ONE FC 2 Battle for Heroes – Jakarta – The Main Card

ONE FC 2 Battle for Heroes – Jakarta – The Main Card

Published on February 7, 2012 by The Editor in ONEFC

The Main Card at ONE FC 2, Battle for Heroes is available for fans who cannot be present as a pay per view option via Ustream the cost will be US$9.99.

The Main Card:

Felipe Enomoto (5-3-0) (Enomoto Dojo) Vs Ole Laursen (5-2-0)(Legacy Gym)

OK a quick glance at the numbers and you might think this is going to be a close fight and it might well be,  but I cannot see past Ole Laursen finally having his hand lifted by the ref.

Enomoto is coming of off two losses and needs to get his self back onto winning ways. In 2008 he became the Cage Fighters European  Champion at CFC 4. He is going to need to be on that championship winning form to derail the steamroller that is Ole Laursen

Laursen is coming back from an long injury lay off, however providing he has not rushed back, this will be his fight. Laursen has experience in K-1, Art of War and ONE FC’s predecessor Martial Combat, so you know all his fights have been at a higher level.

Bae Young Kwon (6-2-0) (Team Posse) Vs Honorio Banario (6-0-0) (Team Lakey)

Kwon is a tough dude and has fought consistantly at a very good level having appeared on cards from Road, Shooto and PRO. He is well rounded as his record proves with an equal number of wins by TKO, Submission and Decision.

Banario has fought all his recent bouts in the URCC, the Philippines premier MMA organisation and a ONE FC partner.

If there is one thing you can guarantee at a URCC event, it’s that all the fighters come to fight and will be tough. The fact that the man who is a URCC Lightweight champion is stepping down a weight just seals the deal for me. I am sure Kwon will but up a tough fight but I cannot see Banario losing.

Rodrigo Ribeiro (9-7-0) (Evolve MMA) Vs Rustam Khabilov (12-1-0) (Jackson’s MMA)  

We have Asia’s best MMA gym, Evolve (MMA)  against one of the best American Organisations, Jacksons MMA.

On paper Khabilov looks unbeatable, he is a top quality Sambo fighter with an impressive record you can be sure that Jacksons have prepared him for this one, but, Robeiro is a top class BJJ fighter one of the very best and he will not be giving any ground and the team at Evolve will make sure there man is raring to go. This should be a clash of two styles and will be very interesting. This is definitely the biggest stage for both of these fighters. I have to go with the Brazilian Ribeiro to win via submission.

Soo Chul Kim (4-2-0) (Team Force)  Vs Gustavo Falciroli (11-3-2) (Godoi Jui-Jitsu Club)

Well anybody who witnessed Kim’s gritty fight against eventual winner (on points) Leandro Issa, cannot fail to have been impressed with the heart he showed. From his smiling face as he calmly walked to the  Cage with his glasses and seemingly determined to enjoy every minute of his big moment. He fought a great fight, ultimately losing but nobody can deny he deserved a second shot at a ONE FC event. But, he is not going to have an easy night again,

Falciroli is the current Cage Fighting Championship (Australia) Bantanweight title holder after defeating Nick Honstein in December 2011. Falciroli is a black belt BJJ fighter with a solid record at a events from Shooto, RIZE and recently CFC all high level events, there are no filler fights in his record, every fight has been a hard battle and he has come though in the majority of them.

I really would love to see Kim win, he seems like a great warrior but Falciroli is going to provide a serious test. I have no thoughts on who will take this, both fighters are quality fighters and who ever wins will have deserved it.

In my mind this fight deserved to be the main event, it’s going to be a scorcher and could well be the fight of the night.

The Main Event

Rolles Gracie (5-1-0) (Renzo Gracie Academy) Vs Bob Sapp (11-9-0) (Team Beast)

Personally I think this is the weakest fight on the main card but there is no denying the draw of these two names.

Gracie had a dismal showing at UFC 109  (2010) where Joey Beltran had no real trouble on his way to a second round TKO, since then he has had two fights and two wins under his belt both easy first round wins, Braden Brice lasted just 1:05 before Gracie handed him his fourth straight loss all in regional shows. The other fight was against Lee Mein and Mein lasted just 1:51 seconds and his record fell to 5-11-1. So not much of a clue as where Gracie really stands, but one thing we do know, as a Gracie his ground game should be spot on.

Sapp is coming off of a three fight losing streak, none of them against any major fighters and he must be seen as a journeyman now plying his trade where ever he can use his name to get a purse. His last three fights have taken just 5:32 seconds and all have ended in the first round. His glory days of Pride are a very distant memory. He may have a huge size advantage but even this Gracie, should be able to submit him if he can avoid the lumbering attack of a fighter beyond his best.

The ONE FC website says of this fight “If the fight reaches the second round it would rank as a major surprise” I have to agree!

After this fight Sapp will be headed to India for the Super Fight League, what are these organisations seeing in him?

Taken as a whole I would say apart from the final fight that ONE FC are moving forward in a positive manner.

It’s time to stop dragging in washed up or second rate fighters from America just because they have a name and take more great current fighters from the partner organisations of URCC, CFC, DARE  etc, and more of the young Asian based up and comersnwho the fans will be able to relate to and who will help grow the sport in Asia. ONE FC should trade on it’s name and brand, not the name of people like Bob Sapp, It’s time for ONE FC to soar.

I cannot wait for ONE FC 3 SIngapore in March