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Mizuto Hirota Bounces Back from Broken Arm to Conclude a Busy Week for Asian MMA

Exciting things are happening in Asian MMA, both inside the cage and out. The most exciting event of the week was Mizuto Hirota bouncing back from a broken arm at the hands of Shinya Aoki to win the Deep lightweight title by defeating Katsunori Kikuno …

The Aoki incident was one of MMA’s darker days. Aoki didn’t come out of it looking particularly good because, well, he broke a man’s limb and then stuck his fingers up at him afterwards. Nobody looks good doing that.

The reputation of MMA didn’t emerge unscathed, because one man intentionally breaking another man’s arm and then celebrating is not what the sport is supposed to be about. If the people trying to keep MMA out of New York get their hands on that clip they would probably treat it like a trump card.

Hirota didn’t come out of the broken arm incident looking good, or feeling good for that matter because, well, his arm was broken. It would have been better for everyone concerned if he had done the “sensible thing” and just tapped.

Only he knows why he didn’t, but the consequences were severe—almost two years out of the sport. He returned tonight in some style, out-pointing an opponent who was emerging as the most credible Japanese contender for Aoki’s Dream lightweight belt.

It is the world’s worst-kept secret that Aoki’s next fight after facing Rob McCullough at Dream 17 will be a rematch with Eddie Alvarez at Bellator. A rematch between Aoki and Hirota is not inevitable, but if Hirota can win a couple more fights it will start to look like a pretty attractive proposition for the Dream matchmakers.

The two men hated each other before they fought and the relationship is unlikely to have gotten any warmer after Aoki broke Hirota’s arm and then declined to issue anything approaching a satisfactory apology.

You can just imagine the pre-fight publicity with Hirota claiming that for 18 months of rehab all he thought about was fighting Aoki again. Even if it’s not true, he will definitely be saying it, I just hope someone explains to him that failing to tap when you are in an inescapable submission hold is not just against MMA etiquette, but is also really, really stupid.

One man who won’t be fighting in Japan anytime soon is outstanding Mongolian prospect (in so much as a 35-year-old can ever be a prospect) Jadamba Narantungalag. He has just signed with the Hong Kong-based Legend FC organization.

I think this is a good move for both parties. Narantungalag is a high-level fighter. He showed that when he beat Akihiro Gono last year, but a middle-aged Mongolian is not exactly the stuff which pay-per-view sales are made of.

The mission of Legend FC seems to be finding grassroots fighters who are not yet internationally recognized, and I think this policy will result in more and more of their fighters following in the footsteps of Tiequan Zhang by signing on for more mainstream promotions.

I am not sure whether a marketing approach of “see the UFC stars of tomorrow today” will really encourage people to pay to see a show which consists entirely of fighters with unrecognizable (and in Narantungalag’s case unpronounceable) names.

I hope Legend FC’s business model does prove to be sustainable because they give valuable exposure to local fighters, many of whom wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity to fight outside of their native countries.

The really big news in Asian MMA right now is One Fighting Championship. Everyone seems to be calling it the natural successor to Pride, although given the facts which have transpired since the demise of Pride this could be viewed as a bit of a back-handed compliment.

One FC seems to have taken the exciting and unpredictable matchmaking which was a hallmark of Pride and combined it with the infrastructure and regulations which the UFC has worked so hard to introduce.

Only today it was announced that Matt Hume would be overseeing the referees and judges, and I think putting a former fighter in charge of this department is an inspired idea. The UFC are doing their utmost to sort out the officiating situation, but even Dana White would acknowledge there is still work to be done and it is good to see that One FC are taking it sufficiently seriously to fly in someone from the US to supervise.

It is a classy move, but then everything about One FC oozes class from the highly-experienced and refreshingly respectful President & CEO to the extremely well-orchestrated advertising campaign which is underway in Singapore. Japan might be a difficult nut to crack with Deep and Dream already well entrenched there, but outside of the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ Asia is One FC’s for the taking.

The amount of media coverage that One FC has received is truly extraordinary, and I think the show is really cashing in on the popularity of Pride. People want something that is completely different from the UFC, which Pride was, rather than just a watered-down version of the UFC, which is what Strikeforce has become.

