Tough Belingon gains One FC bantam final

KEVIN Belingon overwhelmed Australian-Vietnamese Thanh Vu at Singapore’s Indoor Stadium on Friday and advanced to the One FC Bantamweight Grand Prix final.

Belingon, a powerful striker with superb conditioning, caught Vu with a jarring kick to the head and delivered a succession of punches and kicks that forced the referee to stop the punishment a minute into the second round.

The 25-year-old from Baguio will next face Japan’s Masakatsu Ueda in the Grand Prix Final for the right to seal a date with One FC bantamweight champion Soo-Chul Kim in a title fight.

Ueda put away American legend Jens Pulver by submission 3:52 into the second round of their grand prix semifinal with a D’Arce choke.

While Belingon, a Team Lakay standout, finished his opponent with a flourish, Rene Catalan found Brazilian Alex Silva just too good in their flyweight bout.

Silva forced Catalan, a four-time wushu world champion, to tap out with an armbar 36 seconds left in the first round.

In the main bout, Japan’s Shinya Aoki displayed superior grappling against Korean Kotetsu Boku to clinch the One FC lightweight title belt.

Brock Larson also won via unanimous decision over Dutchman Melvin Manhoef in their middleweight tiff. June Navarro