ONE Fighting Championship: A Preview of the Stacked Main Card

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last week, you will probably have heard by now that Asia's biggest mixed martial arts organization is putting on its best card ever and will be letting fans watch all 11 fights for free.

ONE Fighting Championship has been hitting the headlines for all the right reasons and also made history earlier in the week when an in-depth feature appeared on SportsCenter—the first time ever that MMA fighters were invited onto this program.

Everything seems to be falling into place for this organization, which is definitely living up to its promise to be the most prestigious in all of Asia. With a free YouTube stream and a delayed broadcast on ESPN which allows people all over Asia to tune in and watch the show, ONE FC has already established a vast viewership.

Fans will be treated to a card on Saturday which is pretty special and features champions from Japan, the Philippines and Brazil as well as some legends like Melvin Manhoef.

Here is my preview of the main card.

Zorobabel Moreira

He's from Brazil; he's a BJJ world champion; he's incredibly tall; his record is 5-1, and he trains with the best coaches in all of Asia at Evolve MMA.

Zorobabel is a rising star in Asia MMA, and people are saying he could get into the UFC soon. After destroying Andy Wang and subjecting him to a severe beating, he has been bumped up to the main event, and this will be a terrific test of his mettle.

Felipe Enomoto

When Felipe Enomoto beat Ole Laursen last month, he looked well rounded and showed no obvious weaknesses.

The most difficult aspect of this fight for him is the size difference, which will present a problem because Zoro is super tall.

After winning in the main event at One FC 2, a win in the main event at One FC 3 would make him a superstar, but it is difficult to see where he is going to have an advantage over Moreira.

Conclusion

Moreira is bigger; he is better on the ground, and he will use his long limbs to land strikes and keep Felipe on the outside in the stand up.

Enomoto is so tough that anything is possible, but Moreira is probably going to prove a little bit too good for him.

Tatsuya Kawajiri

If One FC want to challenge the UFC then they are going to need fighters like Kawajiri.

He was one of the best lightweights in the world and will be even better now that he is a featherweight.

You only need to glance at his record and the list of fighters he has fought against to see the sort of level he is at; there aren't many fighters this good outside of the UFC, and I don't think anyone in Asia will be able to beat him.

Put your money on him becoming the inaugural One FC featherweight champion.

Donald Sanchez

The brother of UFC fighter Diego Sanchez has a lot of experience, although most of it is at the King of the Cage level.

Most fighters use this organization as a stepping stone, but he has stuck around which isn't such a good sign.

He has still won 10 out of his last 12 which would suggest he is not that far from becoming a top featherweight, and this will be a chance for him to show that KOTC champions can compete with the best from other organizations

Conclusion

Should be a high level fight which wouldn't look out of place on a UFC card, but I expect Kawajiri to take this; I think he's going to be better than Sanchez.

Eduard Folayang

I only discovered Folayang recently, but he is already one of my favourite fighters because his fights are always really good.

The only problem is that he takes risks and can get crazy, which leaves him vulnerable to well timed counters.

He has amazing stamina, is the best Wushu fighter in all of MMA and has never been submitted, so his qualities more than make up for his few faults.

Ole Laursen

Laursen seems like he is integral to One FC, but a second loss in a row would be a potentially terminal blow to his career, so he knows he has to win this if he wants to fight on.

He's had an amazing career in K-1 and muay thai and has fought some very famous fighters, but he came up short against Enomoto last month in a fight which he so nearly won.

This could be even more difficult, but he has the power to pull one more win out the bag if he can connect with a big punch or kick.

Conclusion

Folayang's superior stamina could win him this fight, but Ole could knock him out cold if he lands one of his big hooks, which are thrown with such force he ends up almost whirling around.

First few minutes will be very interesting, expect fireworks.

Yuya Shirai

Shirai's not a big name outside of Japan, but he has big ability and is the Deep welterweight champion.

