Aoki vs. Folayang, Gafurov vs.Jadamba 2 are set on November 11 at One Championship – Defending Honor!

Singapore-based mixed martial arts organization is set to feature two intriguing championship fights on November 11, 2016 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui, stated: “2016 has been an amazing year for ONE Championship. After meeting with the biggest names in the industry at the Asia MMA Summit, we are proud to announce a spectacular fight card set for the Singapore Indoor Stadium this November. We are going in with two world title fights that will set the ONE Championship cage ablaze with world-class MMA action and excitement, along with a series of really solid supporting bouts.”

Headlining the said card is a duel between Japanese MMA superstar, the current One Championship Lightweight king, Shinya Aoki, and top Filipino 155 pounder in Eduard Folayang.

Aoki is no stranger to MMA fans around the world. The Shizuoka native is known for his grappling prowess and colorful character inside and outside the cage.

“Tobikan Judan” has not been beaten since October of 2012 and has only gone the distance twice in his One Championship career. He is riding a nine-fight winning streak including his first-round RNC win against former UFC fighter Kamal Shalorus and a unanimous decision victory over former Legend Fighting Championship’s Lightweight champion Koji Ando.

After defeating Ando to become the One Championship lightweight champion last May 2015, Aoki then submitted the legendary Japanese MMA icon Kazushi Sakuraba at Rizin Fighting Federation last December 2015.

On November 11, Aoki will defend his title for the first time against the highly-talented Filipino fighter in Eduard Folayang.

Team Lakay’s Folayang has been in the business for nine years and it seems like he is not done yet; not until he becomes the One Championship 155 lbs. title holder.

The Baguio-based Wushu Sanshou champion and the former URCC Welterweight king has been through ups and downs on his One Championship career.  He is 6-3 inside the One Championship cage with remarkable wins over Felipe Enomoto, Vincent Latoel, Kotetsu Boku, and Adrian Pang.

The former high school teacher is preparing himself for the biggest fight of his career so far in Aoki.

Folayang’s striking abilities has been the key for his recent wins, but he is that type of fighter who works hard every day to improve other aspects of his game. He does not slow down and he makes sure that fans will see a much-improved fighter every time he steps inside the cage.

“The Landslide” proved in his recent fights that he has upgraded his game, especially when it comes to the wrestling department which in the past years has been the biggest hole in his game.

Can Folayang stop Aoki’s win streak? Or will the Japanese continues to dominate everyone in his division?  Questions will be answered on November 11 when these two great athletes lock horns inside the One Championship cage.

Another championship fight is going down in Singapore on November 11 as Russian submission phenom Marat “Cobra” Gafurov takes on a familiar foe in Jadamba Narantungalag for the second time around.

Gafurov and Narantungalag first meeting was in November of 2015 when the Russian was the challenger. It was a back-and-forth action between the two warriors until Gafurov saw an opportunity to make the Mongolian tap in the fourth round by way of rear-naked-choke.

Since losing his title to Gafurov in November 2015, Narantungalag piled up two impressive wins against Kotetsu Boku and Eric Kelly which gave him the ticket to face the current champion next month in Singapore.

Two fighters will try to get back on the winning track as Adrian “The Hunter” Pang meets Eddie “The Magician” Ng in a fireworks-guaranteed lightweight fight.

Here is the partial fight card for One Championship: Defending Honor

Lightweight Championship: Shinya Aoki vs. Eduard Folayang

Featherweight Championship: Marat Gafurov vs. Jadamba Narantungalag

Eddie Ng vs. Adrian Pang

Timofey Natsyukhin vs. Kotetsu Boku

Samir Mrabet vs. Amir Khan

Mona Samir vs. Michelle Nicolini

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MMA – It’s More Fun In The Philippines By Mark Sangiao

Photo Credit: Mr. Raul Landingin

As the event is fast approaching, we become more excited. The ONE Fighting Championship 9: Rise to Power is scheduled tonight, May 31, 2013, 7:00 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. This is going to be historic, since this is the biggest event in Philippine MMA yet.

