After a successful debut show in September all has been quiet from One Fighting Championship but the brand new promotion broke its silence in spectacular style this evening to announce three shows in three countries in the space of three months in 2012.
The official dates are as follows:
February 11: Jakarta, Indonesia at Kelapa Gading Sports MallA large number of fighters have also signed long term contracts with another announcement imminent this week. After testing the water with a successful show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3rd which was witnessed by almost 7,000 people as well as many more watching on a free online stream One FC are set for an aggressive international expansion in 2012.
March 31: Singapore at the Singapore Indoor stadium
April 27: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Stadium Negara
The first show featured impressive performances from URCC champions Eduard Folayang (below) and Eric Kelly with both Filipino fighters posting wins. The highlight for many in the crowd though was an emphatic first round victory for Singapore's first professional MMA fighter, Radeem Rahman and he is likely to be back in action on March 31st.
Rahman was not the only fighter from the world renowned Evolve MMA camp to impress that day. Eddie Ng from Hong Kong, former boxing world champion Yodsanan Sityodytong from Thailand and BJJ world champions Zorobabel Moreira and Leandro Issa from Brazil also registered decisive wins and might well be given a second chance to impress in front of the fans in their adopted home in March.
Adam Kayoom (below) is one of the most decorated fighters in Malaysian history and has been widely linked with a long term One FC contract. He hold multiple regional and national titles in BJJ and is a former Muay Thai world champion who was ranked top ten at Ratchadamnern, he also has a professional MMA record of 2-1 and, assuming he has signed, is highly likely to feature on the Kuala Lumpur card in April.
The actual One FC roster remains shrouded in mystery but according to the official Twitter feed a series of major announcements will be taking place this week which is likely to include the identities of the fighters who have been signed.
One FC have a TV deal with ESPN Star Sports which is Asia's biggest sports broadcaster and is available in 24 countries and the September show is scheduled to be shown early next month, after having already been screened on domestic TV in Singapore. This arrangement will presumably remain in place for future shows although there is always the possibility that ESPN Star might begin to broadcast the event live.
With ambitious plans and a budget which is believed to be unprecedented in Asian MMA history One FC is rapidly establishing a reputation as the UFC of the East. According to various online reports shows have also been booked in Seoul and Manila and if these stories are accurate it would mean five events in five different countries will be taking place in the first half of 2012.
Multiple shows in multiple countries was what One FC promised when it was launched amidst a fanfare of publicity in July and it appears that they are all poised to deliver in 2012.
source:sbnation
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