Belingon ready for another world title shot

MANILA — Kevin Belingon of Baguio City's Team Lakay is confident that he is now more than ready to give a title shot one more go following his dominant performance against Andrew Leone in the main event of 'ONE: Heroes of Honor' Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Belingon, 30, dismantled a world class grappler in Leone in front of a packed arena to place himself as the undeniable number one contender to Bibiano Fernandes' ONE bantamweight world title.

"I prepared really hard for this bout so I can fight from any angle inside the ring. When I felt that I can overpower him, I went for the takedown and thrown elbows and knees until the referee stopped the fight," said Belingon.

"I was confident even if the fight went to the ground. The team did repetitions on the basics of wrestling and jiu-jitsu which is also somehow a preparation for a possible title shot."

Belingon fell short in his first world title bid in 2016 when he was submitted in the very first round by Fernandes. Five consecutive victories against top tier competition and two years after, Belingon feels ready for a rematch against the reigning champion.

"I am more than ready to fight for the title once again," says Belingon.

"Of course I still have to improve the techniques I have to improve so when it's time to face the champion everything is complete and ready. There's always something to improve. Every athlete has a weakness, for us we have to continue improving our ground game." —ALG, GMA News