ONE FC: Return of Warriors
Putra Indoor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Feb 2nd, 2013
ONE FC's latest announcement for the show in Kuala Lumpur - Return of the Warriors promises much excitement especially for fans of local fighters.
Also at this bout was an announcement about TuneTalk sponsorship of the event, you can read our exclusive interview with TuneTalks CEO Jason Lo HERE
The big bout is between URCC Champions - Lightweight champion Honorio Banario and fellow Philippine (although Malaysian based) ex URCC Featherweight Champion Eric Kelly. This will be for the ONE FC Featherweight Championship belt.
It seems strange that ONE FC would have a fight between two of the Philippines most popular fighters in Malaysia, surely a chance missed for a future ONE FC in Manila event. But the Philippines loss is our gain.
Kelly has just recovered from a tough bout at the recent celebration of ten years of the URCC: URCC 22 Dekada. In this bout Kelly fought a very tough Brad Terrey and was taken to a deciding third round by which time Kelly was fighting with one eye completely closed, somehow he managed to pull off and armbar showing once again why he is one of the best fighters in Asia, his record still stands at a perfect 9-0.
Barario rocks a 7-1 record and sits at 1-1 in ONE FC with a loss (ONE FC 2 Feb 2012) to Bae Young Kwon as his only loss in his career. Kelly beat Kwon at ONE FC 4. Banario however has a soilid record and is a submission specialist. This should lead to an explosive match-up.
Also announced was the bout between big Malaysian favorite Peter Davis who will be fighting the Indonesian Leo Krishna a man who I am sure will be expecting a massive barrage of boos as he walks to the cage as the Malaysian crowd will be right behind Davis.
Gianni Subba burst onto the MMA scene at ONE FC 6 when he defeated Singapores Bruce Loh in just 33 seconds, now he faces Saiful Merican is an established Mauy Thai fighter.
There is also to be a four man 145lbs tournament featuring four Malaysian warriors.
Melvin Yeoh will make his debut against Raymond Tiew, this will be an interesting fight as Yeoh is a very well respected MMA coach who has already defeated Tiew back in September 2011 at the Malayisan Fighting Championship 2. Since then Yeoh has gone 4-1, but his step up into the ONE FC cage whilst long deserved will be a major step up. He may have beaten Tiew once, but, Tiew has gone 3-1 since then as well, his only loss being on his ONE FC debut at ONE FC 2.
The winner of that fight will face the winner of:
AJ Vaa vs Jian Kai Chee. Vaa is a well known and respected MMA coach from Malaysian Borneo who will be looking to put on a good show after suffering a first round loss to Mitch Chilson at ONE FC 4. He has been training hard and also has been part of fast rising PXC fighter Mark Striegl (12-0) coaching team, so expect to see a different AJ Vaa facing Chee. Chee has fought a high level of opponents including losses to Ole Laursen, Arnaud lePont and Eddie Ng. All of his wins come at the Malaysian Fighting Championship, it will be important for him to prove that he can actually step up and compete at a higher level. These two are well matched.
That's all that is known of the Fight Card for now, as with all these things expect changes and additions over the coming weeks, we will try to keep you up to date.
