Belington eyes redemption in One FC

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ Kevin Belingon gets a chance to bounce back from a pair of setbacks as he fights Russia’s Yusup Saadulaev in a bantamweight bout in the ONE Fighting Championship 6 dubbed “Rise of Kings” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Saturday.

Belingon won his first nine mixed martial arts fights mostly in the Phl-based URCC but has dropped his last two since joining ONE FC, one against MMA legend Masakazu Imanari of Japan in the ONE FC: War of the Lions last March 31 in Singapore and another to Korean Soo Chul Kim in ONE FC: Pride of a Nation in Manila last Aug. 31.

But the 24-year-old Belingon, a native of Ifugao fighting out of Baguio’s Team Lakay, has vowed to do his best to beat Saadulaev. The ONE FC is staging an eight-man Bantamweight Grand Prix, starting in ONE FC: Rise of Kings and culminating late next year when the finalists will contend for the championship.

In other matchups, American legend Jens Pulver, the UFC’s first lightweight title-holder, will take on China’s rising star Zhao Ya Fei and Korean slugger Min Jung Song will clash with Japanese Masakatsu Ueda.

Belingon hopes to join compatriots Eric Kelly, Eduard Folayang and Honorio Banario, who were promised a title shot by ONE FC chief executive officer Victor Cui following their impressive victories in ONE FC’s Manila meet.

Kelly, a former taxi driver, bodyguard and movie stuntman, kept his slate clean (8-0) after stopping Pulver in one of the highlight fights while Banario, also a Team Lakay mainstay, knocked out another Filipino, Maics Gym’s Andrew Benibe.

Folayang, an Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and another Team Lakay stalwart, pulled off a unanimous win over Japanese Felipe Enomoto and is expecting to get a crack at the vacant lightweight title versus Brazilian Zorobabel Moreira in future ONE FC cards.

Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef will return to the ONE FC cage when he battles the middleweight king Pancrase Ryo “Rambo” Kawamura while Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and French Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Champion Arnaud “The Game” Lepont dispute the lightweight crown in the main bouts.

ONE FC: Rise of Kings will be available on pay-per-view in the US on Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on iN DEMAND, Avail-TVN, DIRECTV and DISH for a suggested retail price of $29.95. 

Fans from around the world can also witness the action online via live streaming at www.onefc.com/livestream. The first two undercard fights are available for viewing free-of-charge and the main card fights will be available for purchase at $9.99. 

Also, this September and through October, fans can also catch the previous two ONE FC events, ONE FC: Destiny of Warrior s and ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, on Video on Demand (VOD) and on regional sports networks in the US.