Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon and Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly of the famed Team Lakay are back in the ONE cage as they tackle separate opponents in this August 18 in ONE: Quest for Greatness at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Belingon, with a professional record of 15-5 including six big knockouts, will again have to bank on his being a fierce competitor and ability to finish opponents in a variety of methods in facing Reece “Lightning” McLaren of Australia.
The 29-year old wushu stalwart recently stopped Finnish grappling sensation Toni “Dynamite” Tauru with a volley of devastating strikes.
McLaren is 25-year old is a Filipino-Australian professional martial artist from Toowoomba, Australia.He made his ONE Championship debut in 2015 with a spectacular submission victory over top bantamweight contender Mark Striegl, and then followed up that win with a unanimous decision over highly-regarded prospect Muin Gafurov.
In his last bout, McLaren challenged Bibiano Fernandes for the ONE Bantamweight World Championship, falling just short of victory by way of split decision.
Meawhile, the 33-year old Kelly seeks to continue his amazing run against Emilio “The Honey Badger” Urrutia of Florida, USA.
One of the brightest featherweight prospects to emerge from the Philippines, Kelly has won his last three outings by spectacular finish. In his last bout, Kelly scored a third-round technical knockout of veteran competitor Sunoto of Indonesia.
Kelly will have to rely on his complete striking and grappling skills along with Team Lakay’s world-renowned wushu to upend Urrutia.
Urrutia is a 30-year old American martial artist from Miami who made his professional debut in 2013. The skilled grappler has since produced a solid 9-4 recordthat includes four by submission. The renowned Tiger Muay Thai gym in Thailand and Juggernaut Fight Club in Singapore mainstay is set to make his ONE Championship debut as a featherweight against Kelly.
Also seeing action in the card are 26-year old Robin Catalan of Iloilo City, Philippines, and 38-year old Rene “The Challenger” Catalan of Manila. Robin is set to face former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke of Thailand while Rene would grapple China prospect Bu Huo You Ga.
Elsewhere, Danny Kingad, Joshua Pacio and Eric “The Natural” Kelly also get to see action inside the ONE cage.
Kingad takes on Mongolia’s Hexigetu on July 29 at ONE: Conquest of Kings at the GOR Kertajaya Arena in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Joshua Pacio and Eric “The Natural” Kelly will try to improve their already impressive records as they make the draw of ONE: Kings & Conquerors this August 5 in Macau.
Pacio is looking to bring himself back to title contention as he is slated to lock horns with Hayato Suzuki of Saitama, Japan while Eric Kelly, coming off back-to-back losses, tries to get back on track against tough South Korean, now Japan based striker Kotetsu “No Face” Boku.
Local MMA enthusiasts can see these ONE bouts and events in television in two of the biggest TV stations in the country.
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
