One Fighting Championship thread

What we Learned from the ONE FC: Pride of a Nation Event

ONE FC has the potential to become the next PRIDE in Asia

Before UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships reigned supreme in professional MMA not only in Asia, but all over the world. After PRIDE, many smaller MMA promotional companies emerged but not a single one could mirror the success that PRIDE attained.

ONE Fighting Championship is a relatively new MMA promotional company but it was evident that the guys behind this company is serious about making a big splash in professional MMA with the way it handles all of its major events. The “Pride of a Nation” event was definitely world-class and rightfully so because all the fighters of ONE FC are actually champions and ex-champions of the best MMA organizations in the world.

It’s highly unlikely that ONE FC will ever catch up UFC when it comes to global popularity, but there is little doubt that ONE FC can become the biggest professional MMA organization all over Asia in a few years.

2. Jens Pulver is done

Years ago, Jens Pulver was so good that he was the very first fighter to ever beat BJ Penn in the lightweight division. Yes, you read that right, Pulver was that good in his prime. Sadly, just like all professional athletes, Father Time can be pretty cruel to aging fighters like Pulver. After dominating the lightweight scene for 10 years, it’s pretty obvious that age has eroded Pulver’s once magnificent skills.

The fact is, Pulver is 37 years old with a lot of fights under him, fighting a hungry and talented young lion like Kelly isn’t actually a very good idea at this stage of Pulver’s career.

After the fight against Kelly, Pulver hinted that he’s just a few fights away before calling it quits. Regardless of what his decision would be, Pulver will surely be remembered for all the contributions he did to MMA and his illustrious career that lasted for over a decade.

3.Eric Kelly is the most well-rounded Filipino MMA practitioner right now

Fans of Edward Folayang and Honorio Banario would not agree with this, but Eric Kelly is perhaps the most well-rounded and complete professional Filipino MMA fighter right now. Kelly is undefeated and most of his wins have come via submission. Aside from that, he’s actually pretty big for a featherweight and he has enough experience not to get intimidated by explosive and more athletic fighters.

Meanwhile, Folayang is actually more accomplished and popular than Kelly here in the Philippines. However, Folayang’s main weakness is that he gets tagged a lot just to score points during fights. The truth is, a top-level striker who could surely counter Folayang and take advantage of his looping punches.

On the other hand, Banario is huge for a featherweight and he’s some sort of a mini-Anderson Silva when he’s fighting inside the ring. Banario has a solid standup game and though underrated, his ground game is fun to watch when he starts to apply it on the mat. The title fight between Banario and Kelly would surely be close, but it won’t be surprising if Kelly comes out as a winner to take the belt.

4. Rolles Gracie, Bibiano Fernandes, and Jung Hwan Cha are the real deal

Rolles Gracie fought only once in the UFC, losing against Joey Beltran via TKO. After that disappointing loss, Gracie has been on a tear, losing only once in the last two years. Gracie is a big heavyweight and when it comes to ground game, Frank Mir is perhaps the only guy who’s better than him. That being said, it won’t be surprising if the biggest member of the Gracie clan goes back to the UFC to try his luck there once again.

Meanwhile, Bibiano Fernandes was supposed to fight in the UFC until he pulled out in June because of an injury. Fernandes has only three losses in his MMA career and just like many Brazilian fighters, he brings a lot of excitement each time he fights.

Finally, Jung Hwan Cha of South Korea was the biggest surprise by defeating a member of the Gracie family, Igor. What’s impressive about Cha was how he was able to match the grappling of Igor Gracie. Cha is very technical on the ground and he’s actually really good creating different moves from the bottom. With the impressive win over Gracie, Cha’s value surely skyrocketed especially in the Asian MMA scene.

 

6 1/2 out of 10 for me. Entertaining but a mark off for the Timothy v AA ending. Glad they ditched the No guard rule, otherwise OFC keep the entertaining card coming

 

Yeah didnt think about that Rob. That's how I remember it, didnt they book him on a card or something

 

Ahhh ****, didnt realise it was tomorrow :happy

 

Anyone watching today?