MANILA, Philippines - Honorio Banario, Kevin Belingon and Eduard Folayang seek victories against foreign rivals as they headline the ONE Fighting Championship: Rise to Power at the MOA Arena in Pasay May 31.
Banario stakes the featherweight crown against Japanese Koji Oishi in the main event put up by Asia’s biggest and most prestigious fight group.
He won the featherweight crown over countryman Eric Kelly in the ONE FC in Kuala Lumpur last February.
“I’ve added some training in my wrestling and grappling for this fight because I want to win and make my countrymen proud,†said Banario in Filipino.
Belingon, called “The Silencer,†will tangle with another Japanese, Masaketsu Ueda, in the bantamweight grand prix finale. The winner takes on either the victor of the Bibiano Fernandes-Koetsu Okazaki interim bantamweight bout or current titlist Soo Chul Kim of South Korea.
“I trained twice a day, indoor and outdoor, practically almost everyday. My rest day is weight training on a Sunday,†said Belingon. “I’m doing this so that I’ll be ready against my opponent, who is probably the toughest foe I will face.â€
“I’m fighting for a win and I hope I will not disappoint our countrymen,†he added.
On the other hand, Folayang, who will tackle Kamal Shalorus of Iran, said he’s eager to fight again following a four-month training in the US.
“I’m aching to fight again after so many months focusing on my training and concentrating on my weaknesses like wrestling and grappling,†said the 28-year-old Folayang, who, like Banario and Belingon, fights for Team Lakay.
Folayang, a former Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games champion, trained at Drysdale Gym in Las Vegas alongside UFC stars like Martin Kampmann and Dan Hardy and went to California to get wrestling tips from Fil-Am middleweight contender Mark Muñoz.