FILE – Honorio Banario celebrates after his knockout win over Jaroslav Jartim. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Filipino fighters Honorio “The Rock” Banario and Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly will be put to the test against stiff competition in ONE: Beyond the Horizon set on September 8 at Baoshan Arena in Shanghai, China.
Banario, the former ONE featherweight champion, faces Singaporean sensation Amir Khan in the co-featured bout while Kelly is pitted against the explosive Christian Lee.
In the main event, “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan of China will defend her women’s strawweight belt against Brazil’s Samara “Marituba” Santos, who will be making his ONE debut.
The 28-year-old Banario is aiming to regain his world champion status and an impressive performance against Khan will definitely bring him closer to a title shot.
Banario has been on a resurgence, having won his last five fights, including a split decision victory over Adrian Pang last April.
Kelly hopes to get back on track after suffering a TKO loss to Narantungalag Jadambaa two months ago but he is expected to have his hands full against Lee.
Lee (9-2), the younger brother of reigning ONE women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee, is also coming off a loss after failing to dethrone lightweight titleholder Martin Nguyen last May.
The 20-year-old Lee’s other defeat have also come against Nguyen.
Four Super Series showdowns are also scheduled as part of a stacked fight card.
Ognjen Topic takes on Tukkatatong Petpayathai in a kickboxing match in the bantamweight division, Han Zi Hao clashes with Stergos Mikkios in a bantamweight Muay Thai duel, Daniel Dawson locks horns with Mustapha Haida in a kickboxing bout in a160-pound catchweight while Hakim Hamech battles Yukinori Ogasawara in a flyweight Muay Thai fight.
In other MMA fights, Roman Alvarez collides with Daichi Takenaka, Chen Lei goes up against Muhammad Aiman while Phat Soda faces Elipitua Siregar.