Five of our Team Lakay Warriors will be proudly representing the Philippines. The ONE FC Featherweight Champion, Honorio “The Rock” Banario will be having his first title defense against Koji Oishi from Japan. Honorio, who is also the current URCC Lightweight Champion, has no plan of giving away his belt. He intends to take a hold of it for a long time.

Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, the undefeated URCC Bantamweight Champion, is fighting another Japan’s pride, Masakatsu Ueda, for the finals of the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix. Belingon has a goal to be the next Filipino to have a World Championship Belt around his waist and a win against Ueda is going to be a great stepping stone for him to reach that goal.

Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang, the reigning URCC Welterweight Champion, is undoubtedly the face of Filipino MMA. He will be battling against Iranian Kamal Shalorus, who also plans to give the Filipino fans a great fight. Eduard promised to bring a different game this time and we will be witnessing that on his fight tonight.

The current URCC Pinweight Champion, Rey “The Punisher” Docyogen, is going to give the never-say-die attitude and wants to redeem himself from his lost to Shinichi Kojima last April of this year in Malaysia by aiming to defeat the second Japanese fighter he has to face, Yasuhiro Urishitani. Both are fighting under the ONE FC Flyweight division, the most fast-paced and fast-moving division in MMA.

Another flyweight bout, Team Lakay’s Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio will be fighting Andrew Leone, an American who is fighting out of Phuket Top Team, one of the best gyms in Asia. This will be one of the most exciting fights of the night. They both expressed their desire to bring explosive fight, so we’ll see about that come fight night.

So there you go about the ONE FC event. The weigh-in is done. All the Team Lakay fighters made weight. Cutting weight is one of the most significant aspect in preparing for a fight. Besides fighting in the ring/cage, which of course is the most important thing during a fight; not everybody knows the importance of cutting weight. The effort, time, and sacrifices given to cutting weight are very essential factors to be considered. I think for a fighter to be called “professional”, he has to give his everything to make his weight to be fair with his opponent and to follow respectfully the rules of the promotion.

On the other hand, another event going on right now in Manila is the PNG-POC, Wushu National Championships, where most of our Wushu scholars and members from the Cordillera Admininstrative Region are also here for the competition. The event is on-going and ends on June 02, 2013.

Almost all Team Lakay members and supporters are now in Manila for the two events especially for the ONE FC event. Their families, relatives, friends, fans and supporters are here to show their love and support.

Another great thing here is that fans from the northern part of the Philippines, as well as from around the country, are now in Manila for the said event. Likewise, fans from other countries came to visit the Philippines to watch the biggest MMA event the ONE FC has ever had yet. For this reason, therefore, events such as these contribute to the tourism campaign of the country.

After the events local and international tourists can still go on other tourist destinations in the Philippines. While it’s still vacation time particularly in the Philippines, for the students who came to Manila for this event, , they also have the chance to go to some places around Metro Manila and its nearby tourist spots before the start of classes in the coming weeks.

The ONE FC: Rise to Power is going to be fun and exciting! Like that of the first ONE FC event last year in Manila, which was held at the Smart Araneta Colliseum, the deafening cheers from the fans will again fill up the Arena at the SM Mall of Asia. It’s going to be amazing since the fighters promised to give their best and the fight of the night thereby, giving the fans full entertainment and at the end of the night, we hope we all go home with fulfillment, enjoyment, and positive results that we all have been hoping and praying for. GOD Bless Team Lakay Pilipinas on this endeavor!

On behalf of our Team Lakay fighters, Thank you very much for your support and prayers!

Matago-tago tako am-in! Mabuhay tayong lahat!

Indeed, when it comes to MMA and other Combative sports, It’s also More Fun in the Philippines!

Uniting MMA In Asia By Mark “The Machine” Sangiao

The ONE FC Network has provided the different gyms and fighters all around Asia great opportunities and has contributed to the amazing growth rate of Asian MMA due to its vision of creating a network with common goal of great competitiveness and healthy partnership of the different promotions all over the Asian region.

