Kevin Belingon.
Filipino MMA star Kevin Belingon believes fighting inside a ring gives him an upper hand against his American foe Andrew Leon in the main event of ONE: Heroes of Honor on Friday.
For the first time in ONE Championship’s seven-year history, a five-rope ring will be used instead of the usual mixed martial arts cage.
“It’s an advantage for me because I’m used to fighting inside ring before,” said Belingon in Filipino Tuesday during a kick-off press conference at City of Dreams Manila.
Though Belingon is comfortable inside a ring, he knows he can’t be complacent being in it with a Brazilian jiujitsu black belt in Leone, who is known for his ground game.
“I can’t afford to be careless because it’s harder if you get taken down inside a ring unlike in a cage where you can lean on to it,” said Belingon.
“The plan is to take the fight on the center of the ring.”
Part of his strategy is also taken from Leone’s previous fight from five years ago when Belingon’s stablemate at Team Lakay Geje Eustaquio lost by unanimous decision.
“We studied his fight against Geje. We prepared really hard especially his ground.”
The 30-year-old Belingon has been on a resurgence since losing to Bibiano Fernandes in a title fight in January 2016. He has won his last four fights, two of which have come via first-round stoppages.
Belingon hopes to continue his winning ways to gain another crack at the bantamweight belt.