Vera, Belingon, among victorious Pinoys in ONE FC: Warrior’s Way

On a mixed night for hometown favorites in the Mall of Asia Arena, Brandon Vera, Kevin Belingon, Ana Julaton and Jujeath Nagaowa flew the flag proudly for Filipino mixed-martial arts. All four came up with wins in the ONE FC: Warrior’s Way fight card last Friday. In the final undercard, Filipino-American UFC veteran Brandon Vera crushed Ukrainian Igor Subora with a first-round knockout in their heavyweight clash.

The 37-year old clocked Subora with a vicious left straight that sent the European tumbling to the canvas. Vera followed it up with soccer kicks to the head to force the referee to end the bout. “Maraming salamat sa mga pumunta dito,” said Vera after his ONE FC debut in surprisingly decent Filipino to the delight of the huge crowd. “Salamat sa lahat, dito at sa buong mundo,” he added. Vera, who improves to 13-7 in MMA, sports numerous alibata tattoos on his body, is obviously proud of his Pinoy heritage, and entered the ring to Diddy’s hit song “I’m Coming Home.” image

In a bantamweight encounter, a razor-sharp Kevin Belingon of Team Lakay bullied Japanese ace Koetsu Okazaki enroute to a one-sided unanimous decision triumph. Belingon dropped Okazaki late in a cagey first round and had him on the ropes before the bell saved the Japanese veteran.