So we’re just around a week away from the end of July. You waited for UFC 148 as if it was the second coming of Christ and in the end, it turned out to be that “ho-hum” piece of over priced steak that was more mediocre than to die for. Then you probably thought to yourself, “at least there’s Hector Lombard, Urijah Faber and that guy with the big teeth who’s good” on UFC 149. I mean, it seemed awesome on paper but in the end after watching it, you kind of realized that the only paper it looked good on was toilet paper. Talk about a complete bummer of a month.
Well, we got good news for you because in the next few weeks, you have some Asian MMA shows to really look forward to. So mark out your calendars and make sure to buy your tickets or buy your online PPVs because these are the upcoming Asian MMA shows that you should look out for:
ONE FC: Pride of a Nation
If you haven’t heard about this event, then you must be living under a rock. The event is the biggest Asian MMA card so far for 2012, featuring some of the biggest Asian MMA superstars such as DREAM champions Shinya Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes, URCC Champions Eduard Folayang, Eric Kelly, Kevin Belingon, and Nicholas Mann. Also, former UFC Champions Andrei Arlovski and Jens Pulver, and many other champions. The event will be scheduled for August 31st and will take place in the capacity 16,500 seat Araneta Coliseum. According to our sources on the ground in Manila, ONE FC: Pride of a Nation is already on pace to be completely sold out of its 16,500 tickets in the near future, shattering all records in the Philippines.
Its recent press conference in Manila received unprecedented media coverage. It will be the biggest fighting event in the Philippines since the classic “Thrilla in Manila” boxing event that took place between the legendary Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier almost 40 years ago. Our sources have even told us that there is a strong likelihood that Manny Pacquiao will be attending the event at the VIP cageside area. ONE FC CEO, Victor Cui and the “Pacman” are personal friends and the chances of having one of the greatest boxers of all time attending the event is very high.
Matches that are confirmed for the event include Eric Kelly vs. Jens Pulver, Andrei Arlovski vs. Soa Palelei and Bibiano Fernandes vs. Gustavo Falciroli. Also expected on the card are Shinya Aoki, Eduard Folayang, Phil Baroni, Kevin Belingon, Rolles Gracie, and Rodrigo Ribeiro just to name a few. As Asia’s largest MMA organization, ONE FC has sold out shows successfully in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia with thousands of fans at every event. The 16,500 fans for ONE FC: Pride of a Nation will put ONE Fighting Championship on the same scale and magnitude as the UFC, marking a huge inflection point for Asian MMA. This will be one of the biggest Asian MMA shows of the entire year.
LEGEND FC 10
Hong Kong based LEGEND FC just announced last week that it will be having its LEGEND FC 10 event on August 24th and will be going back to its home base in Hong Kong to have their usual 1,250 seat capacity show. While not much information has been released on this event, we do understand that there will be a featherweight title defense by the current champion Yusuke Kawanago and “half a dozen” Australians on the card. LEGEND FC seems to be bouncing back from a rough start earlier in the year when they had to pull out from an event in Indonesia, despite trying to ride on the Asian MMA wave that ONE FC left after its very successful “ONE FC: Battle of Heroes” show in February. LEGEND FC also lost one of its biggest stars when its bantamweight champion Jumabieke Tuerxun reportedly abandoned his contract with LEGEND FC to join China’s RUFF organization. Although in recent events LEGEND FC has struggled to sell out its 1,250 capacity events, it looks to do well on August 24 in Hong Kong. Given the exciting fights of its past fight cards, you can expect some explosive and entertaining fights. We are definitely excited for the fights in Hong Kong on August 24 and you should be too.
PXC – Pacific X-treme Combat 32
PXC 32 will take place on July 28th. Despite originating from Guam, Pacific X-treme Combat has very close ties with the Philippines and runs numerous shows in the country. In fact it’s last show, PXC 31, was held in the Philippines. PXC 32 will be headlined by not one but two title fights. The first title fight will be for the Featherweight title when Joe Taimanglo defends the strap Jang Jong Kim. The PXC Welterweight title will also be on the line when Ryan Bigler faces South Korea’s Hyun Gyu Lim. Much like the URCC, the PXC is a promotion where fighters leave it all in the cage. The promotion has very good production values and showcase very good fights. If you have a chance to catch PXC 32, you definitely should.
DEEP – 59 Impact
Deep Tokyo Impact in Differ Ariake just went down this weekend and saw Japanese MMA legend Akihiro Gono make his triumphant return to the ring. Another Japanese MMA legend who will be making his DEEP return is none other than Masakazu Imanari. DEEP – 59 Impact will take place on August 18th at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Imanari will be facing Masahiro Oishi (22-16), a veteran who has competed in almost every Japanese promotion including Pancrase, ZST, and Shooto. The event will also see a match ups such as Daiki Hata vs. Seiji Akao and Yoshihiro Maeda vs. Tatsumitsu Wada. DEEP’s been around for years and have always put on consistently good shows so if you happen to be in the neighbourhood, get yourself some good old Japanese MMA action, DEEP style.
Other notable mentions are Pacific Rim Organized Fighting’s PRO Fighting 7 event which goes down on 29th of July and SHOOTO Gig Tokyo Vol. 11 on the 25th of August. Follow ProMMAnow (www.prommanow.com) for more Asian MMA goodness!