ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90% market share has added another four bouts to ONE FC: REIGN OF CHAMPIONS, set to take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 29 August. The event is set to be the largest in mixed martial arts history and will feature multiple ONE FC World Championship bouts.
ONE FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki will make the first defence of his title since winning it last April 2013 against Kotetsu Boku. This time he will take on veteran Kamal Shalorus of Iran. Mixed martial arts superstar Roger Huerta will also return to action to take on the undefeated Christian Holley. Former WBO and IBA boxing world champion Ana Julaton will also return to the ONE FC cage to take on decorated Wushu and Kickboxing champion, Irina Mazepa. The event will feature a clash between top Featherweights Herbert Burns and Hiroshige Tanaka as well.
The four bouts have been added to the stacked card which features a main event title fight between Ben Askren and Nobutatsu Suzuki for the ONE FC Welterweight World Championship, which has been previously announced.
CEO of ONE Fighting Championship™ Victor Cui stated, “ONE FC: REIGN OF CHAMPIONS is set to be the biggest night in the history of mixed martial arts! A historic four ONE FC World Championships will be on the line on 29 August and will feature some of the greatest mixed martial artists from all over the world. Shinya Aoki is the greatest grappler in mixed martial arts but he will be tested when he takes on Kamal Shalorus, who has been on a tear since joining ONE FC. Fans are in store for a historic night featuring world class and adrenaline-pumping mixed martial arts action!”
Shinya Aoki is known as one of the most dangerous submission artists in mixed martial arts today. A former DREAM Lightweight Champion, he earned his most prestigious title with a quick submission victory over then ONE FC Lightweight World Champion, Kotetsu Boku, at ONE FC: KINGS & CHAMPIONS last year. He is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the legendary Yuki Nakai, and boasts 23 wins via submission.
Kamal ‘Prince Of Persia’ Shalorus is a former national wrestler who transitioned to mixed martial arts after mixed martial artists began to seek him out for his wrestling expertise. Despite beginning his career as a wrestler, Shalorus has four knockout victories which showcase the power he possesses. He has won both his bouts impressively since debuting in Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization, and has earned the biggest opportunity in his life as he takes on grappling legend Aoki.
Roger Huerta is a renowned mixed martial arts superstar and one of the most recognizable faces in the sport. He began his career impressively by winning 20 of his first 23 bouts, before moving on to star in several movies. Huerta is determined to return to mixed martial arts action with a bang, but will face a stern test in the undefeated up-and-comer, Christian Holley.
Christian Holley is an undefeated mixed martial artist. Originally from England, he spent most of his life in Spain having moved there when he was five years old. He has finished eight of the 10 opponents he has faced thus far, all in impressive fashion. Having reached the pinnacle of the sport in Europe, Holley has set his sights on conquering the lightweight division in ONE FC and he gets the opportunity when he faces the biggest test of his career so far in Roger Huerta.
Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton is the first Filipina boxer to win the women’s WBO Super Bantamweight and IBA Super Bantamweight World Championships. Julaton’s signing with ONE FC marks her first step to becoming a two-sport athlete. Her overpowering attacks in the ring earned her the nickname “The Hurricane” and made her a fan favorite in the Philippines. It took her only seven professional bouts to win a championship in boxing and she hopes her mixed martial arts career will be equally successful. She made a successful ONE FC debut by defeating Aya Saber and will return to the ONE FC cage looking for the second win in her mixed martial arts career.
Russia’s Mazepa is a decorated kickboxer and wushu practitioner. She is a six-time world champion in wushu and a K-1 world champion. Mazepa started practicing wushu when she was seven years old. After winning all the possible titles and medals offered in the sport, both nationally and internationally, Mazepa decided to transition into other combat sports at the age of 25. Her thirst for competition took her into other striking arts such as Muay Thai and boxing. Mazepa has prided herself on sourcing the best possible competition in order to truly test herself. The flyweight combatant will now try her hand at MMA inside the ONE FC cage with hopes of becoming a world champion.
Herbert Burns is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who represents Evolve MMA in Singapore. Originally from Brazil, he made a successful ONE FC debut by submitting Edward Kelly last December, and followed that up with a unanimous decision victory over former Harris Sarmiento earlier this year. An impressive victory over Tanaka will extend his undefeated record to four and push him to the forefront of potential contenders for the ONE FC Featherweight World Championship.
Hiroshige Tanaka is one of the best Featherweights from Japan. He is riding a seven-fight winning streak and has defeated some of the top featherweights in the region. Tanaka is a deadly striker who possesses knockout power in both hands. Tanaka will make his ONE FC debut against one of the best grapplers in the division and it will be interesting to see how this classic matchup between striker and grappler plays out.
Fans in Asia can catch all the action live on STAR Sports. Check your local listings. Also, fans from around the world can witness the action online via live streaming at www.onefc.livesport.tv. The event will be available for purchase at just US$9.99.
