BRAZILIAN legend Bibiano Fernandes puts his ONE Championship Bantamweight title on the line, while Filipino fighters Joshua Pacio, Eric Kelly, and female newcomer Jomary Torres gun for emphatic wins for the country in the “Kings & Conquerors” mega mixed-martial arts fightcard, airing live from the Cotai Arena in Macao City, Macao Friday on S+A and S+A HD at 9:30 p.m.
Fernandes (20-3; 7 Submissions), currently the most dominant champion in ONE history, will take on challenger Andrew Leone (8-2; 2 Submissions) in his record seventh title defense. Leone, a former All-State wrestler in America with an advanced ground skillset, will try to wrench the belt from the Brazilian JiuJitsu expert’s waist and put a stop to his rampage in the Bantamweight division.
Meanwhile, ONE Featherweight champ Eduard Folayang’s stablemate Joshua “The Passion” Pacio (9-1) of Team Lakay leads the Philippine delegation in the undercard, facing upcoming Japanese warrior Hayato Suzuki (16-0; 5 KOs). Joining Joshua in being pride to the nation are Filipino MMA vet Eric “The Natural” Kelly (12-3; 9 Submissions), who is going up against Kotetsu “No Face” Boku (25-11-2 record; 12 Kos) and ONE newcomer Jomary Torres (1-0), who hopes to follow up her successful debut with a win against the “Tiny Doll,” Thai-Japanese fighter Rika Ishige (2-0).
In the night’s other main event, the undisputed ONE Flyweight World Champion will be crowned when undefeated titlist Kairat Akhmetov (20-0; 10 Submissions) faces the “Black Diamond” Adriano Moraes from Brazil (15-2; 8 Submissions) in a thrilling spectacle of willines and smarts in a ground combat.