Former ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon knows that he’s up for another tough task, but he’s not one to back down.
Belingon takes on “The Fighting God” Kim Jae Woong in an interesting battle between two knockout artists at ONE Fight Night 4: Abbasov vs. Lee on Saturday, 19 November, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Sizing up his opponent, Belingon praised Kim’s punching power, which was evident when the South Korean knocked out former ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin Nguyen back when he was competing in the heavier weight class.
“Kim’s striking is definitely his strength. His boxing is one of the things that is noteworthy, [and] he’s really strong. We’ve seen his previous fights. His punches have weight and can seriously hurt people,” Belingon said.
“That’s one thing I’m looking out for, but at the end of the day I’m training for everything and assuming that he’s a complete fighter.”
While he respects Kim’s striking, that doesn’t mean that Belingon will come in second-guessing himself, as he’s just as confident with his own striking. In fact, Belingon believes he has the upperhand in that department.
“My advantage would also be my striking. I feel like my striking arsenal is more complete than his, just because of the fact that I can use my kicks effectively,” he said.
“This will also be his first time moving down to bantamweight, so I expect him to struggle for a bit, and I think that will be a big advantage for me.”
As tough as this fight is for him, Belingon plans to come in as the hungrier fighter between the two.
“This is such an important fight for me, especially since it’s been awhile since I won. I’m a desperate man and I’m desperate for a win here,” he continued.
“I want to break the curse, that consecutive losing streak, and start a streak of my own.”
In the meantime, tickets for ONE Fight Night 5 and ONE 164: Pacio vs. Brooks at the Mall of Asia Arena on 3 December are available at https://smtickets.com/events/view/11439.
Also, catch “Globe Presents ONE Warrior Series Philippines” every Sunday night on GTV, the ONE Super App, and watch.onefc.com. Weekly replays air on Tap Go, ONE Championship Philippines Facebook, and ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel.