One FC - Fernandes vs Kim - Total Domination

ONE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP™ RETURNS TO SINGAPORE ON 18 OCTOBER FOR

ONE FC: TOTAL DOMINATION

BIBIANO FERNANDES VS SOO CHUL KIM BATTLE TO BE THE UNDISPUTED

ONE FC BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION

PLUS: SINGAPOREAN WOMEN’S MMA SENSATION SHERILYN LIM SET TO REPRESENT THE LION CITY WHEN SHE MAKES HER HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED ONE FC DEBUT

TICKETS FOR ONE FC: TOTAL DOMINATION ARE ON SALE 19 AUGUST

AT WWW.SISTIC.COM.SG

13 August 2013 – Singapore: ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), the biggest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion returns to Singapore for another blockbuster event on 18 October 2013 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Headlining the fight card is the most highly-anticipated fight in ONE FC history – the unification bout for the ONE FC Bantamweight World Championship title. Fight fans have been eagerly awaiting the return of ONE FC to Singapore after closely following the intense non-stop, adrenaline-pumping action that has accompanied the promotion throughout the multi-city tour this year. Now the wait is over. Expected to be yet another sold-out event, fight fans are set to pack out the 12,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium once again for a night of world-class MMA action.

Tickets for ONE FC: TOTAL DOMINATION are on sale 19 August 2013 at SISTIC (www.SISTIC.com.sg). Ticket categories begin with the full Red Carpet and cageside experience for VIPs at $348 followed by Arena $148, Terrace $58 and Balcony $38. All applicable service charges apply.

Ticket buyers will have the opportunity to take advantage of a special early bird sale from 19 August- 31 August, 2013. All information on this special opportunity can be accesses via SISTIC (www.SISTIC.com.sg).

Fans in Asia can catch all the action live on STAR Sports. Check your local listings. Also, fans from around the world can witness the action online via live streaming atwww.onefc.livesport.tv. The first two undercard fights are available for viewing free-of-charge and the main card fights will be available for purchase at just US$9.99.

CEO of ONE Fighting Championship™ Victor Cui stated, “We are coming back to Singapore to put on one of the greatest fight cards in Asian MMA history. We will finally settle the question of who deserves to be called the top Bantamweight fighter on the planet.  Plus, the fierce MMA darling of Singapore, Sherilyn Lim, will make her ONE FC debut in front of thousands of screaming home fans. We always step it up a notch in Singapore and 18 October will be no different. We are putting together a fight card that will blow away the millions of passionate fight fans all around the world. Thousands of fans in attendance and the millions watching live around the world are set for another evening of world-class MMA action featuring the best in Asia.”

The ONE FC Bantamweight unification title fight will be a battle between the top pound-for-pound king Bibiano Fernandes versus the heavy-handed and lightning quick South Korean, Soo Chul Kim.

Bibiano Fernandes is ranked as one of the best Bantamweight fighters in the world. He is the former DREAM Featherweight Champion, DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix winner and current Interim ONE FC Bantamweight Champion. Fernandes has not lost a fight in over two years and he made his ONE FC debut in Manila last August when he defeated CFC Bantamweight Champion Gustavo Falciroli. Fernandes then followed that up with a first round submission win over DEEP Bantamweight Champion Yoshiro Maeda. At ONE FC: RISE TO POWER in May 2013, Fernandes captured the Interim Bantamweight World Championship title, which was up for grabs due to Soo Chul Kim being injured, by winning a unanimous decision over Koetsu Okazaki. At ONE FC: TOTAL DOMINATION he will be looking to cement his status as the best pound-for-pound fighter currently in Asia by taking home the unified ONE FC Bantamweight World Championship belt. He will have his toughest test yet when he battles Soo Chul Kim.

Reigning ONE FC Bantamweight World Champion Soo Chul Kim is only 21 years of age but he is already a veteran of 11 MMA fights. He brings an unusual combination of both youth and experience into the ONE FC cage. The Korean has consistently tested himself against the best fighters in the division and has already competed in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. In his last ONE FC outing, Kim defeated Leandro Issa by TKO en route to winning the first ever ONE FC Bantamweight World Championship belt. Kim feels that the Bantamweight title is rightfully his and will look to cause a major upset by defeating Fernandes to prove that he is the undisputed Champion.

Both champions know that this fight will be the defining fight of their MMA career as they compete to be called the one and only ONE FC Bantamweight World Champion.

Also, the Lion City will be awaiting the debut of hometown hero Sherilyn Lim. Lim will be representing Singapore’s oldest mixed martial arts gym, Fight G. She has been part of Fight G since 2007, when she joined their Muay Thai program and has been training under the tutelage of Singaporean MMA pioneer Darren De Silva. Sherilyn has quickly established herself as the best female mixed martial artist in Singapore and fight fans have been eagerly expecting her debut on the largest stage in Asian MMA. She will be looking to do the Republic proud on Asia's largest stage when she competes in front of the Singapore fans on 18 October.

