WHAT is already a packed card for ONE Championship’s first foray in Japan in March got even tighter as it added another title clash feature.
In a release shared to members of media early this week, ONE said Filipino world bantamweight champion Kevin ‘The Silencer” Belingon will stake his title in a rematch with former champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes of Brazil in “ONE: New Era” in Tokyo on March 31.
The fight will mark the third time that the two fighters will take on each other for the bantamweight gold after splitting their first two, with Mr. Fernandes (22-4) taking the first in January 2016 and Mr. Belingon (20-5) claiming the second in November last year that made him the reigning undisputed champion.
The Belingon-Fernandes title fight rematch will join other headlining fights in ONE Japan, which also include the world lightweight title clash between champion Eduard Folayang of the Philippines against Shinya Aoki of Japan, women’s strawweight title bout between champion Xiong Jing Nan of China against challenger and reigning women’s atomweight champ Angela Lee of Singapore, and the middleweight championship match between champion Aung La N Sang of Myanmar and Ken Hasegawa of Japan.
Also seeing action in New Era are newly signed mixed martial arts stars Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez in grand prix matches in flyweight and lightweight, respectively.
ONE: New Era is the first stop for ONE Championship in Japan and is part of a 45-event slate for the entire 2019 for the promotion. It is to be held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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