As always, with a bunch of news coming out of the Asian MMA scene, Bloody Elbow is here to sort it all up and have you digest it all in one sitting:
- First off, ONE FC 6 is this October, and it will be headlined by a lightweight ‘Super Fight’ between Shinya Aoki and Arnaud Lepont, along with the promotion’s first three title fights. Today, the promotion announced that the card will not only be available on that $9.99 Online Stream like last event, but for people in the United States, the card will also be available live on PPV for $29.95.
- Additionally, their last two events, ONE FC 4 and ONE FC 5 will be available on Video on Demand (VOD) and on regional sports networks in the United States.
- Also big news on the card, various sources close to the situation have informed BloodyElbow.com that Ole Laursen, who is one of the biggest stars in the Asian region, is likely to be off the ONE FC 6 card. Verbal agreements were in place for a lightweight championship bout against Evolve MMA’s Zorobabel Moreira, in what would’ve been one of the most highly anticipated bouts this year. Unfortunately, somewhere down the road they had issues as negotiations have fallen apart leading to Laursen not only off the title fight, but also likely to be off the entire fight card.
- Laursen was also supposed to compete at ONE FC 5 in Manila last month, before more behind the scenes conflicts led to being pulled off the last minute. It’s an unfortunate situation, but hopefully both parties can resolve these issues and we get to see this highly entertaining fighter back in the cage soon.
- Much like last weekend’s RUFF 5 from China, it’s great to see that Korea’s Road FC promotion have also decided to get with technology and stream their show to start marketing their event not only to their home base, but also to a wider international audience. Road FC 009: Beatdown will have a stacked card happening this Saturday, and the event will be streamed on Sherdog starting at 5 p.m. ET.
- The line up includes several familiar names such as Melvin Manhoef and Minowaman taking on Korean opponents, along with the opening round of their 8-man Lightweight GP. This tournament will crown their first champion at 155, and they have several top notch fighters participating such as Hatsu Hioki’s teammate, Takasuke Kume (13-1), Former Legend FC Top Contender Nam Yui Chul (13-4), Muay Thai world champ Vuyisile Colossa (4-2), and ONE FC vet Seok Mo Kim.
- Big news from India, as Ken Pavia has left his position as CEO Super Fight League. The promotion cites it to be due to “family commitments”, and Pavia has come out to confirm his decision to leave SFL, saying “Mom has cancer and I am a mommas boy. Plus at 46 (I’m) having my first kid and would miss much of that process spending half my time in India. The 24 hours both ways and spending so much time there was tough.”
Much more news and other tidbits after the jump. Follow me on twitter — @antontabuena
Quick hits:
- Arnaud Lepont, who is part of MuayFit from Malaysia, has switched things up and cross-trained with Tiger Muay Thai to prepare for the biggest fight of his life. Watch him train for the consummate favorite in Shinya Aoki, preparing with Roger Huerta and the BJJ blackbelts and Muay Thai champs from Thailand:
- Speaking of ONE FC 6, as mentioned there will be 3 title fights at steak, and one of the rumored title fights will be at bantamweight. Sources close to the situation have informed us that Leandro Issa, who is coming off a dominant victory over Masakazu Imanari, is likely to get the shot against an opponent that is yet to be named.
- ONE FC is also in the early stages of planning for a future bantamweight tournament.
- As reported earlier, TUF: India is going to start soon. 1.2 billion people probably makes Dana White see dollar signs, and while I hope they successfully break in that market, I really think that they won’t have much success converting fans. There also won’t be enough decent talent there to fill a weight class, let alone have guys that are on a UFC-level.
- Bellator and PXC veteran J.J. Ambrose (13-4) won a caged kickboxing bout in Thailand this past weekend at Caged Rage Phuket. Watch the KO on the 4th round.
- Mark Striegl‘s (11-0) PXC debut was a success for the rising featherweight star. Watch the official video of his fight here:
- Phil Baroni looks to be enjoying his time in Manila. He arrived in the Philippines for his August 31 ONE FC 5 bout, but he’s still having an extended stay in the country, roaming around and training with Ole Laursen on the beautiful beaches of Boracay, or at Erwin Tagle’s gym in Manila.
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