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

About ONE Fighting Championship™

Headquartered in Singapore, ONE Fighting Championship™ (http://www.onefc.com) is one of the world’s most exciting mixed martial arts organization. ONE Fighting Championship™ hosts the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Fighting Championship™ has partnered with FOX and STAR Sports for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans 70+ countries across the world.

ONE FC Rise to Power - Results

KOJI OISHI BECOMES NEW ONE FC FEATHERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION AT ONE FC: RISE TO POWER

PLUS:  BIBIANO FERNANDES CROWNED INTERIM ONE FC BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION

ALSO: MASAKATSU UEDA WINS FIRST EVER ONE FC BANTAMWEIGHT GRAND PRIX

31 May 2013 – Manila: ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization, wowed the sold-out crowd in attendance at Mall of Asia Arena with ONE FC: RISE TO POWER. The event was ONE FC's largest event in history and 20,000 fans were treated to a night of unforgettable action as ONE FC kingpins battled inside the famed ONE FC cage. 

Visit the official ONE FC: RISE TO POWER photo gallery by clicking: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ogw4tb66e3467d5/JtQIQiN8uQ

The main event featured Honorio Banario defending his title for the first time. The first round was a back-and-forth slugfest that put the packed crowd on its feet. In the second stanza, Oishi landed a right hook that dropped Banario and silenced the crowd. Oishi instinctively jumped on his foe and finished the fight with several punches. The crowd went wild as Oishi was crowned the new ONE FC Featherweight World Champion.

In the co-main event of the night, Bibiano Fernandes was crowned ONE FC Interim Bantamweight World Champion by defeating Koetsu Okazaki via unanimous decision. Fernandes utilized his clinch takedowns and superior grappling to remain in control of his opponent for most of the fight.  The victory adds another title to Fernandes’ already impressive list of accolades and extends his winning streak to six. 

The fans in attendance at MOA Arena also witnessed history as Masakatsu Ueda was crowned the first ever ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix champion.  The bout featured back-and-forth action that earned it fight-of-the-night honors. Ueda nearly finished Belingon in both the first and second round with submission attempts, and imposed his superior grappling skills against the explosive Belingon in all three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory.

Official results for ONE FC: RISE TO POWER: 

Main event
Koji Oishi defeats Honorio Banario by knockout at 1:45 minutes of round 2

Main card
Bibiano Fernandes defeats Koetsu Okazaki by unanimous decision at 5:00 minutes of round 3
Masakatsu Ueda defeats Kevin Belingon by unanimous decision at 5:00 minutes of round 3
Yasuhiro Urushitani defeats Rey Docyogen by split decision at 5:00 minutes of round 3
Nobutatsu Suzuki defeats Phil Baroni by knockout at 4:17 minutes of round 1
Kamal Shalorus defeats Eduard Folayang by unanimous decision at 5:00 minutes of round 3
Andrew Leone defeats Geje Eustaquio by unanimous decision at 5:00 minutes of round 3

Undercard
Yusup Saadulaev defeats Ryan Diaz by anaconda submission at 2:57 minutes of round 2
Lowen Tynanes defeats Felipe Enomoto by TKO due to referee stoppage at 2:41 minutes of round 1 Tony Johnson defeats Tim Slyvia at 3:25 minutes by TKO due to doctor stoppage of round 2 

In case you missed the action log on to ONEFC.LIVESPORT.TV for the full replay of the fights at only US $9.99.

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

About ONE Fighting Championship™

Headquartered in Singapore, ONE Fighting Championship™ (http://www.onefc.com) is Asia's largest mixed martial arts organization. ONE Fighting Championship™ hosts the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Fighting Championship™ has partnered with STAR Sports, the number one leader in sports content, for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans across70+ countries in Asia.

Media Contact:

Loren Mack, ONE FC

(m): +65 9771 5617

(e): L.mack@onefc.com
@LorenONEFC

 

Quick Thoughts: Post-ONE FC Pride of a Nation ~ From The Coffee Boy

Quick Thoughts: Post-ONE FC Pride of a Nation ~ From The Coffee Boy

Published on September 2, 2012 by The Coffee Boy in ONEFC

Post-ONE FC Pride of a Nation ~ From The Coffee Boy

ONE FC 5 was, as expected, action-packed. We saw Bibiano Fernandes put on a mixed martial arts clinic against Gustavo Falciroli, Eric Kelly make a name for himself against the very game Jens Pulver, and we saw the redemption of Phil Baroni as he smashed Rodrigo Ribeiro. But let’s touch on some of the more “sensitive” issues of the night.

Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai looked in trouble as Mitch “The Dragon” Chilson was able to easily dominate the first round by putting him on his back, and land some heavy punches and elbows. The second round took an unexpected turn as “One Shin” started landing some heavy punches and kicks. 

