In the heat of words exchanged, two newly-acquired ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) fighters were on the verge of trading blows by the tail end of the introductory press conference for the Rise Of Heroes card scheduled on May 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Featherweight fighters Rob Listita of Australia and Yusuke Kawanago of Japan got into a heated staredown when they were asked to pose for pictures following an exchange of barbs behind the microphone.
The two are definitely no strangers to each other, as Lisita (13-5, 3 knockouts, 7 submissions) fought against Kawanago (13-3-2, 4 KOs, 1 submission) for the latter’s Legend Fighting Championship bantamweight title at Hong Kong in August 24, 2012, where the Japanese won by unanimous decision after three rounds of action.
“No matter how many times we fight, the result will remain the same [with me winning],” Kawanago said through a translator.
However, the 31-year old Aussie fighting out of Phuket Top Team quickly refuted the Japanese’s claim and revealed that his foe allegedly told him after the match during that fateful night in Hong Kong that he ran around the ring because he was “scared.”
“I really feel I won that fight. But that really doesn’t matter. It’s in the past. And since that time, I’ve gotten three finishes against top 50 guys in the world, one against a number three guy at one stage. Since that time, he’s had one fight and one draw. I’ve improved a lot and it shows, and I finished my opponents,” Lisita said.
The Lisita-Kawanago rematch is part of the card that sees undisputed world bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes (15-3, 1 KO, 5 submissions) defend his title for the first time against Masakatsu Ueda (18-2-2, 2 KOs, 4 submissions).
A 10-year MMA veteran that has made rounds in various promotions around the world, Fernandes removed the “interim” tag following a five-rounder against ex-champion Soo-Chul Kim in “Total Domination” last October. This will be the third time that the Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter will enter the round cage in the country, with his last fight being against Koetsu Okazaki in last May’s “Rise To Power” event.
The 36-year old Ueda is making his fourth ONE FC appearance, downing Pinoy stalwart Kevin Belingon in a three-round decision to win the bantamweight grand prix and the right to face the defending champion.
Also, celebrity MMA trainer Eugene Toquero (4-1, 4 KOs) will look to get his first win inside the ONE FC cage against unbeaten Gianni Subba (3-0, 1 submission).
Toquero, a product of the vaunted Submission Sports Philippines stable, dropped his first foray in the Asian MMA organization to Team Lakay’s Geje Eustaquio via unanimous decision in last December’s Moment Of Truth card in the country to put a dent on his then-unblemished mark.
Suba, on the other hand, is a well-rounded fighter who could engage in either a stand-up or a ground brawl and is coming off a third round technical KO of Yun Ting Cheng in “Warrior Spirit” last November.
Despite the initial announcement made that only one of three bouts features homegrown Filipino talent, ONE FC CEO Victor Cui assured the people in attendance that there will be more local fighters that will take part in the 10-fight lineup.
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