Belingon, Catalan face tough foes in ONE FC

SINGAPORE – Kevin Belingon and Rene Catalan showcase their mixed martial arts skills as they take on a pair of tough rivals in tonight’s ONE Fighting Championship: Kings & Champions at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kellang here.

Belingon, fighting out of Team Lakay, slugs it out with Vietnamese-Australian Vu Thanh in one of the semifinal matches in the ONE FC bantamweight Grand Prix while Catalan, representing Fighting Empire, will make his debut against  Brazilian Jiu-jitsu expert Alex Silva in a flyweight bout.

A victory by Belingon, coming off a first round technical knockout win over Russian Yusup Saadulaev in ONE FC: Rise of Kings here last year, will boost his standing in the bantamweight class.

“I’ve really prepared hard for this and I’m confident I’ll win,” said Belingon, who owns a 10-2 (win-loss) record, in Filipino hours before last night’s official weigh-in at the Grand Cathay at Handy Road.

Belingon said he’s motivated by fellow Team Lakay fighter Honorio Banario, who pulled off a shock win over Eric Kelly in last February’s ONE FC: Return of Warriors in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the featherweight crown, becoming the first Filipino to win in the ONE FC.

“That is really motivation, to become a champion like him (Banario),” said the 25-year-old Belingon, who, however, faces a tougher challenge in Vu, rated as one of the top prospects in his weight class in Australia, where he competes for Grappler’s Realm Australia.

The winner could end up fighting the victor in the equally exciting showdown between former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titlist Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver and Japanese Shooto world champion Masakatsu Ueda, also in the same fightcard.

“It’s not important to me who I fight next, what’s important is who I’ll fight to win now, I’ll just take it one fight at a time,” said Belingon.

For Catalan, the former SEA and Asian Games gold medalist in wushu, knows he’ll have to rely on his spectacular striking skills against Silva’s rock-solid ground and pound.

Against Silva, Catalan will face a jiu-jitsu champ who has a gold medal, a pair of silvers and a bronze to show from the Mundials, the most prestigious Brazilian Jiu-jitsu tournament in the world today.

“I just want to win on my first MMA fight and represent the Phl well,” said Catalan.

In last night’s weigh in, fans had autograph sessions with some fighters, including tonight’s headliners.