Attending the ONE Asia MMA Summit 2013 is one of the most memorable experiences that I ever had. Being in the summit for the second time is such an honor for me. I had the chance of meeting some of the great people in the Mixed Martial Arts world, the heads  of the different promotions in Asia, fighters, coaches, gym owners, Sports and MMA journalists, sponsors and the siblings of the considered the “godfather” of Mixed Martial Arts, Bruce Lee.

As I sat in a room on the 46^th floor of the Tower 1 of the amazing Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on the second night of the 3-day event, I pondered. I was so pumped-up that I can’t sleep having the thoughts of what had been for the full day. The day was full of incredible information and inspirations from the different speakers and panellists discussing the future of Asian MMA. There was the speech of the former UFC Middleweight Champion, Rich Franklin, sharing his experiences of how he became a fighter, and a champion from being a simple school teacher. Renzo Gracie, got the attention of the audience with his humorous style of telling his experiences and thoughts. Chatri Sityodtong, the founder of Evolve MMA, talked about the development of MMA in Asia. Speakers from Tune Talk, You Tube, Sherdog, New York Times, Fox Sports and other big names gave their own thoughts about how MMA in Asia will make it great by all working together.

But what impressed me the most was when the owner and CEO of the ONE FC, Mr. Victor Cui delivered his speech. We were all inspired by the way he envisions the future of Asian MMA by uniting some of the biggest MMA Promotions in Asia, gyms, sponsors and including the media industry. He shared his thoughts and concepts about Winning -Together. Basically, this is the aim of the network. “Winning means we all rise together” and “Together means sometimes you have to put away your own skill sets and ego to work together to accomplish something great”.  He then further ended his talk by saying that with all these accomplishments, there are still a lot of things to be achieved. And the amazing thing he said is that “we are just getting started”.

Having said this, I was inspired by this aim of the network by doing it in our local area in the Northern part of the Philippines. Organizing all of our local gyms and small MMA organizations to come together to agree to helping each other by supporting each other’s events and local fighters.

For Team Lakay, this Synergy of the ONE FC Network has provided great opportunity for our Team Lakay fighters to showcase their skills in an international level. Of course, we greatly appreciate and are thankful to URCC, with Alvin Aguilar as its founder, and his URCC Partners, because being the first and longest MMA Promotion in the Philippines, it is where we started and we hope to continue this good partnership with them.

Furthermore, the ONE FC Network has done so much to Team Lakay by challenging us more to level up with our training and preparation. We have enhanced our Outdoor Training Program as well as improved our Gym Training Program so it becomes a complete facility for Mixed Martial Arts and not only for Wushu or for just a few discipline.

With this, we have come to develop well-rounded fighters and prepare them for a higher level of competition. We have lessons from our past fights and fighting in the international arena through the ONE Fighting Championship. It has given us more challenges to prove ourselves even better. With these challenges, we have come to realize our mistakes and weaknesses and have come to improve and develop our skills more and as a result, we now have from Team Lakay, Honorio Banario as the first ONE FC Featherweight Champion. And we also hope and dream to have more champions in Kevin Belingon, who will be fighting for the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix finals, which is a few steps more to the Title. We also have of course, Eduard Folayang, Rey Docyogen and Geje Eustaquio who will be fighting on the next ONE FC event in Manila on May 31^st at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines.

On behalf of Team Lakay, I therefore would like to thank the officers, organizers, promoters, sponsors and members of the ONE FC Network by giving this opportunity to us. We are greatly honoured and privileged to be part of this great Network and we join hand in hand with them in our goal of making it big in this world that we all love.

ONE FC Continues To Produce Powerful Influence Through ONE Asia MMA Summit 2013

This past weekend, ONE Fighting Championship, assembled 500 of the most prominent people in Asian MMA for the momentous ONE Asian MMA Summit 2013 at the word’s most expensive hotel, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Many considered this important event as “gathering of the elite” in Asian MMA as promoters around Asia, gym owners, blue chip sponsors and the media were in one place for the furtherance of the sport in Asia.  Unlike last year’s summit, who attended by over 200 people, last weekend’s conference was way bigger because  500 “game changers” in Asian MMA today were present to discuss how to strengthen the One FC Network.