The final quarter of the year looks set to be an exciting period for Asian MMA with some of the top fighters in action. Eduard Folayang is riding a four-fight win streak, A Sol Kwon has won his last six, and Shinya Aoki has won five in a row. These are three of the top talents in Asia right now and all will be in action in September.

Narantungalag will be headlining Legend FC’s October show and has won his last six fights. After a year out, it will be interesting to see whether he is still a force to be reckoned with as he approaches his 36th birthday.

Another K-1 veteran, the distinctly Scandinavian-sounding Filipino Ole Laursen, should also be back inside the cage by the end of the year after an extended absence. One FC’s second show is rumoured to be happening in Singapore in December and if Laursen recovers from a knee injury sustained in training, he will probably be putting his five-fight win streak on the line.

With so much MMA news breaking here at the moment, including the prospect of a UFC show in Japan, it really is a great time to be an MMA fan in Asia.

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Two Sheds Review: UCMMA Warrior Creed Delivers a Quality Undercard

Now I know what you’re thinking. You’ve read the headline and thinking what the hell am I doing reviewing UCMMA 22 again? Well, four days after Primetime showed the Reid/Barrett debacle they returned to their usual Sky Sports home for their…

The broadcast began in the welterweight division as Sam Morrison faced Charlie Francis.

We had a lengthy feeling out period at the beginning of this one, with both fighters testing the waters with jabs and kicks before Morrison staggered Francis with a left, staggering him even more with a big left hook moments later.

Francis came back well with a take down, but Morrison immediately went for a guillotine. The only problem was that he didn’t know how to complete the hold, so Francis was able to survive easily.

Francis went on to dominate the second round. As soon as the fight went down to the mat he went to work, and it wasn’t long before he took Morrison’s back and unleashed with the ground and pound. The referee gave Morrison plenty of opportunities to fight back, but when Francis’ onslaught went unanswered the referee stopped the fight and gave Francis the impressive TKO win.

Then it was on to the UK1 middleweight kickboxing encounter between Romy Da Silva and Louis King.

King dominated from the start, unloading with the heavy leather and rocking Da Silva with every blow. Da Silva went down twice, and after taking two eight counts he continued, even though it was pretty obvious to everyone except the referee that he was in no condition to do so.

So King continued his onslaught, and as Da Silva continued to flounder around the ring the referee still didn’t step in, and it was only when Da Silva was knocked down for a third time that he finally stopped the fight, giving King the TKO win. A good effort from King here, but this really should have been stopped a lot sooner.

Chris Harman against Przemyslaw Misiek in the light heavyweight division followed.

This was a quick one. Misiek took the fight to the ground almost immediately, passing guard into side control so he could go for a key lock. Harman tried to defend but it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened as Harman quickly tapped out when the Pole applied the hold.

After another showing of the light heavyweight fight between Karl Lawrence and Iain Martell it was on to the middleweight encounter between Miguel Bernard and Jack Mason.

Mason put in a great performance here, getting the early take down and taking side control, and although Bernard had control of his head Mason went for a neck crank.

It wasn’t long before Mason took the mount and went for the ground and pound. Bernard tried to defend by turning his way out of it, but as Mason took his back the he continued his onslaught as the referee stepped in to give him the TKO win.

Then it was back to UK1 kickboxing action as Valentino Petrescu faced Maxin Ospitsov for the Light Heavyweight title.

No swinging for the fences in this one. This was a far more technical battle as Petrescu controlled the early stages with some nice kicks to Maxin’s bread basket and lead leg, knocking him down with a straight left.

Ospitsov just looked a step behind his opponent, and it wasn’t until towards the end of the second round when he took control, bloodying Petrescu’s nose before knocking him down.

It was pretty much the same story in the third. As Petrescu visibly tired Ospitsov upped his game and took control once again with some great strikes and kicks, and this was enough to earn him the title winning unanimous decision.

The final fight featured the big boys of the heavyweight division as Darren Towler took on Tomasz Czerwinski.

