VETERAN striker Renan “Flash” Noblefranca makes his return to kickboxing as he takes on standout against pro boxer Ramil Yacapin on Nov. 12 at the Zanorte Cultural Sports Complex in Dipolog City.
“Our training went well. There’s no problem even though he had a layoff from kickboxing for more than two years because of the pandemic,” Noblefranca’s longtime trainer and Yaw-Yan Ardigma Cebu founder Benigno “Ekin” Caniga told SunStar Cebu.
Though he has not fought kickboxing for over two years, Noblefranca kept himself busy with another sport—boxing. He fought boxing on Sept. 3 against Michael Adolfo in Mandaue City. He was knocked out by Adolfo in the second round.
The 27-year-old Noblefranca is up against a fellow pro boxer in Yacapin.
Yacapin is a heavy-handed fighter with an 8-3 kickboxing record. He is 2-6 in boxing with all of his wins being by knockout.
Noblefranca is one of Yaw-Yan Ardigma’s devastating strikers, wherein he amassed a total combined kickboxing and Muay Thai record of 75 wins and two losses.
ONE Championship has already opened its gates to Muay Thai and MMA and Caniga hopes that his ward will put on an impressive performance, which could earn him a contract to the organization.
“This is our road to ONE Championship. Our target is for him to be fighting kickboxing there. Hopefully, we’ll get there if his fight goes well. He’ll be fighting again in December and January,” said Caniga.
Also seeing action in the same card is Cebuano Arnel Ylanan.
Ylanan takes on fellow experienced MMA warrior former URCC Visayas pinweight champion Victor Torre in a clash of grapplers.
Ylanan, who trains at Ronin Jiu Jitsu in Mandaue City, lost his last two fights in the MMA cage. He’s coming off a technical decision loss to Ariel Oliveros in 2019.
Torre, on the other hand, fought in China in his last recorded bout in 2019. He submitted Xie Longlong in the first round via a triangle choke. Torre has bounced around in different MMA organizations—URCC, PXC and lately China’s WLF.
Torre owns a win over Ruel Catalan and fought but lost to ONE Championship fighter Eugene Toquero and Team Lakay’s Jerome Wanawan.
Ylanan is listed at 10-5, while Torre is 12-5.
In the main event, Davao’s Hero Manguray (1-0) squares off with Nigerian Emanuel Isupekpe (3-1).