IT’S still a month away, almost to the day, but the next ONE Championship fight scheduled in Manila is already making a lot of buzz in the martial arts subculture.
Billed as “the greatest night in Philippine martial arts history,” ONE: Dawn of Heroes boasts of a stacked card described as “epic” and MMA fans are definitely going to have a field day on Friday, August 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
For the record, here are the fights in store: a World Title showdown between newly crowned ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World champion Jonathan Haggerty and fierce Thai competitor Rodtang Jitmuangnon in the main event; a battle between lightweight mixed martial arts icons Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and four-time world champ Eddie “The Underground” Alvarez”; two ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix semifinal bouts between 12-time Flyweight World Champion Demetrious Johnson and DEEP Flyweight World Champion Tatsumita Wada, plus another one between Philippine Lakay phenom Danny Kingad and ONE Flyweight World Champion Kairat Akhmetov of Kazakhstan. Then, a ONE Featherweight semifinal bout between former ONE world champion Honorio Banario of the Philippines versus deadly knockout artist Timofey Nastyukin of Russia.
The Pinoy heroes are well known even to new mixed martial arts fans. But the international fighters are something to get excited about, as well. Definitely going to make a splash is the young and spectacular Haggerty, 22, from England who is just 15 bouts into his professional career. He got into muay thai at the tender age of 7 and got his first bout at 8. Evolving into a phenomenal striker, he racked up multiple amateur achievements in muay thai to win English and British titles and ultimately became a European champion. After turning pro, he dominated his way across the globe, knocking out almost every opponent to date on the way to becoming a Roar Combat League World Champion.
Haggerty made a stunning debut in ONE Championship, by defeating Muay Thai World Champion Joseph “The Italian Stallion” Lasiri last April. He then dispatched legendary Muay Thai World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in May 2019 to snag the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title, which he is laying on the line in the main event against the tricky Thai, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, on August 2.
For his part, Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jotmuangnon is full of both kinetic and bottled up energy that’s ready to explode any minute. Even younger than Haggerty at 21, he has already had more than 300 professional bouts. Like Haggerty, he started young, fighting his first muay thai bout in a small Southern Thailand village and conquering it, at just 8 years old. Unlike Haggerty, he has a humbler background, with the family income coming from his parents’ work in a rubber tree farm that provided neither daily wages nor job security. These challenging circumstances spurred Rodtang on to help out, with martial arts as the golden provider. Now, Rodtang has become one of the biggest names in muay thai. His heavy hands, tenacity and explosive style have stunned audiences in many countries, including Manila where he outclassed intercontinental Muay Thai champion Fadi Khaled from Tunisia in January 2019 in ONE: Hero’s Ascent.
For Rodtang, applying pressure is everything in the ring. This approach has helped him a great deal in his career, but that’s an area where Haggerty has proven successful too. When these two men’s styles meet, fans should get ready for an action-packed affair.
Folayang’s opponent, Eddie Alvarez, is a martial arts legend. Formerly from UFC, this four-time champion is the first and only fighter to have won championships in Bellator MMA and UFC. Exciting to watch, Alvarez grew up in Kensington, one of the roughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia. A wrestling standout in high school, he used martial arts as a way to build a better life for his family and turned pro as early as he could. Having conquered Bellator and UFC, he is now deadest on adding the Asian circuit among his conquered territory.
At ONE: A New Era in Japan last March, Folayang lost his ONE Lightweight World Title via first-round submission to Shinya Aoki. On the same card, Alvarez lost his promotional debut via first-round TKO to Timofey Nastyuhkin, eliminating him from the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix. This time the two legends are out to redeem lost pride and show who is mightier in the Asian realm. Fans should look out for how the two men, both strikers, will maneuver around each other. How they defend against each other will be key.
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is another must-watch in ONE: Dawn of Heroes. An MMA superstar, this crossover from UFC is widely considered to be one of the greatest pound for pound mixed martial artists of all time. In 2018 he set a record in North America by successfully defending his title 11 times. “DJ” advanced to the semifinal round of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix at ONE: A New Era by submitting Yuya Wakamatsu. This time he will face Tatsumitsu Wada, another Japanese, in August. Wada is the obvious underdog against Johnson who has his eyes on the Grand Prix Finals. The winner of Johnson-Wada will face the winner of the Danny Kingad-Kairat Ahkmetov fight in the flyweight final.
Akhmetov, 23-2, an impressive Greco Roman wrestler, will test Danny Kingad’s prowess in fighting right-handed opponents in the other Grand Prix semifinal. Team Lakay Coach Mark Sangiao says Kingad, a complete fighter, will be ready any which way.
Meanwhile, Honorio Banario is back in the Grand Prix loop and will face Timofey Nastyuhkin in the lightweight semi for the right to face Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev in the Final. Win or lose, the job isn’t going to be easy for both because the Russian is tough with a capital T. What a night this will be.