Big Czerwinski began this one by going for a clinch against the cage straight away. The next few moments saw them jockeying for position in between brief striking exchanges. It wasn’t long before Towler was unloading with the heavy leather though, and as Czerwinski slumped to the ground the referee quickly stepped in to give Towler the TKO win.

In conclusion – this was a pretty good portion of the show. There were some nice performances here from the likes of Charlie Francis and Maxin Ospitsov, although I do think that big Tomasz Czerwinski needs to shed a few pounds and work on his cardio a great deal. Just going into a cage and hoping to overpower your opponent with superior bulk won’t work in the long term.

So in all the Warrior Creed undercard gets the thumbs up. It’s just a shame that some of the great performances from the entire card will always be overshadowed by the fight (and I use that term quite loosely) between Alex Reid and Jason Barrett.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

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Mitch Chilson: The Singapore Superstar with a Point to Prove at One FC

Mitch Chilson is a name which will be very familiar to people in Singapore, but this American fighter has yet to forge anything approaching a global reputation. That could all change on September 3, when Chilson takes on Eric Kelly at ONE Fighting Cham…

ONE FC will be viewed by more people than potentially any other event in mixed martial arts history, and Chilson will be able to display his considerable talents to an audience which is of unprecedented proportions.

What makes this fight such an exciting opportunity for the two time Martial Combat Super Fight Champion is that it is against a man who is without doubt the No. 1 featherweight in the Philippines. Kelly is the URCC Featherweight champion and is unbeaten in his MMA career, having submitted all five of his previous professional opponents.

Chilson is one of the faces of One Fighting Championship in Singapore. Fans flocked to see him at Martial Combat last year, and his image is currently emblazoned all over almost every imaginable form of public transport as well as being highly visible in TV commercials.

It is a lot of attention to be lavished upon a fighter who maintains a perfect professional MMA record. Beating Kelly would be a form of validation for Chilson and would instantly demonstrate that there is substance behind the style and he is good enough to be considered among the finest 145 lb. fighters in the region.

“I view this an a huge opportunity because I want to fight the best and I want to test myself against the best 145ers out there. I am looking forward to the challenge and seeing myself in adverts everyday is a constant reminder that I need to train harder and be at my absolute best,” he said.

His life started to change when he knocked out Chinese stand up specialist Zhang Jing Xiong midway through the third round of an out and out war at Martial Combat 2. An uninitiated audience were instantly converted to the sport of MMA, and Chilson, who has been based in Singapore for several years, was awarded hometown hero status.

His next win was much more businesslike and came only 90 seconds into his fight with Chinese MMA veteran Guobin Xue. This time, there was no war, only an efficient performance which ended in a rear naked choke win that demonstrated just how rapidly Chilson is evolving as a mixed martial artist.

The bad news for his next opponent, who has submitted every fighter he has ever faced, is that Chilson has had almost a year to continue this evolution at the appropriately named Evolve MMA. He feels Kelly is going to find his ground game far more formidable than he has any of his previous five opponents,

“Everyday at Evolve MMA I train with some of the best BJJ black belts on the planet. I work tirelessly on understanding the ground game. When you grapple with BJJ World Champions everyday, you spend a lot if time working on your defense. If Kelly thinks he is going to be able to win with an easy submission he is in for a big surprise,” he said.

As a full time member of the Evolve MMA fight team, Chilson is constantly training and improving alongside training partners including Dream Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki, UFC veteran Rafael Dos Anjos, BJJ Mundials Winners Leandro Issa and Zorobabel Moreira, Muay Thai champions Anuwat Kaewsamrit, Orono Wor Petchpun and Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn and former boxing world champion Yodsanan Sityodtong.

Chilson is good looking and well spoken and is in many ways the perfect poster boy for a sport like mixed martial arts, which is still in its infancy in Southeast Asia. However, he is also subjected to a daily routine at Evolve MMA so intensive it will either make or break a potential world champion, and there are absolutely no signs of the former fitness instructor breaking.

“Evolve MMA is a special place because we have so many of the best fighters in one place. There are no egos or arrogance; we are just all helping each other to become better martial artists. We train, eat and teach together, and I have worked with the likes of Rich Franklin, Matt Hume and Shinya Aoki. We have coaches from all over the world brought to one place with the single goal of creating the best MMA academy in the world,” he said.

