ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) welterweight champion Ben “Funky” Askren is set to defend his strap when he enters the ring against veteran Luis “Sapo” Santos in the main event of the upcoming “Valor of Champions” card this April 24 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

This is the first match revealed in the 10-match fight card, which is one of the two events to be held in the Philippines’ capital this 2015.

Askren, a former US NCAA Division I All-American wrestler in the University of Missouri and freestyle wrestling gold medalist in his amateur days, stakes his unblemished 14-0 (won-lost) slate with four knockouts (KOs) and four submissions in his first title defense since winning the strap last August.

The 30-year old Milwaukee, Wiscounsin-native easily put away Nobutatsu Suzuki in 24 seconds via technical knockout to claim the title in just his second fight under the ONE FC banner.

On the other hand, the American Top Team bet Santos – a 15-year cage veteran – fought 71 fights and holds a 61-9-1 (won-lost-draw) record. In his first match, he stopped Azerbaijan’s Bahatiyar Abbasov in a shade under a minute last November in Singapore.

When Askren was asked about his upcoming fight, the tactical wrestler confidently said that he can take on all-comers.

“2015 is going to be the year of Ben. I will defeat anybody they put in front of me and rule over the welterweight division,” said Askren. “I’m the ONE FC Welterweight World Champion, and if any welterweight in the world thinks they can beat me, they can meet me inside the cage!”