Friday night’s ONE Championship: Reign of Kings main event will feature top-ranked bantamweight contender Kevin ‘The Silencer’ Belingon of Team Lakay taking on reigning two-division world champion Martin Nguyen for the interim ONE Bantamweight World Title.
For Belingon, it’s a chance at finally becoming a world champion, and finally getting his shot at redemption against reigning ONE Bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes.
For Nguyen, it’s a chance at making history by becoming a three-division world champion, something that hasn’t been done elsewhere.
And while indeed, Belingon versus Nguyen is a main event caliber fight featuring two of the promotion’s hottest stars, the fight wasn’t exactly what people were expecting to see.
For the last year and a half or so, Belingon has blitzed through the bantamweight ranks, solidifying his place as the top bantamweight contender to reigning champ Fernandes, so after his destruction of former title contender Andrew Leone in Manila last April, many believed it was a foregone conclusion that he’d finally be getting another crack at the bantamweight gold.
Even Belingon believed that it was his time, and wasn’t giving too much attention to a call out from Martin Nguyen.
“Hindi ko muna pinapansin yun, ako nakapila ako sa title shot, si Bibiano muna ang nasa isip ko. Kung sakaling talunin ko si Bibiano, eh di pwede mag-match kay Nguyen.” Belingon said back in June.
Nguyen came up short in his bid for the bantamweight title back in March, losing to Fernandes via split decision. He was fresh off a featherweight title defense against Chrstian Lee in May when he called Belingon out.
Nguyen wouldn’t have to wait after all.
A day after saying that he wasn’t focused on anything else aside from another shot at Fernandes, Belingon was booked in an interim title bout against Nguyen, which, as mentioned, serves as Friday night’s main event.
So how did it all come together? Wasn’t Belingon supposed to get the next shot?
As it turns out, he was supposed to get his long-awaited title shot. Thing is, the champ was still injured, with no definite return date in mind.
“Bibiano turned down the fight because he was still injured.” explained ONE Championship founder and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong during the Reign of Kings Press Launch, Tuesday afternoon. “Bibiano could only fight in October or November, and so the choice, I gave it to Belingon, I said you can wait a lot longer, and we don’t know, because Bibiano still has an ankle injury, so I don’t know if he’s even gonna be back in October or November.”
Not one to turn down a fight, Belingon agreed to take on Nguyen.
“That’s the thing, I asked Belingon, you wanna do it? It’s an interim title fight, and Belingon is a warrior and he said yeah.” Sityodtong continued.
Sityodtong added that the supposed Belingon-Bibiano title bout was the originally-planned headliner for Reign of Kings. It would have been a re-do of their 2016 title bout.
“We didn’t have a date for Bibian
For Belingon, it’s a chance at finally becoming a world champion, and finally getting his shot at redemption against reigning ONE Bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes.
For Nguyen, it’s a chance at making history by becoming a three-division world champion, something that hasn’t been done elsewhere.
And while indeed, Belingon versus Nguyen is a main event caliber fight featuring two of the promotion’s hottest stars, the fight wasn’t exactly what people were expecting to see.
For the last year and a half or so, Belingon has blitzed through the bantamweight ranks, solidifying his place as the top bantamweight contender to reigning champ Fernandes, so after his destruction of former title contender Andrew Leone in Manila last April, many believed it was a foregone conclusion that he’d finally be getting another crack at the bantamweight gold.
Even Belingon believed that it was his time, and wasn’t giving too much attention to a call out from Martin Nguyen.
“Hindi ko muna pinapansin yun, ako nakapila ako sa title shot, si Bibiano muna ang nasa isip ko. Kung sakaling talunin ko si Bibiano, eh di pwede mag-match kay Nguyen.” Belingon said back in June.
Nguyen came up short in his bid for the bantamweight title back in March, losing to Fernandes via split decision. He was fresh off a featherweight title defense against Chrstian Lee in May when he called Belingon out.
Nguyen wouldn’t have to wait after all.
A day after saying that he wasn’t focused on anything else aside from another shot at Fernandes, Belingon was booked in an interim title bout against Nguyen, which, as mentioned, serves as Friday night’s main event.
So how did it all come together? Wasn’t Belingon supposed to get the next shot?
As it turns out, he was supposed to get his long-awaited title shot. Thing is, the champ was still injured, with no definite return date in mind.
“Bibiano turned down the fight because he was still injured.” explained ONE Championship founder and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong during the Reign of Kings Press Launch, Tuesday afternoon. “Bibiano could only fight in October or November, and so the choice, I gave it to Belingon, I said you can wait a lot longer, and we don’t know, because Bibiano still has an ankle injury, so I don’t know if he’s even gonna be back in October or November.”
Not one to turn down a fight, Belingon agreed to take on Nguyen.
“That’s the thing, I asked Belingon, you wanna do it? It’s an interim title fight, and Belingon is a warrior and he said yeah.” Sityodtong continued.
Sityodtong added that the supposed Belingon-Bibiano title bout was the originally-planned headliner for Reign of Kings. It would have been a re-do of their 2016 title bout.
“We didn’t have a date for Bibian
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