In a short space of time, Evolve MMA has established itself as one of the top mixed martial arts academies in the world. It has been in the right place at the right time to benefit from the explosion of interest in MMA in Singapore and every single member of the fight team is a full time employee.

Chatri Sityodtong is the brainchild behind Evolve and will also formulate the game plan going into each fight. He has gathered together a team of elite martial artists who, other than helping to train Evolve MMA students, have absolutely no distractions from their professional fighting career.

It is this environment which has allowed Chilson to thrive, and he believes that this level of training is what will ultimately give him the edge over his more experienced opponent at One Fighting Championship’s inaugural event.

“I started martial arts at the age of six and studied Karate, Kendo, Judo, Kung Fu and later Muay Thai. I joined Evolve with big dreams of becoming an MMA Champion, and Evolve made my dreams come true. As an MMA, fighter you couldn’t ask for a better training camp. Everyday my confidence grows and each training session I become better,” he said.

On September 3, in front of 12,000 people at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and millions more watching around the world, Chilson will have the opportunity to showcase that improvement and to demonstrate that he is a natural in the cage as well in front of the camera.

It has been described as the biggest event in the history of mixed martial arts in Asia and will be the sporting highlight of the year in Singapore, Chilson’s adopted home. The odds are against him, but he will have the support of a partisan home crowd, and if Chilson can emerge victorious from his fight with the Filipino champion, the whole world will soon start believing the hype.

For more information, visit: www.onefc.com

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MMA: Should Mainstream MMA Start Showing Respect to Tachi Palace Fights?

Every two-to-four months, the standard hustle-and-bustle of the UFC’s fight weeks usually includes something that a marginal portion of the MMA has taken note of: a supershow-caliber event by the Tachi Palace Fights promotion at the Tachi Palace in Lem…

For a regional MMA promotion (and a local MMA promotion for Californians with a love for MMA action outside of the UFC), TPF has risen in the past year and a half, not only because of their collection of talent from various promotions, but also because they have the best assortment of 125-pound talent that anyone can find in the stateside circuit of the pro scene.

Former WEC fighter Ian McCall, Darrell Montague, Jussier Da Silva, Ulysses Gomez, Mamoru Yamaguchi: All are flyweights who most fans of Tachi Palace Fights are familiar with and all were on display last weekend at TPF 10: Let The Chips Fall.

While Da Silva was able to bring the pain and dominate Yamaguchi throughout their fight, McCall submitted Moontague in the third round to become the new TPF flyweight champion.

MMA Junkie released the final earnings of the fighters from TPF 10 on Tuesday afternoon, with the combined payroll of all the fighters on the card totaling to $85,000, and the combined payroll of all five aforementioned flyweights totaled to $33,000, including the win bonuses earned by Da Silva, Gomez and McCall.

Now, I’m the last guy one should ask about salaries, but $33,000 is about the amount of money you normally see on the paycheck of a preliminary-card fighter who is fighting for the UFC, if I’m not mistaken.

Well, it’s actually thousand bucks short of what Brian Bowles and Aaron Simpson got for UFC 132, but it’s close.

Also, the $85,000 is another figure you’d only see in the UFC, although it’s a small figure you’d see in the UFC compared to some of the figures guys get paid per fight.

Then again, the UFC has existed longer than Tachi Palace Fights, so it’s a no-brainer that the fighters in the UFC would make five-to-six figure amounts.

Still, we must ask: Should we, as fans of the mainstream MMA World, start to show a little bit respect to Tachi Palace Fights?

Simple answer: Yes, we should show them respect—a lot more respect than that they’re getting now.

First off, Tachi Palace Fights is a promotion that exists because, without a suitable proving ground for Zuffa-MMA and Bellator hopefuls, the sport cannot exist, and the task of preparing the next generation of mixed martial artists in a “proving ground” for the big time cannot fall solely on local promotions and the likes of Titan FC, King Of The Cage, Shark Fights and the slightly lesser-acknowledged Legacy Fighting Championships.

