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One Fighting Championship's 'War of the Lions'

Roar Guru
2nd April, 2012
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This past weekend saw Asian martial arts promoter One Fighting Championship (One FC) stage its third event since its inception in 2011.

The quick rise to popularity within the community is due to One’s focus on challenging local champions from around the world through its rostered talent via the One FC network. It also boasts quick finishes and some atmosphere from the old Japanese promoter, Pride, complete with the use of ex-Pride announcer Lenne Hardt.

For the first time in One FC’s short history, women were included in the card, with Indian-based fighter Jeet Toshi taking on Nicole Chua.

Chua is Singapore’s first professional MMA fighter. She is quaint, softly spoken, and absolutely lethal in the cage; taking Toshi to the ground and gaining her back for a RNC submission win at 2:07 of round one.

For the remainder of the card, there were some huge names that wouldn’t disappoint the sold-out Singapore crowd.

The master of leglocks, ex-Dream bantamweight champion Masakazu Imanari (25-10-2), took on Kevin Belingon (9-1) in a one-sided fight that consisted of Imanari controlling Belingon’s leg, changing from heel hook to toe hold and finally back to heel hook for the win at 1:18 of round one.

Imanari looked to be a little bored with the fight, so it will be interesting to see who One FC presents as his challenger for the next event.

Eddie ‘The Magician’ Ng (5-1) told the world to be on the lookout, taking it to Jian Kai Chee from the start bell until he caught him with a right hand, dropping Chee, and while first looking for a guillotine, decided to go the mount and rain down on Chee until a TKO was called.

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Ng’s impressive display came at 0:48 in round one.

Ng is a great MMA prospect in Asia. Coming from one of the best gyms in the area, Evolve MMA, his star will grow and he could be poached when the UFC move into the region.

For fight of the night, Eduard Folayang (11-2) and Ole Laurson (6-3) put on a back-and-forth tussle across all three rounds. Solid punches were thrown by both competitors, as well as kicks, and takedowns were about equal.

Folayang looked to be the better of the two as the fight progressed until the final bell, however the judges gave it a split decision victory to Laurson. The fight looked like Laurson won the first round, while the remaining two should have gone Folayang’s way; however the scoring system for One FC looks at the overall fight, rather than rounds. There should be a rematch in the future for these two.

The main event was a bout between Felipe Enomoto (6-4 (1NC)) and Zorobabel Moreira (6-1). This fight had Moreira in control for the first two rounds, delivering a series of nasty leg kicks. While Enomoto did get back in the fight, delivering some solid body shots and elbows throughout the rounds, he ended up on his back late in the second and received a nasty illegal stomp.

Going into the third round Zorobabel timed his kick perfectly to sweep Enomoto’s legs from underneath him and takes advantage, immediately going for the figure four of the body and then transitioning to the arm bar at 1:03 of the round.

One FC: War of the Lions was certainly the best event the promotion has put on, with a solid entertaining card that made it worth tuning in, even with the feed problems. Once they get this sorted, and with the backing of the One FC network of local MMA promotions (including the Australian-based Cage Fighting Championships), they could be a stronghold in the region.

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Full fight card results
Danny van Bergen defeated Richie Whitson via submission (armbar) 1:17, round 1
Jiang Long Yun defeated Yodsanan Sityodtong via technical submission (rear naked choke) 4:28, round 1
Queck Kim Hock defeated Major Overall via submission (rear naked choke) 3:18, round 2
Nicole Chua defeated Jeet Toshi via submission (rear naked choke) 2:07, round 1
Masakazu Imanari defeated Kevin Belingon via submission (heel hook) 1:18, round 1
Eddie Ng defeated Jian Kai Chee via TKO 0:48, round 1
Melvin Manhoef versus Yoshiyuki Nakanishi ruled a no contest due to injury
Fabricio Monteiro defeated Yuya Shirai via unanimous decision
Ole Laurson defeated Eduard Folayang via split decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri defeated Donald Sanchez via submission (triangle choke) 3:32, round 1
Zorobabel Moreira defeated Felipe Enomoto via submission (armbar) 1:04, round 3

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