Here’s where it gets controversial: Chilson tried taking him down again, but Wiratchai was able to stuff it. He threw a big punch, and Chilson was not only rocked, but dropped. As he started getting up, and still had one hand on the ground, Wiratchai threw a big kick to the head, and the ref jumped in.

Now, we all know ONE FC mixes Pride rules with the Unified rules. Commentator Jason Chambers mentioned that the referee had not signaled the “open attack”, yet Wiratchai threw that kick anyways. 

It’s a little confusing at times, for me at least, to know just when you can throw a kick like that. 

However, the referee didn’t do anything about it, saw that Chilson was in trouble, and stepped in. So maybe that kick was legal?

The bigger issue with that fight was whether or not the stoppage was premature. Chilson was dropped, tried getting up, and was hit with a devastating kick, so the referee decided to stop the fight, in favor of Wiratchai. I have seen far worse stoppages, and while there may be some truth that Chilson could have gone on, the referee did what he had to do. In fact, the referee, if you watch the fight again, was clearly ready to pounce as soon as Chilson was dropped with that devastating punch.

 Verdict: Fair stoppage. Chilson looked hurt, and was dropped (which many people crying “bad stoppage” seem to forget), so the ref did what he thought was right. There is a good chance a rematch could happen, but I think it would be best for both men to go on and fight other talent in that division.

The other big story of the night was Andrei Arlovski vs Tim Sylvia. The first round went alright for both men, although there was some sluggishness in the clinch. The second round saw Arvloski coming out throwing hard punches, at one point knocking Sylvia’s mouthpiece about. Sylvia was dropped with a couple punches, and Arlovski wasted no time and threw two soccer kicks, the second one clearly having more “umph” in it. But what happened?

It looked as if the fight was over, and most people watching were either confused or thought that Arlovski had won the fight. As it turns out, referee Yuji Shimada was signaling a time-out. What happened was that Shimada had not signaled “open attack”, which by ONE FC rules, allows a fighter to throw a soccer kick. Sylvia was given some time to recover, and Arlovski was handed a yellow card. Sylvia told the referee that he couldn’t see properly, so the bout was declared a no-contest.

In no time, people took to Twitter to bash the ONE FC “open attack” rule. In a nutshell, most people argued that there is not much time for a fighter to hear the “open attack” signal before he throws a kick. Many believe that fighters should be allowed to throw it when they want, much like the days of Pride, or that the soccer kick should be banned altogether.

This isn’t the first time there was controversy surrounding the soccer kick. At ONE FC 4, Zorobabel Moreira threw a devastating soccer kick to downed opponent Roger Huerta. Huerta was clearly out of it, on all fours, when Moreira looked up for a signal to throw a soccer kick. It knocked Huerta out cold. The two problems we saw with it was that some sitting near the cage didn’t hear “open attack”, but heard variations of “no kick” to “low kick”. According to MMAFighting.com, Moreira says that Yuji Shimada was yelling “low kick” to him, so he threw the kick. If that was the case…well, you see the problem with that? It makes absolutely no sense for a referee to tell a fighter what strike to throw.

The other problem with the kick was that Huerta was clearly out of it, and in fact the soccer kick looked very unnecessary. On top of that, if that position Huerta was in was “open-attack”-worthy, fighters are being put in dangerous positions as we all know how destructive a soccer kick can be.

Verdict: ONE FC needs to reexamine their rule-set. I’m not in a position to say whether or not soccer kicks should be allowed, but the rules need to be more clearly defined. Clearly, “open attack” being yelled by a referee (or even “low kick”) isn’t working out every time for them.

ONE FC set to sign Arlovski and Pulver

ONE FC set to sign Arlovski and Pulver

Published on July 13, 2012 by The Sandman in ONEFC

Arlovski and Pulver to ONE FC can it be true?

ONE FC will be bringing Andrei Arlovski and Jens Pulver to Philippines for ONE FC 5, according toBloodyElbow.com.

If the insider information is proven correct, it would make the ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation the most stacked card the Singapore-based promotion have put on thus far. Other top fighters already signed on for the card include Shinya Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes and Renato Sobral who recently headlined ONE FC 4: Destiny of Warriors.

Unfortunately, Filipino favourite Ole Laursen has been pulled from the card. 

Other popular Filipino fighters though are expected to compete on this card; including Eduard Folayang, Eric Kelly and Kevin Belingon.

The card has also been confirmed to include three Gracies; believed to be Gergor, Rolles and Igor. Gracies, being MMA royalty, always bring a touch of excitement to both fans and fighters who are always trying to be the next “Gracie Hunter”.

ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation takes place on 31 August in front of an expected sellout crowd of 16,500 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Manila in Philippines. The event will be ONE FC’s first event in the combat sport obsessed country.

MMANewsAsia.com will keep you updated on the latest news on ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation as the event draws closer.

UPDATE: ONE FC has confirmed the addition of Arlovski via their Facebook page.