Yes, there is a flyweight division of 126 pounds and under in King of The Cage, but although KOTC holds the division, it’s not a very active division, so for fans who need a break from the divisions 135-lbs to 263-lbs, Tachi Palace Fights delivers a suitable alternative.

Also, with the rising demand for flyweight MMA in the stateside pro circuit, more fans will want to see as much of the 125-lb division as humanly possible, and as the sport progresses, the division will begin to grow more in popularity as well.

That, plus after the flyweight division establishes itself, men’s MMA will have a complete and even assortment of divisions and, therefore, will not need anything more than for a fresh crop of fighters to represent the then-eight divisions.

Can the UFC do that with a 125-lb division that only features Joseph Benavidez, Demetrious Johnson and a bunch of guys who drop down to flyweight once the division is established, even though those men may not have as much business even being at 125 as Benavidez or Johnson?

They may be able to do it for a little while, but Dana White’s “all the best fighters in the world fight in the UFC” would be a null-and-void argument when it comes to the flyweights, because once Dana and Co. have to bring the axe down on some of the guys who will have run their course by that time, they will no longer have all the best flyweights in the world.

As far as fighters go, the current TPF crop—including Brazilians Giva “The Arm Collector” Santana and Jorge Lopez, new TPF featherweight champion Eddie Yagin, and WEC alumni Doug Marshall, and others—all bring individual interest and talent to what would be the next generation of mixed martial arts, and their’s is a talent that cannot stay ignored forever.

One other thing to take into account: TPF is regional, even if it serves as a national supershow-promotion that showcases talent from all over the world and focuses more on top-notch action and being a proving ground for fighters who are looking to break on through to the big time.

If there’s one key thing that should be a no-brainer to all MMA fans, it’s that no regional MMA promotion ever tries to compete with the bigger shows.

The regional pro circuits—they do what TPF has been doing, because they know what they need to do for the sport to move one step closer to becoming widely accepted by the mainstream.

The sooner we take TPF seriously as a promotion that could contribute to the next generations of the next level of competition, the closer this sport could be to becoming accepted by those who may not be quick to accept it now, and who knows:

It’s possible that that regional fighter you’re not paying attention to now, rises to the top and leads the next generation of the “top-tier competition” as pound for pound the best damn fighter in the world, period.

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Two Sheds Review: Knockouts and Scripted Confrontations at Ultimate Challenge 21

With two titles on the line at Stand Your Ground, British MMA is on the agenda again as we take a look at the latest offering from Ultimate Challenge MMA. It was shown this past Wednesday in Britain on Sky Sports.The broadcast began in the welterweight…

The broadcast began in the welterweight division with Trevor Sukonater taking on Bola Omoyele.

There was a great deal of feeling out at the beginning of this one. The first action of note came two minutes into the fight when Omoyele scored with the take down.

Omoyele took control from there, unleashing with the ground and pound. Sukonater went for an arm bar, but all this did was give Omoyele the chance to take side control. After a series of unanswered blows Sukonater tapped to give Omoyele the TKO win.

The welterweight action continued with Ross Pointon facing Dean Amasinger.

As soon as Amasinger scored with the early take down it was obvious how this fight was going to pan out. For three rounds Amasinger dominated on the ground with his reversals and transitions. Pointon had a few good moments, but they weren’t enough to take control away from Amasinger.

Things got worse for Pointon when he earned a point deduction for continually grabbing the fence. But by then it didn’t matter, as all three judges gave the fight to Amasinger.

After a segment which saw co-host Jason Barrett confronting tabloid darling Alex Reid (more on that later) it was on to the heavyweight division as Ian Hawkins took on Ben Smith.

Smith began his assault with an early take down. From there the former champion unloaded with the heavy leather, taking periodic rests so he wouldn’t gas out. The referee stepped in in the last minute of the round to give Smith the TKO win.

Then it was down to the lightweight division as Dominic Plumb faced Michael Pastou.

The controversial fight saw an extensive feeling out period before Pastou went for a take down.

