Julaton to fight Osman in Dubai MMA card

Ana Julaton will fight in Dubai on August 29. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

SINGAPORE–Asia’s top mixed martial arts promoter, One Fighting Championship (ONE FC), is bringing a big fight card to the Middle East with four world championship bouts and nine fights on August 29 at Dubai World Trade Center.

Arguably the biggest fight of the night will see Filipino favorite Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton , who will  take on Malaysia’s MMA poster girl Ann Osman in a female flyweight bout. The fight can be seen on https://www.onefc.livesport.tv/  

Among the stars on show, ONE FC World Champion Nobutatsu Suzuki will meet Ben “Funky” Askren in a welterweight clash while Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki will pit his Lightweight World Championship title against MMA veteran Kamal Shalorus.

Dubai-based Filipino Vaughn Donayre will also be in action as he takes on Egyptian Mohamad Walid in a catchweight bout sure to excite the large Filipino crowd expected.

American-born Filipino Julaton, 34, belongs to the list of top pound-for-pound female boxers of this era and was the first woman to own the Super Bantamweight belts of WBO and International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2009.

Having made the successful transition to MMA with a late-round TKO against Egyptian opponent Aya Saeid Saber on her ONE FC debut in May, Julaton can’t wait to make her bow in the UAE.

Julaton, who boasts an impressive boxing record (13-4-1), is counting on the support of the large Filipino community residing in the UAE to cheer her on to victory over Osman, who is Malaysia’s first-ever professional female fighter.

“I’m excited to travel to UAE,” she said. “Some of my biggest supporters are from the UAE and I have some friends and relatives there. I’ve always wanted to visit Dubai and I heard about the strong presence of the Filipino community there.”

“Filipinos are everywhere and to represent the Philippines on the biggest MMA stage in Dubai is awesome.”

Osman, meanwhile, will become the first Muslim female to fight professionally in an Islamic country after she stepped as a last-minute replacement for the injured Irina Mazepa to fight Julaton.

“One FC: Reign of Champions is set to be the biggest night in the history of mixed martial arts,” said the promotion’s CEO Victor Cui.

“A historic three world championship titles will be on the line and will feature some of the greatest mixed martial artists from all over the world.”

Ana Julaton vs Ann Osman is the First Fight. SHOW goes Live Friday at 6 p.m. UAE Time August 29th (Friday Morning 7am PST/10am EST).