Asian MMA: ONE FC Signs Shinya Aoki, Set To Debut As Headliner Of Manila Event
by Anton Tabuena on Jun 26, 2012 12:12 PM EDT in
Shortly after that memorable ONE FC 4 event, officials from ONE Fighting Championship have announced that their next show will be on August 31, in Manila, Philippines. It will be held at the Araneta Coliseum, which also played host to the historic "Thrilla in Manila" event with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. As that classic fight proved to be one of the best in combat sports history, ONE FC is now poised to put on the largest MMA event in Philippine history.
Although not yet officially announced, sources close to the situation have informed BloodyElbow.com that as of today, DREAM lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki is officially a ONE FC fighter. The Japanese star has just signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion and is set to make his debut as the headliner for the Philippine event.
Aoki, who is one of the Asia's biggest stars, will be looking to rebound from his rematch against Eddie Alvarez last April, a bout which snapped his 7-fight winning streak. No opponent has been named as of this writing, although with the promotion having a deep roster of lightweights, there are several potentially interesting match ups to be made.
Much more on the ONE FC 5 card after the jump. Follow me on twitter -- @antontabuena