But when Plumb connected with a couple of 12-6 elbows the referee quickly stepped in. Pastou slumped to the ground, and seconds later the fight was called off. The referee disqualified Plumb, giving Pastou the win he didn’t really want.

The first title fight saw Denniston Sutherland challenging the ever youthful Mark Weir for the Middleweight title.

Weir tested the waters with a couple of kicks early on, but it wasn’t long before Sutherland’s combinations sent Weir down to the ground.

An inadvertent poke to Weir’s eye stopped the action for a few seconds, but Sutherland soon picked up where he’d left off with a big right hand that sent the Wizard crashing down again. Weir was out of it was Sutherland took the knockout win and the title.

The main event saw Mark Potter challenging Oli Thompson for the Heavyweight title.

Thompson put in a dominating performance in this one. The former Britain’s Strongest Man champion went for an early take down. Although an inadvertent low blow slowed his progress for a few seconds, he soon went back to work with the ground and pound, opening up a small cut above Potter’s left eye and bloodying his nose.

Seconds later it was all over as Thompson synced in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

In conclusion, this was another great advertisement for British mixed martial arts. A nice night of fight action topped off with two explosive title fights, and another example of how a British MMA promotion doesn’t need to fly in overseas fighters to put on a good show.

However, the only downside was with Jason Barrett/Alex Reid, which was a filmed segment involving Barrett confronting Reid outside his gym before they squared off in the cage. It just came across as a poor professional wrestling-style segment. Was this thing really needed to promote Reid’s possible return to action? This is MMA after all, and not WWE.

But apart from that particular moment the 21st Ultimate Challenge show gets the thumbs up from me. I just hope they stay away from the scripted confrontations in the future.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

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Is ONE Fighting Championship Set to Lead MMA in Asia?

A brand new mixed martial arts promotion ONE Fighting Championship has been set up in Asia. The inaugural event is set to take place in Singapore on September 3 and promises to bring “Asia’s Greatest Battle of Champions” to the 12,000 capa…

ONE Fighting Championship CEO/owner Victor Cui was the driving force behind last year’s successful ESPN Martial Combat FC and also helped to develop a number of extremely successful sporting events such as X Games Asia, World Cup Indoor Soccer, Guinness World Series of Pool, and many others during his time at ESPN Star Sports. He has since left ESPN Star Sports to launch ONE Fighting Championship. As a former Senior Director at ESPN Star Sports, he arguably has the most MMA and sports event management experience for any business executive in Asia. He will rely on that experience to help make this ambitious new promotion the biggest in Asia. Additionally, Cui is rumoured to have a large capital base from a group of foreign investors from the Middle East.

A domestic TV deal has already been secured in Singapore and there are strong rumours that ESPN Star Sports has already taken an equity stake in Cui’s new venture too. Given Cui’s connections, ESPN Star Sports are likely to get on board and broadcast the event to 24 Asian countries, making it the largest MMA event in Asia. Cui’s goal is to focus 100 percent on Asia only and to develop Asian fighters. In terms of competition, Cui points out the smaller Legend Fighting Championship and the well established DREAM FC as his main competitors.

The fledgling Legend Fighting Championship has established itself as the top MMA event in Hong Kong under the leadership of two newly-minted Columbia MBAs despite having a comparatively small budget. The Japanese organization DREAM has a lot of talent on the books but the match making and production seems to be aimed exclusively at a Japanese audience. ONE Fighting Championship aims to have a pan-Asian focus, featuring Asian fighters and/or Asian-based fighters.

ONE Fighting Championship has already put together the largest team in Asia with extensive experience working within Asia and is hoping to use this local knowledge to introduce MMA to an entirely new audience. Equally important, ONE Fighting Championship already has the richest talent pool of fighters in the region.

Early indications are that fighters from Singapore camp Evolve MMA will feature prominently in the first event on September 3, given that it is also located in Singapore. This camp boasts one of the most impressive fight teams outside of the US, with DREAM Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki, Rafael Dos Anjos, and numerous other world champions. Contractual obligations make it highly unlikely that Aoki or Dos Anjos will be fighting for ONE Fighting Championship this year, but a lot of the Evolve MMA fighters who made a name for themselves on Martial Combat FC are likely to be signed.

