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| (Image Source: SM Mall of Asia Arena) |
ONE Championship, the largest combat sports organization and most
valuable sports property in Asia, is making its return to Manila on August 2,
2019 with Dawn of Heroes which will take place as always at the SM Mall of
Asia. ONE's third event in Manila this year will feature a star-studded card
that has generated an early buzz upon its announcement considering that some of
the fights will be headlined by some of the world's finest MMA stars.
Headlining ONE: Dawn of Heroes as the main event is a ONE Super Series Muay
Thai World Championship bout between the reigning champion Jonathan "The
General" Haggerty of the United Kingdom and the challenger Rodtang
"Iron Man" Jitmuangnon of Thailand. Haggerty captured the title last
May in a stunning upset win over erstwhile champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao and is
now looking to extend his reign against a tough challenger such as Rodtang.
But what is making waves in Dawn of Heroes is the semifinals of the ONE
Flyweight World Grand Prix where Demitrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson is
set to face Japan's Tatsumitsu "The Sweeper" Wada on one bracket while
the other will be between Danny "The King" Kingad of the Philippines
and former ONE world champion Kazakhstan's Kairat "The Kazakh" Akhmetov.
The former UFC flyweight champion made his ONE debut last March in Tokyo with a
second round submission win over Yuya Wakamatsu in the tournament quarterfinals
while Wada rose over a tough challenge from Cuba's Gustavo Balart to move on to
the next round of the grand prix. On the other hand, Kingad entered the
tournament by successfully beating Japanese bet Senso Ikeda and is looking to
face a former world champion who seeks to return to the top of the ONE flyweight
division.
Furthermore, Dawn of Heroes will mark the return of former ONE world
champions Eduard "Landslide" Folayang and Honorio "The
Rock" Banario. Folayang is slated to face former UFC and Bellator lightweight
champion Eddie "The Underground King" Alvarez in a virtual
"redemption bout" after being on the raw end of their respective
fights last March in ONE's first staging in Japan. One of Team Lakay's major
stalwarts lost his lightweight world title to Shinya Aoki in the main event of
ONE: A New Era in front of a packed Japanese crowd while Alvarez was surprisingly
knocked out by Timofey Nastyukhin of Russia in the opening round of the ONE
Lightweight World Grand Prix who happens to be Banario's opponent in the tournament
semifinals.
Tickets for ONE Championship:
Dawn of Heroes are available at all SM Tickets outlets nationwide or online via
SMTickets.com. For more ONE Championship news and updates, follow
@ONEChampionship on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
