A trio of under-card fights were confirmed by ONE Fighting Championship today, with regards to its ‘Rise to Power’ event which is set to place on May 31st at the MOA Arena situated in Manila, Philippines.
Up-and-coming MMA starlet Lowen Tynanes (4-0) is set to battle returning ONE FC veteran, Felipe Enomoto (6-5) in the Lightweight division. The other 2 preliminary bouts will see former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (31-8 [1]) taking on Tony Johnson Jr. (6-1), and Ryan Diaz (13-13) squaring-off against wrestling maestro, Yusup Saadulaev (9-3).
Tynanes was first dragged into the limelight following his win over the much-fancied Eduard Folayang at URCC 22 – Dekada. He then established himself as one of the region’s surging MMA prospects, when he became the first fighter to stop Vuyisile Colossa at ONE FC 7: Return of Warriors. On May 31st, Tynanes will be making his 2nd appearance under the ONE FC banner and his rise to MMA stardom has been somewhat incredible, given what he has accomplished in just 4 professional bouts.
Despite having 5 losses to his credit, Felipe Enomoto will always be known as a warrior who leaves it all in the cage. The 30-year-old has suffered back-to-back defeats against Eduard Folayang and Zorobabel Moreira, finding himself in a must-win situation. And although the Swiss native is 1-4 in his past 5 outings, he has faced stiff competition before in the form of Rich Clementi, Akira Corassani and Ole Laursen, making him a worthy foe for Tynanes by all standards.
Tim Sylvia will need no introductions whatsoever to the MMA community. A veteran of 40 professional MMA fights, Sylvia’s fight career spans over 11 years. A former title-holder in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Sylvia has faced some of the best fighters the world has to offer, including Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Mir, Randy Couture and ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira. With that said, Sylvia’s last appearance in ONE FC came against Andrei Arlovski, an opponent he was meeting across the cage for the 4th time in his career. A bizarre open-attack rule deemed that fight to be ruled a no-contest, when Arlovski delivered a kick that was not legal. Sylvia is now 3-1(1) in his past 5 bouts, with the lone defeat coming at the hands of Satoshi Ishii.
And his opponent will be none-other than Tony Johnson Jr., a highly rated wrestler who will be making his promotional debut on May 31st. Johnson has not fought in a professional MMA bout since 2011, and it’ll be interesting to see if cage rust will be a factor in the American’s first fight in Asia. The only defeat of Johnson’s career came under the KOTC banner, when he succumbed to a Rear-Naked Choke submission by Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion, Daniel Cormier. Since then, Johnson has racked up 2 straight victories, with his most recent win coming against Derrick Lewis at Bellator 46.
Ryan Diaz was originally slated to compete against Thanh Vu in the opening stages of the Bantamweight Grand Prix at ONE FC 7: Return of Warriors last year, but an injury forced the Tiger Muay Thai native out of the contest. A former KOTC title-holder, Diaz boasts a resume that includes high-profile bouts with the likes of Mark Hominick, Nam Phan and Eddie Yagin.
Welcoming the 34-year-old to the Singapore-based promotion will be Russian ‘Maestro’ Yusup Saadulaev, a fighter who has gone 0-2 in his stint with ONE FC thus far. Saadulaev may in fact be going through a Jekyll and Hyde phase in his career right now, but his performances have caught the eye of many combat fans worldwide with his continued display of suplexes during his fights. He was last seen at ONE FC 8: Kings & Champions, where he dropped a Unanimous Decision defeat to Evolve MMA’s Leandro Issa.
Fans from around the world can witness ONE FC 9: Rise to Power online via live streaming at www.onefc.livesport.tv. The above mentioned undercard fights will be available for viewing free-of-charge and the main card fights will be available for purchase at just US$9.99.
The 9th installment of ONE FC will be headlined by a ONE FC Featherweight World Championship bout between reigning champion Honorio Banario and Koji Oishi. Pound-for-pound king Bibiano Fernandes will also be taking on Koetsu Okazaki for the ONE FC Bantamweight Interim Title.
Keep it locked to MMASucka.com for more news and updates regarding ONE FC 9: Rise to Power.
As it stands, here’s the updated fight card:
- Honorio Banario vs. Koji Oishi (For ONE FC Featherweight strap)
- Bibiano Fernandes vs. Koetsu Okazaki (For Interim ONE FC Bantamweight strap)
- Kevin Belingon vs. Masakatsu Ueda (ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix Final)
- Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Rey Docyogen
- Kamal Shalorus vs. Eduard Folayang
- Phil Baroni vs. Nobutatsu Suzuki
- Andrew Leone vs. Geje Eustaquio
- Lowen Tynanes vs. Felipe Enomoto
- Tim Sylvia vs. Tony Johnson Jr.
- Ryan Diaz vs. Yusup Saadulaev
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IsQOwGJ04ak
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