Zorobabel Moreira Jnr is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion who put in the most impressive performance of his MMA career last weekend when he beat highly experienced Judo Olympian Ferrid Kheder at Dare Fight Sports in Bangkok.

Moreira showed in this fight that he has been working hard on his stand up since suffering a surprise knockout at the hands of exciting prospect Joe Ray, who subsequently signed with Strikeforce. He was able to dominate the stand up exchanges against Kheder and is about to drop down all the way from the middleweight division to the lightweight division where he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

The team at Evolve MMA consists mainly of Thais from a stand up background and Brazilians with an outstanding ground game. Among the Thai fighters are Muay Thai legends Namsaknoi and Anuwat Kaewsamrit and former boxing world champion Yodsanan Sityodtong. All of them have been taking BJJ lessons and Yodsanan is rumoured to be ready for his MMA debut. If this is true he will be one of the most accomplished boxers to ever strap on the 5oz gloves.

While the Thai fighters are at an early stage of their MMA careers, Evolve MMA boasts a number of experienced Brazilians. Arthur Cesar was on an eight-fight win streak until dropping a controversial split decision in his most recent outing and will be a force to be reckoned with at either middleweight or light heavyweight.

Leandro Issa is another BJJ world champion and is about to drop down from bantamweight to featherweight. He is on a run of five consecutive submission wins which have all come using separate submissions. Unbeaten prospects Mitch Chilson and Brian Choi are also likely to be among the contingent of Evolve MMA fighters showcased on the ONE FC cards.

ONE Fighting Championship’s cards are likely to consist mainly, but not exclusively, of Asian and Asian-based mixed martial artists meaning fighters from Tiger Muay Thai are also likely to be involved. BJJ black belt Ray Elbe is currently riding a six-fight win streak and will be looking to dominate the welterweight division. With repeat TMT guests Mike Swick and Roger Huerta about to open their own camp in Phuket it will be interesting to see if more fighters from the US switch to training and even fighting in Asia.

Top rated Filipino fighter Eduard Folayang is almost guaranteed to feature and his Lakay Wushu team mate Kevin Bellingon, an exciting featherweight prospect, might also find himself a home at ONE Fighting Championship. Meanwhile Vuyisille Colossa, a South African based in Hong Kong, is another fighter who is rapidly developing submission skills to go with some world class Muay Thai and looks set to be one of the stars of ONE Fighting Championship.

Half Filipino fighter Ole Laursen, who owns the Legacy Gym in Thailand, is also likely to be back in action. Laursen has already faced some of the best that Asia has to offer in the shape of Genki Sudo and Caol Uno and is currently riding a five figth win streak.

Although the team behind ONE Fighting Championship are promising this new promotion will be bigger and better than Martial Combat, the fighters that impressed on that show are almost guaranteed another shot. Cui is known to have a lot of belief in the likes of Eduard Folayang, Kevin Bellingon, Zoro Moreira, and Leandro Issa and Asian or Asian born fighters such as Ronnie Mann, Taiki Tsuchiya and Justin Cruz have also been linked with the show.

Any talent from China, Japan and Korea is also likely to be of interest and ONE Fighting Championship allegedly has been extremely competitive when it comes to snapping up some of the top mixed martial artists in Asia. Strong rumours indicate that several current and former champions have already signed up with ONE Fighting Championship.

The full fight card has yet to be released but there was so much demand for tickets when they went on sale from Sistic in Singapore that the server was unable to cope and repeatedly crashed, much to the frustration of fight fans.

Such is the excitement that this new promotion has generated that cage side seats sold out almost instantly despite their being very little publicity outside of the MMA media. It appears inevitable that the Singapore Indoor Stadium will be sold out on September 3 for this promotion which aims to be among the most popular on the planet. With a seasoned management team, a ton of capital, and the richest talent pool of Asian fighters in Asia, ONE Fighting Championship is well-poised to take over Asia. The question remains, however, whether the hype is greater than the reality. All indications are that ONE Fighting Championship is the real deal.

For updates on the fight card you can follow One FC on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

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