Victor Cui stated, “Winning means we al rise together. And together means sometimes you have to put away your own skillsets and egot to work together to accomplish something great. “

With only two years active and have staged 8 jam-packed shows in Asia, ONE FC, Cui, stated, “One FC has risen to become a superpower in global MMA with 90% market share in Asian MMA and the greatest fighters in the world on our roster. Our dominating and phenomenal growth over the last year has formed a global duopoly of power in the world of MMA and much of it has been made possible with the united power of the ONE FC Network.”

One Asia MMA Summit 2013 also featured one of the greatest fighters UFC has ever had, the former UFC middleweight champion, Rich “Ace” Franklin, who told his MMA journey from the day he stepped inside an Okinawan Karate Dojo to becoming the UFC middlweight world champion.

Also, one of the keynote speakers is the legendary Renzo Gracie. For those of you who are not familiar with this very popular MMA legend, Renzo is the grandnephew of Helio Gracie – the man who is credited with inventing one of the most popular martial arts today, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. A sixth degree BJJ black belt and ADCC champion, Renzo is a veteran in the world of MMA.

Renzo talked about the topic “The Global Duopoly of MMA”. From the day he saw One FC was established, Renzo immediately felt that this organization is different than the others and he is willing to give them his help,

“When I saw ONE FC being created, I wanted to help out. The passion from the Asian people is amazing. Whatever they (ONE FC) need, they know I’m a phone call away. Because one day I elieve that my son will fight here for ONE FC.”

Renzo gave his thoughts about Pride FC and when he started fighting for them.

“The first contract they have me was for three fights in a year, but they only made me fight twice during that year.”

Renzo is one of the most passionate people in MMA. He is a true martial artist and a champion. That is why he felt unhappy at the time Pride FC was sold and reflects on the owner of Pride FC.

“The day Pride FC was sold was one of the saddest days of my life. The owner did not have the values and love for MMA to run the company.”

Renzo predicted that in years to come, mixed martial arts will be the no. 1 sport in Asia through ONE Fighting Chapionship.

The Summit also presented the siblings of the legendary Bruce Lee, Rober and Phoebe Lee, who gave their insights into what it was like to grow up with their brother who is tagged by many as “The Father of MMA”.

Robert said, “He (Bruce Lee) was always the star of the party, catching everyone’s attention, I’m always left out, but I don’t mind. That’s how he is. He’s got the charisma.” (Laugh)

Rober also stated that if Bruce is still alive, he would support MMA 1,000 percent. “It is what he came up with originally and believed in.” Robert added.

The One Asia MMA Summit 2013 was also attended by major companies like, FOX, Youtube, Google, Motortrader, Tune Talk, New York Post, Yahoo!, MSN and FHM.

It is really good to see such high profile people gathering in one place for the improvement of Asian MMA. With ONE FC being the biggest MMA brand in Asia, you can expect more exciting MMA events in the future and fighters who will become a global mixed martial arts icon.

The next event for ONE FC: Rise to Power, which takes place on May 31 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines.

Check out ONEFC.COM for the latest updates!

ONE FC Signs Exclusive Partnership Agreement With Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC)

EXCLUSIVE HOURLY ONE FC PROGRAMMING TO BE BROADCAST WEEKLY ON IBC13.

Here’s the official release:

09 May 2013 – Manila: ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), in cooperation with Asian Television Content Corporation and its President Rey Sanchez, has agreed to a blockbuster deal with Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation 13 (IBC13), one of the largest media organizations in the Philippines. As part of the agreement, IBC 13 will broadcast one hour of special ONE FC programming every Saturday at 11pm along with a repeat every Monday at 11pm every week.

IBC 13, whose tagline is “Where The Action Is!”, is one of the leading television channels in the Philippines.  It is a free-to-air network that began broadcast in 1961. Headquartered in Quezon City, their programming features several sports shows ranging from basketball to boxing, as well as a mix of news, religious shows and games shows.

