Pinoy MMA star Kevin Belingon TKOs foe in ONE FC Singapore
SINGAPORE - Ifugao fighter Kevin Belingon went to Singapore to earn redemption. It didn't take long for him to get it.
Belingon overwhelmed Yusup Saadulaev of Russia with a series of vicious strikes that forced referee Yuji Shimada to stop their match three minutes and eighteen seconds into the first round. The stylish knockout victory means the Team Lakay stalwart improved to 10-2 in front of a packed crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
It was just one of several spectacular fights in an evening to remember at ONE FC: Rise of Kings.
The Belingon-Saadulaev duel was in the first stage of the 8-man ONE Fighting Championship Bantamweight Grand Prix. Belingon now moves into the final four, with the champion of this single-elimination tournament meeting the ONE FC Bantamweight champ Soo Chul Kim in late 2013.
It was a masterful return to the winner's circle for Belingon, who last August 31 succumbed to Soo in the Smart Araneta Coliseum via unanimous decision as part of ONE FC: Pride of a Nation.
Belingon got into the side mount against Saadulaev, a wrestling specialist, and attempted a paintbrush submission. The Russian was wise to that and defended it well but Belingon rose above Saadulaev and unleashed a wicked left/right combination that forced the stoppage.
Saadulaev protested the decision, but replays showed that the Russian was clearly hurt by the Pinoy's first strike.
"Nung unang suntok ko, nahilo na siya, nakita ko sa mata niya na iba na ang tingin (niya) tapos sinundan ko pa ng isa. Kaya siguro it was a good decision from the referee to stop the fight" said Belingon afterward. (When I first hit him, I saw it in his eyes that he was hurt and then I followed it up with another one. That's why it was a good decision to stop the fight.)
If Belingon wins the Grand Prix, he will get a chance to exact revenge on Soo.
The Korean is the new ONE FC Bantamweight champ after knocking out Leandro Issa of Brazil fifty seconds into the second round of their title fight.
Soo clocked Issa with a hard right and after Issa fell, the Team Force prodigy unleashed a barrage of forearms that prompted the ref to intervene.
The 20 year-old burst into tears of joy and said afterward through an interpreter that "he felt like it was his birthday."
Soo's record is now 7-4 overall.
Soo avenged his unanimous decision loss to Issa in their previous meeting in ONE FC in September of last year, also in Singapore.
In the other title bout of the evening, Kotetsu "No Face" Boku became the first ONE FC Lightweight World Champion via a knockout of Zorobabel Moreira of Brazil. It was an unpredictable, see-saw battle with plenty of twists and turns.
The Japanese roughed up Moreira with a right in the first round but was unable to finish him off.
Moreira won the second with a series of savage right kicks to Boku's left leg plus some hard soccer kicks to the head and even a spinning elbow.
But in the third Boku turned it around with a lethal right cross that staggered Moreira and forced him to slump to the fence. Boku followed it up with more powerful strikes, and the referee was forced to end the fight one minute and two seconds into the round.
In another Bantamweight Grand Prix matchup, American vet Jens Pulver was stretchered off in the third round after taking two illegal kicks into the testicles from Zhao Ya Fei of China.
Under ONE FC regulations, once the fight has gone past the halfway point, it goes to the judge's cards in situations like this, and Pulver came out on top via unanimous decision.
The American former UFC champ was obviously in agony after the Andrew Golota-esque low blows but he is reportedly recovering well.
Zhao was also shown a yellow card for his indiscretions.
Pulver clearly won the second round, dropping Zhao then punishing him from the side mount. That was enough to see him through to victory.
The 37-year old, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship Lightweight champ, now improves to 27-17-1 and moves on to the Grand Prix semifinals.
In the other Grand Prix match, Masakatsu Ueda of Japan topped Min Jung Song via unanimous decision to reach the semifinals stage.
The main event of the evening between lightweights Shinya Aoki of Japan and Frenchman Arnaud Lepont was somewhat anticlimactic, with Aoki submitting Lepont with a brutal Triangle Choke in the 1:25 mark of the first round.
Lepont was knocked unconscious by the choke and remained on the canvas for a few minutes, which allowed Aoki to bring his infant child into the ring. He later on burst into tears as he bowed to the audience.
Aoki, known as "Tobikan Judan" or "Grandmaster of Flying Submissions" now sports a record of 31 wins, six losses and one draw.
In a non-title Middleweight fight, Dutch-Surinamese Melvin Manhoef knocked out Ryo Kawamura of Japan with a devastating right 4:40 into the opening round. The Japanese danced around and avoided engaging until Manhoef spotted an opening and sent Kawamura crashing to the canvas.
In the first fight of the evening Mitch Chilson defeated Ngabdi Mulyadi of Indonesia on strikes 1:03 into the second round.
Chilson got into an attempted guillotine choke of Mulyadi twice in the first round but both times wriggled free. In the second round the American got past Mulyadi's guard and after the Indonesian took a flurry of punches the referee called a halt to the proceedings.
In the other preliminary fight Malaysia's Gianni Subba had a perfect debut at ONE FC, knocking out Singapore's Bruce Loh in the 33rd second of the first round. A fierce left hook followed up with a nasty right kick to the head was enough to stop the fight.
The 19-year-old dedicated the win to his cousin who passed away two months ago.
"Thank you for not booing me, I love you guys" said the American-educated Subba to the crowd. Malaysia and Singapore are known for having a heated rivalry in sports, especially in Football.
ONE FC CEO Victor Cui was beaming afterwards at the success of the card and how MMA has come along in the city-state.
"You can tell that the audience is now much more educated about the sport. They are learning to appreciate what the fighters are trying to do."
The next ONE FC event will likely take place in early December in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
For more info, follow ONE FC @ONEFCMMA on Twitter. You can follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
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