Andrew Pamorada | FCF
Honorio Banario seeks redemption in the featured bout of tonight’s ONE FIghting Championship (ONE FC) Moment of Truth card at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Fight night is slated to promptly start at 7:00pm.
The stone-faced Banario (8-2, 3 KOs), who passed the pre-fight weigh-in at the Resorts World Manila last night at 145 lbs, will square off against Japanese Pancrase fighter Koji Oishi (24-9-10, 7 KOs) in the main event for the ONE FC world featherweight crown.
In May’s Rise To Power event at the same venue, Oishi pummeled Banario with strikes in the second round to stun the predominantly hometown crowd and snatched the belt away from the 24-year old Benguet Province native.
Similarly, Oishi tipped the scales at 145 lbs to make weight.
The former champion, who said that he was already prepared a week ahead of the fight, said that his recently concluded training camp in Baguio has already plugged the holes in his game.
“Sa ngayon, na-improve na ang wrestling at sa paglalaban namin sa ground. Yung iba rin naming strategy namin sa striking, inimprove pa namin (at) dinagdagan ng techniques. Siguradong maganda ngayon ang labas ng laban (As of now, my wrestling and ground game has been improved. My other strategies in striking was also improved and added. I’m sure that the outcome will be good),” said Banario following the weigh-in.
On the other hand, fellow Team Lakay fighters Kevin Belingon (11-3, 4 KOs) and Eduard Folayang (12-4, 5 KOs) aim to walk out of the cage with bounce back victories.
In his previous fight, Belingon lost via decision in the Bantamweight Grand Prix finals to Masakatsu Ueda, but now has a tough mountain to climb against undefeated Spaniard David Aranda Santacana (9-0) in a bantamweight fight that serves as the night’s co-main event.
“Nag-train ako ng husto para sa laban na ito, tapos undefeated ang kalaban ko. So, it’s gonna be a good fight tomorrow, I’m ready for it, and I’m sure I’m going to get a win,” a confident Belingon told Fullcourtfresh.com. “Gusto kong makabawi kasi hindi maganda yung result ng huling laban. Ito yung opportunity na kailangang dapat manalo ako para mairedeem ko ang sarili ko para makabalik sa linya ulit.
Folayang, on his part, has lost his last two matches and aims to go home with the win against Dutch shooto fighter Vincent Latoel (14-13-2, 5 KOs) in a clash of lightweights.
Together with the rest of Team Lakay fighters, Folayang trained under Iranian wrestling coach Ali Heydarabadi to refine their ground skills which had been sorely lacking in their game.
“Mas nagkakaroon na (kami ng) kumpyansa pag pumunta man sa takedown defense or sa ground ‘yung laban. Hindi na masyadong mag-aalangan at alam na kung ano ang gagawin,” he said. “Mas kumpleto ‘yung arsenal ko. I’m sure talaga na mananalo na ako sa time na ngayon.”
Ruel Catalan (1-4) figures in a grudge match against Cambodian Khim Dima (0-0, 1 No Contest) in the second undercard fight of the night.
The 25-year old took the place of older brother Rene, whose loss to Dima in ONE FC: Total Domination at Singapore was later reversed as a no contest after a review that saw the Khumer champion’s strikes being deemed as illegal.
