Following an impressive debut event in December 2013, REBEL Fighting Championship is going big with its second numbered installment in August later this year.
Officials confirmed yesterday with MMASucka.com that an eight-man Featherweight knockout-style championship tournament is set to commence at REBEL FC 2: Battle Royale.
The event takes place August 1 at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The tournament structure begins with 8 men competing in four quarter-final contests. The winners of the fights will go on to compete in two semi-final bouts and subsequently, the grand final. The eventual victor will be crowned as the promotion’s inaugural Featherweight champion.
It won’t, however, be a one-night tourney. Only the quarter-final fights will take place on August 1 with the the semi-final and grand final tilts taking place at a later date.
“This tournament is for the fighters at the top their game to come and compete until the last man who will be crowned the king of the battle,” said REBEL FC CEO, Justin Leong. “We aim to give fans of MMA an ultimate knockout show this year. There will be much action and many things to look forward to with this show.”
It looks like REBEL FC is following the exact concept that PRIDE headed in, and it’ll be interesting to see how successful this new venture will turn out to be.
While no details have been released in terms of who makes up the rest of the card and what not, seven spots have already been filled for the tournament, and it features top-ranked 145-lbs contenders.
They include Miguel Torres (41-7), Will Chope (19-6), Yojiro Uchimura (11-7-3), Reydon Romero (7-4), Michael Tobin (8-0), Pat Pomrangka (5-4) and Mauricio Dos Jr. (10-8). The promotion will announce the final competitor on a later date.
Torres, 33, is a former WEC Bantamweight champion who was once considered the best fighter in the world at 135-lbs. The American remained unbeaten in almost a decade at one point in time, in a spell that saw him pick up a stellar record of 30-1. Torres recently snapped a rough patch in both the UFC and WSOF by picking up his first win in nearly three years just two months ago. Torres will be seen as an early favorite by many to claim the tourney crown.
Chope, a lanky Californian, is a long-time staple in the Asian MMA scene. The 23-year-old was recently released by the UFC after a Bleacher Report article detailing his domestic violence past surfaced online. Prior to his UFC debut which ended in a TKO defeat, Chope was on a tear with a fourteen fight win streak. He is scheduled to fight in PRO FC 9 on May 25 next month.
Uchimura, from Japan, is a former ZST Featherweight champion. While almost all of his 11 victories have ended by way of KO or TKO, the 29-year-old will looking to get in the win column after a 0-2-1 stretch in the second half of 2013.
Romero, the reigning champion of the URCC, stands out as one of the Philippines’ most experienced Featherweights with notable bouts against the likes of Dave Galera, the aforementioned Chope, Ricardo Sapno and Jessie Rafols among others. All of Romero’s bouts have taken place under the URCC banner to date, so the Filipino fighter will be making his debut on foreign soil come fight night.
Tobin, from Australia, is one of the country’s hottest prospects with an unblemished record in his resume. After starting his pro MMA career in 2012, ‘The Great White’ has amassed eight bouts to date with only one of those fights going to a decision. He is a submission ace, with all his stoppage victories coming via submission.
Adopted Australian Promrangka, is a BRACE veteran, who got off to an 0-2 start to his career. He has since gone on a 5-2 run and has in fact, never seen the distance in any of his contests to date. Although his record may be circumvent, the Thai native has garnered a reputation for drag-out wars and is always willing to stand in front of his opponents while trading punches. Promrangka is expected to compete under the Valor flag in June before making his promotional debut in REBEL FC.
WOCS staple, Dos, has fought some of the toughest fighters in Brazil, including UFC veteran Wagner Campos and current Bellator champion, Eduardo Dantas. He’s 3-2 in his past five outings and has primarily competed in his home country, Brazil, to date. As with Promrangka and Chope, Dos also has an upcoming bout in the summer.
The brackets will be announced on May 8, at an official media launch, where the fighters will be selected at random in front of the masses for their respective quarter-final bout. It’s certainly a unique approach that could make for a tense and exciting viewing that will generate plenty of talking points.
It’s also well worth noting that all the fighters were chosen based on their finishing rate. On average, 90% of their victories finished with either a knockout or submission.
“This will make for an edge-of-your-seat experience for fans and casual viewers of MMA,” Leong concluded. “There is likelihood that most, if not all of the fights in BATTLE ROYALE will end up as spectacular finishes.”
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