Former ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon has emerged as one of the most talented mixed martial artists from the Philippines, and he credits his time in ONE Championship as the catalyst.
Belingon has been in The Home Of Martial Arts since its third event back in 2012, and he has certainly come a long way since then.
“When I came on board, I was really challenged to reach my goals and it really forced me to evolve as an athlete,” Belingon said.
“I really wanted to become a World Champion and joining ONE only motivated me to give more than 100 percent of my effort every time I competed in the Circle.”
In The Home Of Martial Arts, Belingon has been exposed to different styles, from devastating strikers like Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen to some of the best grapplers in ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes and Yusup “Maestro” Saadulaev.
This only pushed the Kiangan, Ifugao Province native to transition from a powerful wushu artist to a well-rounded stud.
“With ONE being the biggest organization in Asia, I knew I needed to prepare and be at my best because it’s different here. I really dedicated myself to becoming better in all aspects of my game,” Belingon said.
“It’s not easy to be signed by ONE, that’s why every day I looked to prove myself, to show that I am developing as an athlete.”
Seven years since making his debut against Masakazu “Ashikan-Judan” Imanari, Belingon has already competed 18 times in the promotion and has already reached his dreams of becoming a World Champion.
Still, the 32-year-old insists that he is far from satisfied with what he has achieved in the promotion.
“The challenge is to always improve every day,” Belingon said. “My development as an athlete should not stall. As time goes by, the challenges will only get bigger so I have to stay on my toes.”
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