He's got good judo and sambo and a good ground game; he doesn't finish many fights and tends to go to decision, but that's probably because he only fights against strong opponents.

He seemed very composed and menacing in the pre-fight videos, and I think this could be a bad night for Monteiro.

Fabricio Monteiro

Monteiro has been out of action for a while, but he has been training at Evolve MMA for this fight, which is the ultimate finishing school for a fighter, and he could be a completely different animal from the "Pitbull" who lost his last few fights.

He got that nickname because most of his wins were by stoppage, and he's got a BJJ black belt; he has quite a few knockouts.

Conclusion

Shirai probably takes this by decision, but Monteiro is very dangerous and could pull out a surprise with a first-round knockout or submission.

Melvin Manhoef

For me, Manhoef is the best striker in the whole MMA world and also the most entertaining fighter there is.

His fights never go to a decision, and he does lose occasionally, but mainly he just wins by knockout, and unless Nakanishi is able to take him down and sit on him for 15 minutes, I think that is exactly what he is going to do here.

Yoshiyuki Nakanishi

Standing opposite Manhoef when a fight begins is a bad place to be, and if Nakanishi is really planning on standing and striking with him then I hope he has a good health insurance plan.

Realistically, he is much more likely to come in with a lay and pray wrestling-based game plan. He'll avoid the stand up, but every fight starts with the fighters on the feet, and whatever happens, he is going to be taking some serious punishment.

Conclusion

Manhoef has the best striking I have ever seen in MMA, but the other bits of his game are not as good, so Nakanishi has a chance if he can take him down.

Whatever the Japanese fighter does, this fight is probably going to end with him unconscious.

Eddie Ng

Ng is the real deal, and there is a lot of hype surrounding him for a reason. He won the BJJ world championships as a white belt and could have improved exponentially since surrounding himself with the team of BJJ black belts at Evolve MMA.

He has also been doing professional muay thai fights to improve his standup and showcased a mean takedown in his last One FC fight as well as some brutal ground and pound.

Jian Kai Chee

Kai is not expected to beat Eddie, but he wasn't expected to beat Ole Laursen when he made his MMA debut, and he came within seconds of doing that.

Anyone who saw that fight, when Kai taunted Ole before almost knocking him out with a really hard hook, will know that he can do the same to Ng, but it doesn't sound like Kai has much of a ground game which could be a problem for him.

Conclusion

Kai's muay thai is on a different level from Ng's, and he could win by KO, but if the Hong Kongian can get the takedown, he will be able to absolutely dominate the Malaysian, and sooner or later this is going to happen.

Kai has a chance, but he has to stay standing if he wants to get anything out of this fight.

Masakazu Imanari 

Imanari is a legend and has the best leg locks in the business.

If he manages to get a hold of Belingon's leg, then the Filipino needs to worry not about losing the fight, which by that stage will be inevitable, but about saving himself from serious long-term injury.

Imanari doesn't have a lot of other weapons in his arsenal, and it may be leg lock or bust for the Deep bantamweight champion.

Kevin Belingon

You don't win your first nine fights unless you have some skills.

What will decide whether he wins this fight or not is his submission defence; if he can stay away from the leg locks he is good enough to control the fight in almost every area but needs to stay away from Imanari's ground game at all costs.

Conclusion

Imanari is a really dangerous opponent who is really good with his submissions, but I think Belingon has a great chance to go from being a prospect to a proper superstar, probably with a decision win.

People in Singapore can't wait to see Nicole Chua fight Jeet Toshi, but female fights don't really do it for me, and I'm really interested in Yodsanan Sidyodtong vs. Jiang Long Yun.

Yodsanan is a brilliant boxer who has the best hands in the entire MMA world right now.

I hope that Jiang decides to test his sanda against Yodsanan's boxing because if he does, this could be one of the best fights in MMA ever, let alone the fight of the night.

Although I only see one winner and expect Yodsanan to score the second knockout of his MMA career.