For the second time, a ONE Championship main event featuring Angela “Unstoppable” Lee, 22, of Singapore is cancelled. The reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion has been pull from the “ONE: Heart of the Lion” card.
Lee was originally scheduled to challenge “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan, 30, of China in the main event of “ONE: Heart of the Lion” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on November 9, 2018. But due to injury, the Singaporean challenger was deemed unfit to compete.
“Doctors suspect that the injury originally happened last year when Angela’s car flipped five times on the highway in her near-death accident,” ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong explained in a Facebook post. “If it was up to her, she would still compete this week, even if it meant walking into the cage on crutches.”
Mei “V.V.” Yamaguchi, 35, of Japan was supposed to challenge Lee on November 24, 2017 at “ONE: Immortal Pursuit” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. But the latter had to pull out of the card due to an injury from a vehicular accident so she was replaced by Gina “Conviction” Iniong, 28, of the Philippines, who eventually lost to Yamaguchi via unanimous decision.
Iniong’s Team Lakay teammate Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, 30, will now headline “ONE: Heart of the Lion” with Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes, 38, of Brazil. The reigning ONE Interim Bantamweight World Champion will challenge the reigning ONE Bantamweight World Champion in a rematch.
Belingon is currently riding a six-bout winning streak. The last time he lost in the ONE Championship cage was on January 23, 2016 when he failed to dethrone Fernandes at “ONE: Dynasty of Champions 5” at the Helong Stadium in Changsha, Hunan, China.
On the other hand, Fernandes is riding a 14-bout winning streak. Since becoming the ONE Bantamweight World Champion on October 18, 2013, he has successfully defended the title seven times, making him the ONE Championship champion with the most title defenses.
Here is a clip featuring Fernandes and Belingon:
Categories: Mixed Martial Arts, SPORTS BUSINESS, Uncategorized