BAGUIO-based Team Lakay will be prominently featured at ONE Championship’s “Inside The Matrix III” event on Nov. 13.
Former champions Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon and Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio and fast-rising Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang will take the ONE stage in the scheduled five-fight offering at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Mr. Belingon (20-7) will be part of the headlining fight against Brazilian John “Hands of Stone” Lineker in a clash of bantamweight contenders.
Thirty-three-year-old Belingon, the number one contender in the rankings, is out to arrest a two-fight losing streak, both coming at the hands of reigning ONE world bantamweight champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes of Brazil last year.
Apart from getting back on the winning track and getting another shot at the title, Mr. Belingon is also using as added motivation the birth of his daughter, Kelsey, in August.
“Family has always been my first priority. Having a child in that picture makes me level up my game as the head of the family. I feel more motivated in everything in life right now, especially in providing a good future for our child,” Mr. Belingon said.
Waiting for Mr. Belingon in the third iteration of the Inside The Matrix event is Mr. Lineker (32-9), a former Ultimate Fighting Championship campaigner.
He made his ONE debut in October and was a unanimous decision winner over Muin Gafurov of Tajikistan.
Mr. Eustaquio (13-8), meanwhile, battles South Korean Song Min Jong (11-7) in a 64kg catchweight joust.
The former flyweight champion Eustaquio, 31, last fought in November 2019, beating Toni Tauru of Finland by knockout (spinning back kick) in the third round.
He is looking at using the win as a springboard to string back-to-back wins, something he has not done since 2018.
Mr. Song, 28, for his part, seeks to remain unbeaten in ONE Championship in his third outing in the promotion.
Completing the night for Team Lakay is Mr. Adiwang (11-2), who is to take on Hiroba Minowa (10-2) of Japan.
The Filipino strawweight, the number five-ranked fighter in the division, has been unbeaten in two fights to date in the main draw of ONE Championship.
In his last fight in January here in Manila, Mr. Adiwang impressed anew with a first-round submission win (kimura) over Thai Ponsiri Mitsatit.
He looks to extend his winning ways against ONE-debuting Minowa.
Messrs. Belingon, Eustaquio, and Adiwang are the latest Team Lakay stalwarts to make a return to ONE after months of waiting because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eduard Folayang was the first to return for the team in October. He lost to Australian Antonio Caruso by unanimous decision. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
