ONE Fighting Championship kicked off its inaugural Bantamweight Grand Prix in October of last year, and the tournament featured some of the biggest names in both Asian and North American Mixed Martial Arts.
Jens Pulver, Kevin Belingon, Thanh Vu and Masakatsu Ueda won their respective bouts in the Quarter-Finals, and according to BloodyElbow.com, these gentleman are set to do battle again at ONE FC 8: Kings & Champions.
Headlined by a Lightweight Championship showdown between current title-holder Kotetsu Boku and grappling maestro Shinya Aoki, ONE FC 8: Kings & Champions is set to take place on April 5th, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium situated in Singapore. The event will also feature Eddie Ng vs. Arnaud Lepont & Leandro Issa vs. Yusup Saadulaev.
ONE FC 8: Kings & Champions will be aired ‘LIVE’ on STAR SPORTS across Asia. The event is set to be available in 28 countries to an estimated 500 million viewers.
A former UFC Lightweight Champion, the legendary Jens Pulver (27-17-1) will face Masakatsu Ueda (16-2-2), a veteran in the Shooto ranks. Pulver gained a technical decision victory over Zhao Ya Fei in his road to the Semi-Finals, and is 3-2 in his last 5 bouts. Ueda, in the meantime, scored a hard-fought Unanimous Decision win over Min Jung Song to book his spot in the Semi-Finals. The 35-year-old is 4-1 in his past 5 outings, with the lone defeat coming at the hands of Travis Marx at Bellator 64.
The second Semi-Final bout will see Team Lakay’s Kevin Belingon (10-2) locking horns with Thanh Vu (3-1). The latter fighter competed at ONE FC 7: Return of Warriors on February 2nd, and will be looking to make it 3 wins on the trot. Belingon, on the other hand, is 1-2 under the ONE FC banner. Following back-to-back defeats against Soo Chul Kim and Masakatzu Imanari, ‘The Silencer’ managed to get his first ONE FC win last year when he TKO’ed Russian Yusup Saadulaev in the opening stages of the promotion’s Bantamweight Grand-Prix at ONE FC 6: Rise of Kings.
Keep it locked to MMASucka.com as we bring you more news and updates with regards to this event.
As it stands, here’s the updated fight card:
- Kotetsu Boku vs. Shinya Aoki (For ONE FC Lightweight strap)
- Arnaud Lepont vs. Eddie Ng
- Leandro Issa vs. Yusup Saadulaev
- Jens Pulver vs. Masakatsu Ueda (ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Bout)
- Kevin Belingon vs. Thanh Vu (ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Bout)
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