Happy for The Silencer

I have been covering ONE Championship since its establishment at the turn of this decade and I have seen how far it has come and grown, including the athletes under it and the competition.
Among the first Filipino athletes I have followed under ONE are those from Team Lakay, namely Honorio “The Rock” Banario, Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon.
Have interviewed them countless times, getting their thoughts on various concerns be it for their fights or outside of it.
I have also seen them steadily carve their niche in the ONE Championship ecosystem, and mixed martial arts in general, also seeing their career ups and downs.
Banario was the first to become ONE champion, claiming the featherweight title in 2013.
Folayang then broke through in 2016 when he TKO’d Japanese legend Shinya Aoki for the lightweight gold.
That left Belingon as among ONE Filipino “OGs” who had yet to win a title, until last week though when The Silencer finally got his.
Actually Belingon already won his own title in July this year when he defeated featherweight champion Martin Nguyen in a “super fight” to win the interim bantamweight world championship.
But his victory on Friday, Nov. 9, in Singapore at “ONE: Heart of the Lion” over longtime champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes (split decision) made him the undisputed world champion and proved he has made it to the top.
Seeing how Belingon charted his path in ONE, I could not be more happy for Belingon.
He started his ONE career with a 4-5 record in his first nine fights, including losing his first two, before taking a year-long sabbatical from MMA.
When he returned in January of 2016, he was rudely welcomed back by Fernandes in their title fight, submitted in the opening round (kimura).
Since then, Belingon dedicated himself to recalibrating his game, working on almost every facet of it to make himself a better fighter.
The result was glaring, winning sixth straight fights, all by convincing fashion, to set up a rematch with Fernandes.
In the rematch, while there was still cloud hovering over Belingon and how he would fare against the Brazilian champion, he did not waste time in casting it aside as he delivered right from the get-go.
Near finishes of his opponent, submission escapes, control of the fight and striking, Belingon delivered, leaving us at the Singapore Indoor Stadium greatly impressed.
Even Fernandes himself I think was surprised, and in awe, of the performance of the Filipino.
The fight was rendered by judges as a close one with a split decision but in the end there was no denying that The Silencer was not to be silenced and deserving of the win.
Seeing how it went for Belingon since Day One with ONE Championship, I give him a tap on the back for a job well done and, ditto, on his supporters at Team Lakay. It was a long journey to the top but they made it happen. Now it is on to the next stage for Belingon, as an undisputed world champion. Salute!

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Just a quick show of appreciation. I would like to thank the people behind the 2018 Global Martial Awards held on Nov. 8 in Singapore for having this writer as one of the nominees for Martial Arts Journalist of the Year along with seven others, including JM Siasat (GMA) and Santino Honasan (ABS-CBN) from the Philippines. It was an honor to have been recognized in such a way and the nomination was something I did not expect. Congratulations, Manabu Takashima (MMA Planet) for winning the award. It is an exciting time for MMA and martial arts and I’m looking forward to writing about it. Thanks again.
 
Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.
msmurillo@bworldonline.com