While the Philippine capital is abuzz with the announcement of the main event showdown between Team Lakay’s Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon (17-5) and Bali-based American Andrew Leone (8-3), another spectacle is ready to be unveiled at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Making its debut on Friday, April 20 at ONE: Heroes of Honor is the highly-anticipated ONE Super Series, a new iteration in ONE Championship’s efforts to bring martial arts to the forefront in mainstream culture.
According to ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, the ONE Super Series aims to provide the world’s best martial artists a prestigious global platform to showcase the beauty of Asia’s striking arts such as Muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, taekwondo, Kung Fu, wushu, sanda, silat, lethwei, and more.
It will feature various-styled bouts under ONE Championship’s unique rule sets, including kickboxing and Muay Thai, some in the ring, some in the cage, and with ONE Championship branded boxing or grappling gloves. It’s an exciting development in the professional martial arts landscape that could have a lasting effect on the future of the sport.
The premiere offering for Manila’s ONE Super Series is a battle featuring international kickboxing superstar Giorgio Petrosyan of Italy, who takes on 25-year-old “Smokin’” Jo Nattawut of Thailand.
The 32-year-old Petrosyan is known as one of the finest kickboxing talents in the world. He began his professional Muay Thai career at the age of 16 competing between bantamweight and middleweight, winning multiple titles across each division.
With a professional kickboxing record of 85-2-2, 2NC, Petrosyan is known for his incredible six-year, 42-bout win streak which is considered one of the most dominant reigns in middleweight history.
On the other hand, Nattawut is a kickboxing star from Atlanta, Georgia with a professional kickboxing record of 60-11-2. Originally from Korat, Thailand, Nattawut is a former Lion Fight Super Welterweight Champion and WMC Champion, known for his powerful elbow and knee strikes.
Aside from the marquee talent debuting at ONE Super Series in Manila, is the unveiling of a brand new ONE Super Series five-rope ring. Up until this point, ONE Championship has held martial arts bouts inside the famed ONE cage, but at ONE: Heroes of Honor, a new battlefield will be revealed.
Specifications and details have yet to be announced, but all bouts are expected to be held inside the new ring, including bouts that are officiated under ONE’s Global Rule Set. This means that, for the first time in ONE Championship history, Mixed Martial Arts contests will be held in the ring instead of in the cage.
This is a huge development and one that could be a potential game-changer. The ring is set to be unveiled in the coming weeks, with select media getting the opportunity to have a first-look before the arena doors open to the public.