ONE FC CEO Victor Cui declared, “On behalf of ONE Fighting Championship™, I will like to warmly welcome back IBC 13 as a broadcast partner and thank their President Rey Sanchez for being such a strong supporter. IBC 13 is a fantastic free-to-air broadcaster in the Philippines and ONE FC is excited at the opportunity to showcase our fighters every week to millions of homes throughout the country.”

IBC 13 President Rey Sanchez added, “We are excited to have ONE Fighting Championship on IBC13. IBC13 is proud to broadcast the best sporting in both the Philippines and the region and ONE FC puts on world-class entertainment that our viewers will enjoy. IBC13 viewers now also get the chance to watch the best Filipino fighters such as Eduard Folayang and Honorio Banario in action.”

For more updates on ONE Fighting Championship™, please visit www.onefc.com and follow on Twitter @ONEFCMMA and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONEFCMMA.

ONE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP FINALIZES ONE FC: RISE TO POWER CARD WITH THREE EXCITING UNDERCARD BOUTS

Here’s the official release:

08 April 2013 – Singapore: ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), presented by Casino Filipino and in association with Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), announced today three undercard bouts for ONE FC: RISE TO POWER. Up and coming Lowen Tynanes will battle the seasoned Felipe Enomoto while MMA veteran Tim Sylvia is back in action against Tony Johnson and fan favorite Ryan Diaz will take on Russian ace Yusup Saadulaev. All the action takes place live on 31 May from the MOA Arena in Manila, Philippines.

As a young MMA fighter, Lowen Tynanes has already made a big impression by winning fights against top opponents in the Philippines, Japan and Malaysia. The high school wrestling champion silenced the home-crowd in Manila by incapacitating crowd-favorite Eduard Folayang with a vicious elbow which caused the doctor to instantly stop the fight. In his last outing at ONE FC, Tynanes also defeated Hong Kong-based South African fighter Vuyisile Colossa via rear naked choke. A proud American, he loves nothing better than to travel to Asia to take on the best local fighters in their own back yards. Tynanes is once again looking forward to showcasing his skills when he takes on Swiss-Japanese fighter Felipe Enomoto.

Each time Felipe Enomoto has entered into the ONE FC cage, he has been the underdog. This time, it is no different. Having established a reputation as being one of the toughest and most durable fighters in Asia who always leaves it all in the cage, Enomoto will undoubtedly be looking to silence the crowd with a decisive victory in the early rounds. Any fight which involves Enomoto is going to be a treat for MMA fans because this fighter never backs down no matter who the opponent is or which round he’s in.

One of the most frightening figures the MMA world has ever witnessed in combat sports action is Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia. Towering at over two meters tall, this brute of a man poses a serious threat to every heavyweight fighter in the world. Sylvia has fought over 30 times, won numerous championships and knocked out countless opponents. Sylvia’s unusual combination of size and quickness has ushered in a new era of monstrous, weight cutting heavyweights who seek total domination of their smaller counterparts. Sylvia is looking for a spectacular KO when he squares off against Tony Johnson on 31 May.

Tony Johnson is an imposing heavyweight fighter. Considered a top prospect in the heavyweight division, Johnson is famed for being one of the fastest strikers in the division and is currently on a two fight win streak. At ONE FC: RISE TO POWER, he will be looking to make an impressive debut in the famed ONE FC cage.

Ryan Diaz has been training in MMA for over ten years and already has thirteen professional wins to his name. Over a long career, Diaz continues to perfect his background in BJJ, Muay Thai and boxing. He possesses incredible power and strength. Diaz is much more experienced of the two fighters and will be looking to use his strength to overpower his Russian opponent and return to the USA victorious. After 2 outings in the ONE FC cage, Russian wrestler Saadulaev is still searching for his first ONE FC victory and will enter the cage for the third time with the determination to prevent a Diaz win at all costs.

Tickets for ONE FC: RISE TO POWER on 31 May are exclusively available at Casino Filipino outlets nationwide. Refer to www.onefc.com/tickets for details.

