Belingon continues resurgence, eyes ONE title shot

Photo from ONE Championship

Riding on four-match win streak, Kevin Belingon’s confidence was sky high heading into his main event clash with Andrew Leone in ONE: Heroes of Honor.

The Igorot fighter didn’t waste time stamping his class against his American opponent on Friday, going on a barrage early and never letup.

That grit fueled Belingon to stay on course before connecting with a spinning side kick that sent Leone flying before firing a barrage of knees and elbows.

“When I felt that I can beat him, I didn’t hesitate taking him down. I just threw elbows and knees until the referee stopped the match,” he said in Filipino.

One could argue that Belingon’s current stretch also coincides with his best form yet as he hasn’t dropped a match since failing to dethrone Bibiano Fernandes as the ONE Bantamweight Champion back in January 2016.

But for the Team Lakay stalwart, it’s all in his preparation.

“I really prepared for this fight so that in every aspect of the game, I could go toe-to-toe with him. I was confident that I could stay on him on the ground,” said the 30-year-old striker.

Hiking his record to 18-5, Belingon doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself as he hopes to show his mettle and once again, be deemed worthy of another challenge against Fernandes.

“I’m using this as my preparation for another title shot if they give that to me. I’m just waiting for ONE’s decision and I’ll continue training hard,” he said.