Under Armour Philippines Hosts Brandon "The Truth" Vera Meet and Greet Event for Filipino MMA Fans

As a big fan of mixed martial arts as well as sporting brand Under Armour, it was a no-brainer to attend the Brandon Vera Meet and Greet event at the UA brand house in Bonifacio Global City.

Fil-Am mixed martial arts competitor Brandon "The Truth" Vera recently paid a visit to the Under Armour brand house in Bonifacio Global City for a meet and greet activity with fans, and to promote his upcoming fight at ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions.

  

Scheduled on December 11th and to be held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Spirit of Champions' main event is a five-round heavyweight bout between Vera (13-7) and Paul "Typhoon" Cheng (5-1) of Taipei, Taiwan. The winner will emerge as ONE's inaugural world heavyweight champion.

ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions Main Event

At the time of the meet and greet event at Under Armour, Vera was still slated to face "Chopper" Chi Lewis Parry (6-0), an undefeated U.K.-based mixed martial artist who ignited a war of words with The Truth over social media several months ago. It eventually led to the booking of a fight between the two, but due to the reported failure of Chopper to submit medical requirements, Cheng has been slated to replace him on a week's notice.

Hosting the meet and greet event was regarded sports host and commentator Anthony Suntay, who introduced The Truth to the crowd outside the UA Store. From there, Brandon addressed his fans, sharing how he sees his supporters in the Philippines as family, and is intent on putting on a show for all of them and hopefully win the title on December 11th.

After providing a little more detail regarding his upcoming bout, Brandon gamely signed ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions posters for fans in attendance, and true to his statement regarding family, taking photos with fans as if he was one of their own.

  

  

Brandon Vera is one of two Filipino mixed martial artists currently servings as UA brand ambassadors. The other is Mark "Mugen" Striegl, who happens to also be competing in the co-main event of the December 11 fight card. 

   

Local personalities representing the brand include Gretchen Ho, and the previously mentioned Anthony Suntay.

Notable Under Armour ambassadors also include current NBA MVP Stephen Curry, movie star and former World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) Champion Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre.

To learn more about Under Armour,visit www.underarmour.com.ph.

For more on the upcoming ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions card, visit www.onefc.com. Tickets can be purchased at SMTickets.com.

ONE Championship Announces Events for the Remainder of 2015. Will the Manila Card Be Where Eric Kelly Fights Again?

 ©ONE Championship

Two day prior to their Kingdom of Warriors card held in Yangon, Myanmar last July 18, mixed martial arts promotion ONE Championship announced the dates of six upcoming events which will fill out the remainder of 2015. Shows have been booked to take place in Shanghai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, and the promotion’s base of Singapore.

Pinoy fight fans can look forward to ONE closing out the year as they always do on December 11^th, where the promotion will once again hold a card in Manila.

While the Singapore-based promotion is known to prominently feature homegrown fighters of the country they are currently holding an even in, the recently announced schedule now begs the question, is this where we see the return of Pinoy fighter Eric “The Natural” Kelly?

Eric Kelly declared the victor versus Rob Lisita at "War of Dragons."
 ©ONE Championship.

Kelly was last seen gracing the ONE cage July of last year, at ONE's "War of Dragoons" event, where he took on “Rutless” Rob Lisita and earned an impressive come-from-behind victory against the elite Australian mixed martial artist. In the fight, Kelly submitted Lisita after a brutal war, where he effectively earned a performance bonus, and what was then a guaranteed title shot for the ONE Featherweight title.

Unfortunately, the injured nose Kelly sustained in the fight against Lisita prevented him from being medically cleared to challenge then-champion Koji Oishi later that August. By the time he was ready to contend, a new champion had emerged in Jadamba Narantungalag, who originally replaced the injured Kelly as contender months before.

Slated to be the title bout for the December 2014 “Warriors Way” card of ONE in Manila, Kelly's shot did not push through due to a failure in contract negotiations. Reports have indicated that Kelly was unsatisfied with the low fight purse offered, which was reported to be significantly lower than that of other top fighters.

Due to the impasse, Kelly had remained inactive in MMA, and it was then thought that his contract with ONE had expired in March. However, it seems it was merely put on hold, and numerous news outlets have reported in this past week that the fighter is eager to finish the said contract.

It has yet to be determined if it will be finished via a buyout or termination, or if Kelly will compete in whichever number of fights remain. Most fight fans in the Philippines would unquestionably want to see Kelly compete again, especially if it were in the December 2015 card of ONE Championship.

For now however, we wait, and hope that “The Natural” finds himself in the best situation possible, both from a financial and competitive standpoint.

Happy International Women's Month: Pinay MMA to Feature Prominenty This March

Hot on the heels of Filipina-American mixed martial artist Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton making a successful return to boxing with a dominant performance over Yolanda Segura, a victory of which possibly sets her up for a future bout with IBF super bantamweight women's champion Yulihan Alejandra Luna Ávila, Filipina competitors look to further their success during this year's International Women's Month.

April Osenio Makes Professional MMA Debut

© ONE Championship

First up is the professional mixed martial arts debut of April Osenio at ONE Championship: Age of Champions. Osenio, an accomplished Wushu and grappling champion, will face Kirstie Gannaway in a three-round atomweight bout. While Osenio has yet to gain experience in the professional ranks, and Gannaway has only one pro-fight and victory under her belt, the bout proves interesting for a number of reasons.

First are the training teams the two fight out of. Osenio has been training for years under Team Lakay, considered by many to be the best MMA team in the Philippines. Notable team members include the long-time face of Philippine MMA Eduard "The Landslide" Folayang, first ever ONE Championship Featherweight Champion Honorio "The Rock" Banario, and rising Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Mark Eddiva.

Gannaway on the other hand, trains at Evolve MMA. Based in Singapore, it is one of Asia's most recognized gyms, and has been the sight of training camps for MMA luminaries like DREAM and ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki, ONE Welterweight Champion Ben Askren, and former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. Evolve is also the current home Filipino-American fighter and new ONE Championship bantamweight Mark "Mugen" Striegl.

The other intriguing aspect is how Osenio came in as a replacement for Jujeath "Bad Girl" Nagaowa. The latter was Gannaway's original opponent but had to bow out due to injury. With Nagaowa an accomplished boxer turned MMA-pro, it will be interesting how Gannaway adjusted preparing for Nagaowa to Osenio. It will be similarly intriguing how much Osenio has learned from her highly touted coaches and teammates.

For more on April Osenio's pro debut and how to watch, visit ONEFC.com.


The Veloxity Movement Hosts Veloxity FC 1: Stigma

© Veloxity Movement

The Veloxity Movement, or VMove, a women empowerment organization using sports as a catalyst for social change, hosts its first MMA-centered event with Veloxity FC 1: Stigma.

Happening on March 15th at the Fishermall Activity Center in Quezon City, Stigma is an all-female MMA event. It will have participants from many of the Philippines top training facilities, including Team Lakay, Hybrid Yaw-Yan, Team Goatlocker, and Submission Sports Philippines, just to name a few.

The day before the all-female MMA event will be the Velocity Fit Fest. Also held at the Fishermall Activity Center, it will feature a self-defense demonstration and the official weigh-ins for the competitors in Stigma.

© Veloxity Movement

Veloxity Movement describes itself as an organization whose "core advocacy is to encourage active community participation and engagement towards ending violence against women and girls while creating positive changes to existing harmful athletic gender stereotypes and fostering safe athletic environments." They look to take the first steps towards that advocacy in Veloxity FC 1: Stigma, their first of what hopes to be many successful events.

To learn more about the Veloxity Movement, visit VeloxityWoman.com.