MMA: Fernandes, Folayang victorious in ONE FC: Pride of a Nation

Eduard Folayang came in carrying the pride of a nation on his back. Against him was a grizzled and skilled Japanese fighter in Felipe Enomoto. As ONE FC head honcho Victor Cui put it, this was the biggest fight in Folayang’s life, co-main-eventing the first foray of ONE FC in the Philippines, ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, Friday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Folayang, the pride of Baguio’s Team Lakay, performed accordingly with a clinical victory over Enomoto. Folayang combined punches and knees with spinning and stepping sidekicks to slowly break down the Japanese fighter. The pride and joy of Philippine mixed martial arts floored Enomoto with a big right just before the end of second round and followed it up with some ground and pound, but Folayang ran out of time just as he looked like he wad ready to finish the fight. In the third round, the Japanese staged a big comeback. Enomoto had the thousands of Filipinos watching nervous but Folayang managed to weather the storm and claim the victory via unanimous decision.

After the fight, it was announced that Folayang will be fighting for ONE FC’s 155 pound title in Singapore next month. The promoters promised that ONE FC: Pride of a Nation would be the best mixed martial arts card that Philippines has ever seen. By the end of the night, the vibe of the crowd inside the Smart-Araneta Coliseum seemed to be that ONE FC delivered what was promised. Main event In the nights’ main event, Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes scored a unanimous decision victory over Gustavo Falciroli of Australia. The two were engaged in a highly technical ground game for most of the fight, with the Brazilian dominating the said position. Ferndandes also landed the better strikes ensuring his successful ONE FC debut. Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia renewed their rivalry with yet another slugfest. The two have met three times prior, with Sylvia winning two fights and Arlovski scoring one victory. The first round was an all-out brawl with both men connecting heavy punches. Near the end of the second, Arlovski knocked Sylvia down with a vicious right-left-right combination just before the round ended. However, Arlovski connected with illegal kicks to a downed opponent which caused a lull in the action. The fight was later ruled a no-contest after Sylvia was deemed unable to continue after the illegal kick. It was a anti-climactic finish to one of the most awaited fights of the card, but it was definitely fun while it lasted. The stacked MMA card started off with a bang as Baguio’s Honorio Banario defeated Andrew Benibe by knockout in the third round. Banario was the aggressor early on and he was able to floor Benibe multiple times throughout the fight. Banario pressed the action in the third round as he caught the visibly tired Benibe with a lot of unanswered blows to the head. The end came when Benibe fell from a right hand, which prompted the referee to stop the fight. In another bout, Eric Kelly staked his undefeated run as a professional MMA fighter against UFC veteran Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver. It was a tremendous step up in competition for Kelly and he passed it without a hitch, scoring a big second round knockout and getting what is by far the biggest victory of his career. Kelly landed two big rights early in the second round and proceeded to pummel Pulver into submission. “This might be the Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines right here,” Pulver said of Kelly. After the fight, it was announced that Kelly will face Banario on October 6 in Singapore for ONE FC’s 145 pound title. Premature stoppage In the other fights, Shannon “OneShine” Wiratchai of Thailand was the beneficiary of what the crowd felt as a premature stoppage over Mitch “The Dragon” Chilson. Chilson dominated the first round, taking down the Thai kick boxing expert and landing some punches and elbows on the ground. However, Wiratchai caught Chilson with a right hand that knocked him down in the second round. Chilson got up and appeared to be okay but the referee decided to stop the fight. The always entertaining UFC veteran Phil Baroni was the next to wow the crowd as he made short work of Rodrigo “Ximbica” Ribeiro of Brazil. Baroni floored Ribeiro in the opening seconds of the fight with a stiff right hand. The man they call ‘the New York Bad Ass’ finished his opponent off with a series of kicks to Ribeiro’s head, while the Brazilian was helpless on the ground. Baroni proceeded to start his after-party as he danced in the cage to the delight of the crowd. Reigning URCC champion Nicholas “The Apprentice” Mann, representing Hybrid Yaw-Yan stepped into the ring to battle the first of three Gracies scheduled to appear that night. Gregor Gracie made short work of Mann as he took him down, mounted him, and proceeded to lock in an impressive armbar to finish the fight. In the first of three Filipino versus foreigner matches in the card, Soo Chul Kim of Korea defeated Kevin Belingon of Team Lakay Manila. Kim scored an array of takedowns in the first two rounds and kept Belingon on the ground. The Filipino mounted a comeback in the third round but it was too little too late as the judges scored the fight in favor of the gassed out Korean. UFC: Gangnam Style The happiest moment of the night featured Korean fighter Jung Hwan Cha as he walked into the ring Gangnam Style. The ring girls joined in the dance to the delight of the crowd. The Korean who was fighting outside his home country for the very first time made a good account of himself as he engaged Igor Gracie in a highly technical grappling match. The exciting match featured a lot of near finishes with Gracie almost sinking in an armbar in the first round and Cha catching Gracie in a crucifix in the second round. Cha connected with a big right followed be a flying knee in the third round that hurt Gracie. The Korean ended the night with some ground and pound, winning the fight by stoppage. The last of the Gracies in the fight card was Rolles Gracie, who faced Tony Bonello from Australia. Bonello was the first to attack, catching Gracie with a kick. However, the talented Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert quickly turned it into a takedown and a full mount seconds after. Gracie’s superior skill in the ground was the difference in the fight. Gracie took Bonello’s back and sunk in a deep rear naked choke to end the fight early in the third round. The production of the entire card was tremendous, featuring giant sized photos of the fighters in the arena and vignettes featuring all of the fighters involved. Lenne Hardt, the former voice of Pride FC, was tapped as the announcer of the card, which added the familiar big fight atmosphere to the card. ONE FC took the Philippines by storm and by the looks of it, Filipino MMA fans should expect more fight cards like this coming to Philippine shores in the near future. - AMD, GMA News