Victor Cui’s ONE Fighting Championship delivered another stellar fight card with its “War of The Lions” event that some of the world saw exclusively on Youtube early yesterday morning.
For those who didn’t see it, it’s definitely recommended viewing from start to finish. B/R contributor Gerald Ng has the full recap of the event here.
Aside from a nasty shin gash that resulted in the bout between Melvin Manhoef and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi becoming a no-contest, the rest of the action on the night of fights personified exactly what ONE FC is all about, and it reminded us of the ultimate goal to which they are getting closer and closer to achieving.
As a matter of fact, ONE Fighting’s CEO and Owner, Victor Cui, said the following after the event:
“This was the best show we’ve had yet. The fights were fantastic from start to finish, the stadium was packed and the crowd loved it so I can’t ask for more than that. The growth of MMA in the region has been astounding and I am so proud of how far we’ve come in just a matter of months. I can’t wait for these fights to be shown to 24 Asian countries by ESPN Star Sports next month because people are going to absolutely love them.”
In addition to Cui’s optimism about the future of ONE FC moving forward, the fans of the promotion, as well as those who caught the event online, have caught on to both the fighters that represent the Singaporean MMA promotion and the way in which they bring it every time they step inside the ONE FC Cage.
They all possess that warrior’s spirit that many often talk about whenever they refer to a fighter that just cannot quit, and regardless of how long they may last against a Masakazu Imanari or a Tatsuya Kawajiri, they leave everything and more inside the cage when it comes time to throw heat. This case proves no less truthful that any number of the fights shown on yesterday’s card.
In terms of becoming the largest MMA promotion in Asia right now, they aren’t at that level yet, despite the promotion’s end potential and their current roster of young prospects. They may never have that honor bestowed upon them, despite them earning that respect only three fight cards deep into their time as a legitimate mixed martial arts promotion.
However, the fact is that the Singapore-based promotion is putting together UFC-caliber action with a talent pool featuring international stars from all around the world and the hottest batch of Asian MMA prospects that you won’t find in DREAM, Deep or any other overseas MMA promotion.
Altogether, ONE FC is coming closer than some think to becoming the UFC of the Asian MMA circuit, just as Cui envisioned when the announcement of the company’s inception first came to light.
While there’s still a long way to go before we can even give them an honest comparison to the UFC besides being “the most major,” what we can say is that they are definitely one of the hottest spots for A-Class MMA action from bell to bell.
Get used to people talking about ONE FC and their fights, while you’re at it, because Yours Truly can guarantee that it’s here to stay and will not look soon to defeat its own momentum and fold away.
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