MANILA, Philippines — Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon seeks to make the most of his shot at glory as he battles Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen for the ONE Interim Bantamweight world title tonight in the main bout of the ONE Reign of Kings at MOA Arena.
Belingon, who’s unbeaten in his last five fights, looks to outclass two-division champ Nguyen and line himself up for a long-cherished unification bout with bantam kingpin Bibiano Fernandes.
“This is without a doubt the biggest bout of my career. Everything that I have worked on to this point, all the countless nights spent in the gym, endless rolls with my teammates at Team Lakay, all the wins and the sacrifices, it all comes down to this,” said Belingon (18-5).
The 30-year-old pride of Baguio sets out to stop the juggernaut of Australian-Vietnamese Nguyen, who is gunning to become the first three-division champ in MMA history. Nguyen achieved a milestone when he captured the ONE featherweight and lightweight belts via cracking knockout victories over Mara Gafurov and Pinoy hero Eduard Folayang, respectively.
“I took this challenge against Martin Nguyen, despite having a guaranteed shot at Bibiano Fernandes already, because I wanted to prove that I never back down from any challenge no matter how big or small,” said Belingon.
“Beating Martin will be huge for my career. He is a two-division world champion at both featherweight and lightweight. If I defeat him, I just beat a two-division world champion. Think about that for a second. I am excited to get into the cage this Friday night and do what I do best,” he added.
For his part, Nguyen (11-2) said: “We are both hungry, and we are both determined for victory. I have worked extremely hard for this matchup and I am set on my goal, which is the ONE Bantamweight World Championship and to become a three-division world champion and make history. Nothing can stop me from achieving that goal. I feel that this is my time.”
Former lightweight champ Shinya Aoki of Japan and Thai star Shannon Wiratchai duke it out in the co-main event while Brazilian living legend Renzo Gracie and Japanese great Yuki Kondo mix it up at welterweight and redemption-seeking Folayang takes on undefeated Russian Aziz Pahrudinov in the other matchups.