Fans from around the world can witness the action online via live streaming atwww.onefc.livesport.tv.

The first three undercard fights are available for viewing free-of-charge and the main card fights will be available for purchase at just US$9.99.

ONE FC: RISE TO POWER is headlined  by a ONE FC Featherweight World Championship bout between reigning champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario against number one contender Koji Oishi and pound-for-pound king Bibiano Fernandes taking on Koetsu Okazaki for the ONE FC Bantamweight Interim Title.  All the action takes place live from the MOA Arena in Manila, Philippines.

 

For more updates on ONE Fighting Championship™, please visit www.onefc.com and follow on Twitter @ONEFCMMA and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONEFCMMA.

Surging Lightweight Lowen Tynanes To Lock Horns With Felipe Enomoto At One FC 9 ‘Rise to Power’

One FC 9 ‘Rise to Power’ adds another interesting lightweight match-up between the surging Hawaiian fighter, Lowen Tynanes (4-0) and deadly Swiss fighter, Felipe Enomoto (6-5-1).

One FC 9 is set to stage on May 31st at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines.

Tynanes is arguably one of the best lightweight prospects to ever come out of Hawaii. Tynanes, before entering pro and fighting internationally, is making a huge wave as an amateur. He has a record of 4-0 as an amateur; three of those are TKO stoppages and a UD win.

The Hawaiian Tynanes turned pro on September 25 of 2011 against Yosuki Suto at Heat 19. Tynanes used his superb ground skills against Suto, scoring some huge takedowns and solidly controling his Japanese foe on the ground. Tynanes got his well-desreved unanimous victory over Suto.

On December 1 last year, Tynanes made his second fight against a huge MMA icon in the Philippines in Eduard “Landslide” Folayang at URCC 22 “Dekada” in the Philippines. Tynanes was surely the underdog heading to that fight. Tynanes as usual, used his wrestling skills to take Folayang down then connecting some vicious elbows on the Filipino fighter, which later on resulted in some of the worst cuts Folayang has ever sustained in a fight. Even though Folayang said he can still fight despite of the cut, the Doctor stopped the contest to save Folayang from further damage against the Hawaiian. Tynanes won via 1^st rd. TKO (Doctor Stoppage). Tynanes became an instant celebrity in Asian MMA with his win over Folayang and became one of the feared lightweight fighters in the business.

Tynanes made his One FC debut against the South African Muay Thai specialist, Vuyisile Colossa at ‘Return of Warriors’. That fight with Colossa is no doubt, the hardest fight of Tynanes’ career as he was tagged by Colossa numerous times and yet he came back with his own takedwons and superb ground control. In the third round, Tynanes’ mastery on the ground became a huge factor for that fight as he submitted Colossa via rear-naked-choke in the 4:37 mark.

After a win over Colossa, Tynanes captured the KOTC lightweight title against Kris Armbrister on April 11, 2013, via Arm-Triangle Choke.

There’s no doubt that Tynanes is an extraordinary fighter with a world-clas skills. As a One FC fighter, Tynanes looks to run for the lightweight title this year, which is currently owned by Japanese MMA sensastion, Shinya Aoki. Tynanes looks to stay unbeaten when he takes on a super tough fighter in Felipe Enomoto on May 31^st in the Philippines.

Felipe Enomoto is super motivated to get back to the winning column. The Swiss fighter is currently on a two-fight losing streak against Zorobabel Moreira and Eduard Folayang. He is currently trains at Enomoto Dojo back in Zurich, Switzerland, with his brother, Yasubey.

Enomoto is going up against the current KOTC champ and the fighter who owns a victories over two of the best lightweights in Asia, Folayang and Colossa. This is an important fight for Enomoto, it is do or die situation for him.

Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia Set To Face Tony Johnson Jr. At ONE FC ‘Rise to Power’

Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia (31-8-1) is coming back to Manila for the second time as he faces heavy-handed fighter Tony Johnson Jr. (6-1) at One FC 9 ‘Rise to Power’ at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on May 31^st, 2013. Although the fight has not been officially announced yet by the One FC officials, reliable sources close to both fighters told us that the fight is already a done deal.

