Wazzup Pilipinas!
Two of the nation’s top Filipino mixed martial artists are returning to the ONE Championship cage at ONE: GLOBAL RIVALS which takes place April 15 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines. Both Eric “The Natural” Kelly (12-2) and Team Lakay’s Honorio “The Rock” Banario (8-6) are coming off stinging defeats and are looking to get back in the winner’s circle.
The two Baguio City fighters were in Manila Thursday, March 31, to meet with media at a press luncheon held at Dad's Kamayan buffet restaurant along EDSA.
Kelly, 33, and Banario, 26, both spent their previous bouts on the wrong end of Guillotine chokes, figuring in losses to the same man in Malaysia’s Ev Ting. Yet both are ready to get right back in and show the world that there’s still a lot of fight left in the tank.
Kelly will be facing the extremely dangerous Timofey Nastyukhin (9-2) of Russia. Kelly was once on the cusp of a featherweight title shot, but after lackluster performances against Hiroshige Tanaka and Ting, the opportunity passed him by. Now, he’s looking for redemption and another crack at ONE Championship gold.
“The goal of every fighter is to become champion, but for now my focus is on [Timofey] Nastyukhin,” said Kelly, who is preparing himself in various gyms in the high altitudes of Baguio City.