ONE Championship had a bombastic debut in Japan in March and now erupts in Manila with a follow-through event called ONE: Roots of Honor.
ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen defends his title against Mongolian legend Narantungalag Jadambaa in the main event. The co-main event is the much-awaited championship rematch between Japan’s newly crowned ONE Strawweight World Champion Yosuke Saruta and the man he defeated in Jakarta in January: Joshua Pacio, the youngest ONE Lakay hero who is out to redeem himself and get back his lost pride after Haruta, a last minute replacement, shocked him in ONE: Eternal Glory.
Pacio was to have faced Hayato Suzuki in a rematch in JK, but an injury knocked Suzuki out of action and was replaced by Haruta. The Japanese shooto veteran with 29 professional bouts under his belt wasn’t given much of a chance to defeat Pacio. There didn’t seem anyone who could stand up to the young Igorot warrior in his class, but Saruta would prove he wasn’t just a replacement challenger. He came to win. And although the split decision rendered by the judges in Saruta’s favor did not convince all and sundry, he now owns the belt that used to gird Pacio’s chassis.
On Friday, Pacio has a double mission on his young shoulders when he goes into the ONE cage at Mall of Asia Arena. He must prove he is the better martial artist between himself and the Japanese, careful not to get carried away this time by over confidence. More important, he must hold the Team Lakay banner aloft in front of a hometown crowd. A win will restore the legendary team’s honor in ONE especially since Lakay champions Eduard Folayang and Kevin Belingon lost their belts collectively in Japan in late March.
“I know Joshua Pacio has a lot of fans here, and I respect him as a martial artist. All I can say is that we will both bring our best into the cage this Friday night. It’s going to be an exciting fight, and I plan on getting my hand raised in the end as the victor, said Saruta, nicknamed The Ninja.
“I would like to thank ONE Championship for giving me another chance to fight for the title. I know the magnitude of this matchup and how important this rematch is. I wasn’t at my best in that first fight, so I want to go out there and prove that I can do much better. He’s a great fighter, and I have so much respect for him. But I have the hopes and dreams of an entire country on my shoulders, and I can’t let the fans down. I’m coming to regain the belt. It’s going to be a war this Friday,” Pacio countered.
Besides Pacio, three more Filipinos—brothers Eric and Edward Kelly and Ramon Gonzales—will fight for Filipino pride on the ONE cage on Friday. But the drive for Pinoy glory is just one intriguing theme to watch out for in this hugely popular ONE event. There are others.
A plethora of countries represented
Besides the Philippines, the Vietnamese and Australian flags (represented by Nguyen) will be waved on Friday.The other countries that will be represented are: Japan, China, Korea, Mongolia, Brazil, Indonesia, United States, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Romania, Morocco, Serbia, Afghanistan and Singapore. Sixteen different flags will be carried in the Philippines, total.
Three different disciplines
In addition to mixed martial arts, a kickboxing match and two muay thai bouts will be in the cards.
Biggest KO artists
Many athletes in ONE: Roots of Honor have impressive KO numbers. China’s Kai Tang has eight victories in 10 professional bouts, all of them by TKO or KO. His 100-percent KO rate is the highest on the card. Japanese strawweight Akihiro Fujisawa has four of his five wins by KO or TKO. Nguyen himself has a 64-percent KO rate. Seven of his 11 victories have come by KO or TKO—impressive because he began his career as a grappler. Last, the 39-year-old Luis Santos from Brazil doesn’t have one of the three highest KO rates, but his 37 wins by KO/TKO is by far the most of any athlete on the card.
Greatest submission specialists
Eric Kelly has 12 wins in his career, and nine of them have come by submission. His 75-percent submission rate is the most impressive of any athlete on the card. Also noteworthy in the area of submissions is Leandro Issa’s 10 subs in 16 wins and Pacio’s seven submissions in 13 wins.
Promotional debuts
ONE: Roots of Honor marks the debut of two martial artists: Indonesia’s Eko Roni Saputra and Vietnam’s Bi Nguyen. Nguyen was a celebrated addition to ONE, having been on the hit reality game show Survivor. She will compete for the first time with Dwi Ani Retno Wulan who has a 4-3 record.
The undefeated
There are athletes on the card who have never tasted defeat. Saputra, Wulan (1-0) and Akihiro Fujisawa (5-0) are all undefeated, but the no-loss martial artist who stands out the most is the American James Nakashima. He puts his undefeated 10-0 record on the line against the dangerous Santos.
Hometown heroes
Pinoy love will pour out not just for Pacio, but also for the Brothers Kelly and Ramon Gonzales who will open the show against the hard-punching Fujisawa.
The champions and challengers
Martin Nguyen hasn’t competed since losing a battle for the interim ONE Bantamweight World Title in July 2018. He suffered an injury that has kept him out of action since that unanimous-decision defeat. Nguyen made ONE history by reigning as both ONE Lightweight and Featherweight World Champion, and challenged Bibiano Fernandes for his bantamweight belt. Nguyen still holds the featherweight strap and will defend it on Friday. ONE Featherweight World Champion Jadambaa has twice tasted defeat against Russia’s Marat Gafurov who was, in turn, conquered by Nguyen. Jadambaa’s mindset is to do what Gafurov could not do.