THE Philippine mixed martial arts scene is off to a hot start in 2017 with Filipino fighters set to show off their combat skills in the ONE Championship event airing this weekend on ABS-CBN’s S+A channel.
The country’s leading sports channel on free TV is airing the “ONE Championship: Quest for Power” on Saturday, 9:30 p.m. live from the Jakarta Convention Center, featuring homegrown cage warriors Vaughn Donayre and Rene Catalan for One Championship.
The largest sports media property in Asia, welcomes 2017 with “ONE Championship: Quest for Power,” headlined by ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash (8-0-0), who will defend his title against Burmese fighter Aung La “The Burmese Python” Nsang (19-9-0).
The fight will be aired from the Jakarta Convention Center, with a replay on Jan. 17 at 11 p.m. on S+A HD.
Donayre and Catalan will try to make their mark inside the cage and follow the footsteps of Filipino Lightweight division champion Eduard Folayang and heavyweight division champion Brandon Vera in the undercard.
Donayre seeks to improve his 8-6-0 record against Vince Latoel (16-18-2) in a Lightweight division bout, while Flyweight Rene Catalan (1-2-0) takes on Adrian Matheis (2-0-0), who won both his fights via knockout.
Philippine mixed martial arts just got off a banner year in 2016, when it continued to gain popularity with extensive coverage of MMA events on S+A and the unstoppable rise of Filipino MMA combatants in the international arena.