The card for ONE Fighting Championship: Destiny of Warriors is close to completion although there have been a few last minute changes. Phil Baroni is out after his TKO loss last weekend and a new opponent is currently being sought for Roger Huerta, while a serious shoulder injury has ruled Eddie Ng out of facing Arnaud Lepont and he will be replaced by Brian Choi.
The writing was on the wall for Baroni when he was stopped by strikes in the second round of his fight with Chris Holland last Saturday night in Denver. Zorobabel Moreira and Rustam Khabilov are believed to both be in contention to replace him although Huerta’s reluctance to move below the contracted weight of 170 lbs at such short notice remains an issue.
Ng tore his shoulder training and is likely to be out for around six months. He was reluctant to pull out of the fight but was advised to do so by Rich Franklin who is currently preparing for his UFC 147 rematch with Wanderlei Silva at Evolve MMA and warned the 26-year old from Hong Kong that such an injury could be career ending if not taken care of properly. Franklin himself is coming off a serious shoulder injury.
Ng will be replaced by his Evolve MMA teammate Choi, a featherweight who will be moving up a division on short notice. In the past the Korean wrestler, who has also competed extensively in BJJ, Muay Thai and boxing, has fought at lightweight and even welterweight so he shouldn’t be at too much of a size advantage against Lepont who is moving down from 170 lbs.
Among the fights which have been added to the card in the last couple of weeks is the much talked about match up between outstanding Asian featherweights Eric Kelly and Bae Young Kwon. Kelly is the URCC Featherweight Champion and is currently 6-0, coming off a first round submission win over Mitch Chilson at ONE FC: Champion vs Champion.
Kwon is the number one featherweight at Road FC, who have yet to introduce titles, and is 7-2 and riding a three-fight win streak which has seen him defeat Kyung Ho Kang, Choi and Honorio Banario. This will be his second appearance for ONE FC and the winner of this contest will be a leading candidate for a shot at the featherweight title once it is introduced.
The latest additions to the June 23 card leave it looking as follows:
Tatsuya Mizuno vs. Renato Sobral
Roger Huerta vs. TBA
Masakazu Imanari vs. Leandro Issa
Brian Choi vs. Arnaud Lepont
Gregor Gracie vs. Adam Kayoom
Eric Kelly vs. Bae Young Kwon
Kim Hock Quek vs. Peter Davis
Allamurad Karayev vs. Roldan Sangcha-an
Mitch Chilson vs. AJ Vaa
Marcos Escobar vs. Rodrigo Praxedes
PHOTO CREDIT – TITAN FC
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