range from P4,500 for the VIP experience followed by P2,000, 1,000, 650, 500, and 200 seats.
Cui says “I guarantee this will be a sellout.”
