Brandon Vera, famous for his explosive kicks and knees, will lead the Philippine campaign in the OneFC: Warriors Way tonight at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Filipino-American, who traces his roots in Tagkawayan, Quezon, will step into the cage opposite Russian Igor Subora in a heavyweight clash that kicks off the bid of several Filipino fighters seeking to build their reputation in the world of mixed martial arts.
Sharing the stage with Vera before an expected sellout crowd are two-time wushu world champion Rene Catalan, former WBO and IBA super bantam boxing champ Ana Julaton, top Filipina MMA prospect Jujeath Nagaowa and Team Lakay fighters Eduard Folayang, Honorio Banario and Kevin Belingon.
“I’ve never been this prepared in my previous fights,” said Vera, during yesterday’s weigh-in at the MOA Atrium. “This is the first time I’ll fight here in the Philippines and I want nothing less than a victory in front of my kababayans.”
But Vera, winner of 12 of 19 fights in the cage, cannot take his foe lightly. Subora, the URCC heavyweight king, enjoys a Filipino fan base after making a living in the Philippines for quite some time with his Filipino wife.
Both fighters will display stand-up skills against all-around Russian fighting technique.
Pursuing success outside of boxing, Julaton made her MMA debut last year in Manila and will be looking to duplicate the feat against Egyptian Walaa Abbas in their flyweight bout.
“I have grown significantly as a mixed martial artist,” said Julaton. “I have dedicated myself in the past three months to improving my grappling under Ricky Lundell. Fans can see a new version of me in the cage on Friday.”
Folayang aims to improve his track record of 14 wins and four losses against Timofey Nastyukhin in the lightweight class.
The former school teacher from Baguio City own wins over highly touted stars Vincent Latoel and former OneFC lightweight world champion Kotetsu Boku.
Banario, a former OneFC featherweight champion, takes on Brazilian Herbert Burns while Belingon faces Japan’s Koetsu Okazaki.