Before Shinya Aoki can even make his ONE FC debut, the Japanese submission ace already has his next fight on the books.
Aoki is scheduled to meet French grappler Arnaud Lepont in a lightweight tilt at ONE FC: Rise of the Kings. Promotion officials announced the match-up on Wednesday.
Additionally, the first three championship belts in ONE FC history will be up for grabs on the card, which is slated for October 6, 2012 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium located in Kallang, Singapore.
“With the largest pool of the top MMA talent in Asia, I have decided that the time is perfect to introduce three ONE FC world titles,” said ONE FC CEO Victor Cui. “This card is going to be epic and fans can expect to see some incredible fights come 6 October.”
Weight classes for the trio of championship fights have yet to be finalized.
Aoki (30-6, 1 NC), meanwhile, looks to rebound after stumbling against Eddie Alvarez in the pair’s long-awaited rematch, losing via TKO midway through the first round at Bellator 66. The former DREAM lightweight champion is currently scheduled to make his ONE FC debut against a yet-to-be-named opponent in the main event of ONE FC 5 later this month.
Across the cage, Lepont (10-1) gets his wish after calling out Aoki following a third-round submission victory over Brian Choi at ONE FC 4. A BJJ purple belt, Lepont rides into the match on a six-fight win streak and has yet to reach a judges’ decision in his career.
Former PRIDE fighter Melvin Manhoef (24-9-1, 1 NC), Singapore’s own Radeem Rahman (1-0), and ONE FC veteran Zorobabel Moreira (7-1) are also expected to fight on the card.
Zobobabel’s last appearance ended in controversy, as the Brazilian knocked out former UFC star Roger Huerta with a grisly soccer kick to the face.