The Singapore based ONE Fighting Championship promotion has added a bout between Rolles Gracie Jr (5-1), who fights as a heavyweight, and former K-1 veteran Bob ‘The Beast’ Sapp (11-9), who now competes as a super heavyweight fighter.
MMAMania.com reported the bout this morning, along with a bout between M-1 standout Rustam Khabilov (12-1) and Brazilian Rodrigo Ribeiro (9-7). The website stated both bouts were official, but at time of writing, have yet to confirm the news.
ONE Fighting Championship 2 Battle of Heroes is scheduled to take place on February 11, 2012 at the Sports Mall Kelapa Gading in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event is expected to feature a ten-bout card including Indonesian fighter Victorio ‘Indra’ Senduk.
Gracie fought twice in 2011, winning both times erasing his disastrous appearance with the UFC. The submission fighter used arm-triangle chokes to stop Lee Mein at a Wreck MMA show in October, and Braden Bice at a UCC show in April. Before that Gracie made his one Octagon appearance in February 2010, losing via second round TKO to Joey Beltran at UFC 109. Gracie looked good in the opening minutes of the bout but appeared gassed after three minutes into the first round. He was released after the loss.
Sapp has seen his MMA career slide decline since 2008 when he had won four straight. He is currently 1-6 in his last seven bouts and most recently lost via first round TKO to Croatian fighter Maro Perak this past December. Sapp’s last win came in March 2010 after submitting Sascha Weinpolter in the first round at a local event in Croatia.
‘The Beast’ has found more success lately as a pro-wrestler than he has as a fighter and may be in for another loss against a submission fighter like Gracie.