TWO Igorot mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters are being wooed to be part of ONE Championship’s event next month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Although no details have been released yet, former featherweight world title contender Eric Kelly and Team Lakay’s Gina Iniong are expected to beef up the fight card dubbed “Pursuit of Power” slated July 13 at the Axiata Arena.
Iniong earlier scored a unanimous decision victory over former world title contender Jenny Huang after falling to Mei Yamaguchi in their second meeting last December.
Iniong savored every strike she threw at Huang as the latter gallantly traded shots with the highly-decorated Filipina wushu practitioner. Huang tried to change the complexion of the contest in the second round as she resorted to her grappling expertise, but Iniong surprisingly overpowered the submission specialist on the mat.
Kelly meanwhile is on a downward spiral losing five straight bouts since scoring a unanimous decision win against Hiroshige Tanaka in October 2015.
In his last bout, Kelly fought Tetsuya Yamada of Japan in a catch weight contest.
Yamada finished the veteran martial artist by first round submission after trading strikes with Kelly to begin the match, and waited for the perfect time to take his opponent to the ground. On the mat, Yamada quickly took Kelly’s back and locked in the rear naked choke to force the tap.
On July 7, One Championship will pit Yodcherry Sityodtong of Thailand and Kaiting Chuang of Chinese Taiwan for the inaugural ONE Super Series kickboxing atomweight world championship.
Sityodtong makes her long-awaited ONE Championship debut when she competes for the inaugural ONE Super Series kickboxing atomweight world championship.
Sityodtong, who represents Evolve MMA in Singapore, features an impressive professional Muay Thai record of 81-18-1. At such a young age, Sityodtong has already garnered many achievements in the ring, having won various Muay Thai world championships throughout her young career.
The 23-year-old Chuang of Taipei, Chinese Taiwan meanwhile is making her ONE Championship debut at ONE: Battle of the Heavens. A professional kickboxer with a record of 16-5, Chuang represents Iron Boxing, and is a Chinese Taiwan Kickboxing Champion. (Roderick Osis)