Next Stop Manila ~ Who Do You Want To See At ONE FC 5

Next Stop Manila ~ Who Do You Want To See At ONE FC 5

Published on June 28, 2012 by The Coffee Boy in ONEFC

ONE FC next Stop Manila – What Philippine MMA Stars Will We See?

After the rousing success of ONE FC 4, Destiny of Warriors the announcement that ONE FC would next be heading to MMA crazy  Philippines, setting up shop in the 16,000 plus capacity Smart Araneta Coliseum caused great excitement.

Look kids here’s the deal the Philippines is home to an amazing fighting culture and the rise of MMA has been constant ever since Alvin and Bubbles Aquilar kicked off the URCC around 10 years ago. 

Yes, TEN years, this is Asia’s longest established MMA organization and having personally witnessed their last event I just know ONE FC 5 will be epic with the right match-ups and the people behind the URCC have plenty of willing warriors looking for a shot at the big time.

We at MMANewsAsia are not known as shrinking violets and we happily champion fighters we would like to see at events.

So let’s start with Eric Kelly – Yes please!  Ole Laursen – oh for sure! Eduard Folayang, yes, yes, yes but what about those fighters not already on the roster who we would like to see?

Well we know that the URCC has some top talent just itching for a chance to shine on the ultimate Asian MMA stage against the best the Asian Pacific and ONE FC has to offer.

Today we would like to talk about one of those guys and some possible match-ups for him.

Mark “Mugen” Striegl 

Mark Striegl is an undefeated mixed martial artist, currently standing at 10 – 0. If you haven’t heard of him, he has beaten rising Asian prospects such as Bae Young Kwon, Ev Ting, Yusuke Kawanago and a slew of other opponents.

Known mostly for his submission wrestling-style of fighting, he has submitted eight of his ten opponents, while dominating the other two in the ground game and showing off some good standup as well.

He is growing in popularity, especially in the Philippines and with his good looks and friendly style he is attracting a slew of sponsors. Signing him to ONE FC makes so much sense at this point. He has the complete package – great skill, good heart, and a never-back-down attitude.

With ONE FC heading to the Philippines in August, putting Mark Striegl on the card would definitely be a draw to fight fans, and at the same time it would add to the growing roster of talent.

The Coffee Boy has chosen three possible opponents – opponents who would prove a real challenge for Striegl.

Let’s take a quick look:

1) Mitch Chilson

This man fights out of Evolve of Singapore, highly considered the best MMA gym in Asia, and possesses a record of 3 – 1. He is one of the more well-rounded fighters in the featherweight division, and has displayed knockout power (back in 2010 at Martial Combat against Jingxiong Zhang) and a good ground game, having submitted Guobin Xue and AJ Vaa.

After losing an exciting bout against Eric Kelly by rear naked choke back at ONE FC’s debut, he rebounded that loss at ONE FC by displaying his speed and technical ability against AJ Vaa, submitting him under two minutes into the fight.

I like this matchup because Mitch Chilson is a serious contender in this division, and while Mark Striegl has had more cage experience, Chilson has proven himself to be a force that cannot be taken lightly. A matchup between the two would be exhilarating, and it would give both men a chance to fully display their technical ability in the sport.

2) Bae Young Kwon

This rising Korean prospect is known for his Judo and heavy-handed striking, and currently possesses a record of 7 – 3. He holds notable wins over Brian Choi, Kyung Ho Kang, and Honorio Banario.

At his ONE FC debut against Banario, he firmly displayed why he’s considered a top Korean prospect, submitting his opponent in the first round.

Bae Young Kwon has fought Mark Striegl before, back in 2010 at PRO Fighting 4 – 180, losing by unanimous decision. However, he has come a long way since then and has improved incredibly, and a rematch would be a good selling point.

Also, he lost his last fight at ONE FC 4 against Eric Kelly in a tightly contested fight, displaying good Judo throws and submission attempts, and had the decision gone his way there wouldn’t have been much fuss. He is definitely motivated to make a comeback and put himself back on a winning streak, and a rematch with Mark Striegl could ignite that fire in him.

3) Donald Sanchez

This man possesses a record of 26 – 13, and is known for his lightning fast striking and slick grappling skills. He is the current King of the Cage Bantamweight Champion, and has beaten the likes of Angelo Sanchez, Jamie Steichen, and most recently Warren Stewart.

While he lost his debut at ONE FC against Tatsuya Kawajiri, he didn’t go down without a fight. He was willing to stand and trade bombs, and held his own on the ground until Kawajiri sunk in a triangle choke to secure the win.

Sanchez clearly has much more experience than Striegl, but maybe it’s time for a step up in competition for the Filipino star. Sanchez would certainly test Striegl’s standup abilities, and probably be able to match Striegl’s top-class ground game. This is a fight with “Fight of the Night” honors written all over it.

If Mark Striegl gets a chance to fight for ONE FC in his country, I believe these three opponents would serve the night well. While I personally like the matchup with Mitch Chilson most, only because I think it’s the closer matchup in terms of technical ability, any of these three would be a tremendous matchup for the Filipino star.

We also would like to see a couple of non filipinos that we missed at ONE FC 4 enter the ONE FC 5 cage in Manila.

Allamurad Karayev  and Eddie Ng who both had to pull out due to injuries. We want to see these two promising prospects in action soon and I am sure there are plenty of people in the Philippines who would love to face them although of course Roldan Sangcha-an would be front of the queue for Allamurad. And, of course Bibiano Fernandes is also expected to make his ONE FC debut in Manila that should something to see.

And if Victor Cui could find a suitable opponent for Nicole Chua it would be great to see the ladies back in the ONE FC cage.

We will be back over the next couple of months with more match-ups we would like to see at ONE FC 5:

(The Coffee Boy & The Editor)