Sylvia made his One FC debut at One FC 5 ‘Pride of a Nation’ last August in the Philippines against a very familiar foe in Andre “The Pitbull” Arlovski for the fourth time. The fight between Sylvia and Arlovski ended in a no-contest due to an illegal soccer kick by Arlovski. According to One FC rules, soccer kicks are legal only if the referee clears the fighter to do so after determining the grounded fighter can still intelligently defend himself. Arlvoski received no such clearance, the kick was deemed illegal.  Fight fans were very disappointed that night with the decision. But despite of the very unfortunate result, both warriors ended up showing some respect to each other by shaking each other’s hands.

The two-time UFC heavyweight champion, Sylvia, looks to cement his first-ever win inside the One FC cage in front of thousands of screaming Filipino fight fans on May 31st and aims to impress them by knocking out Tony Johnson Jr.

Tony Johnson Jr. is a fighter from Miami, Florida, with a 6-1 pro MMA career. He holds notable wins over Cedric James, Boban Simic, and Derrick Lewis. Johnson Jr.’s edge over Sylvia would be his endurance. He has four unanimous decision wins, one of those are a 5-round UD victory over Tony Lopez in KOTC back in March of 2010.

Though this is going to be Johnson Jr.’s first fight since June of 2011, he is pumped and ready to keep his winning streak alive when he lock horns with the veteran, Tim Sylvia.

One FC 9 ‘Rise to Power’ is the biggest and one of the most anticipated MMA events in the Philippines, with Filipino MMA champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario defending his world title against the Japanese Koji Oishi as the main event of the night, his teammates Eduard “Landslide” Folayang battles UFC vet Kamal Shalorous and Rey “The Punisher” Docyogen faces former UFC flyweight fighter Yasuhiro Urushitani. This fight card is no doubt, the biggest and most exciting fight card One FC has ever organized in the Philippines and arguably in whole Asia.

Check out ONEFC.COM for the lastest updates!

Hawaiian Lowen Tynanes returns to the Philippines seeking to maintain his family’s MMA legacy

Photo credit: mmahawaii.com

Mixed martial arts run deep in the Tynanes household. Both his father and brother fight competitively, which sparked Lowen Tynanes’s interest in the sport. Lowen credits his father as his inspiration and the reason he started training. He first came to Asia in 2011, where a then 20-year old Lowen made his professional debut at an event in Nagoya, Japan. He was the first fight of the evening while his father Myles was the main event. Both father and son emerged with victories.

Despite having lived his entire life in the islands of Hawaii, Lowen Tynanes has never competed professionally in his home state. Instead, the majority of his blossoming career was spent competing in Asia having won bouts in Japan, The Philippines and Malaysia. He looks to extend his undefeated streak when he returns at ONE FC: Rise to Power, which takes place May 31^st at the MOA Arena.

Following his victory in Japan, he then entered hostile territory when he took on The Philippines’ golden boy Eduard Folayang at a URCC event. He stunned the partisan crowd and emerged with his hand raised after displaying superior wrestling that Folayang simply had no answer to. Following the fight, he admitted he was nervous as it was the first he competed without his father in his corner.

His next bout came in ONE FC: Return to Warriors. In front of the largest crowd he has ever seen, Tynanes relied on his wrestling in a back-and-forth war against world kickboxing champion Vuyisile Colossa that concluded when Tynanes secured a rear-naked choke in the third round. That clash won him fight-of-the-night honors and won him the loudest ovation of the evening.

Despite being highly touted and a potential title challenger, the 22 year-old still maintains a humble lifestyle in his hometown, and continues to hold a day job at the Cheesecake Factory branch in Honolulu. He returns to The Philippines better and more experienced, and it is a scary thought for everybody within the division.  A win at ONE FC: Rise to Power for Lowen Tynanes will bring him even closer to his ultimate goal of becoming ONE FC lightweight world champion.