FOLLOWING a dominant victory in her One Championship debut, Gina Iniong is excited to be in the mix of becoming a contender for the women’s atom weight title held by Angela Lee.
Iniong pounded Fil-American Natalie Gonzales Hills during ONE’s Kings of Destiny event at the Mall of Asia Arena last month which saw fellow Team Lakay fighter Eduard Folayang winning his first title defense via a gritty unanimous decision victory against EV Ting.
“If One Championship permits, I’d be happy to fight for the title,” Iniong said adding she feels happy with the outcome of her first fight in Asia’s largest MMA promotion.
Iniong added she will be ready to step inside the cage if ONE sees her as a legitimate contender against Lee.
With her recent victory against Hills, Iniong improved to 5-2, winning her second straight bout since toppling Vannesa Rico Fernandez via Achilles lock in the first round in January 2016 in the Guam based MMA promotions Pacific Xtreme Combat.
Lee, of Singapore, defends her title against top contender Istela Nunes of Brazil in the main event of ONE: Dynasty of Heroes on May 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with a spectacular fight card.
In the co-main event, welterweight world Champion Ben Askren will return to the cage to defend his title against rising young Malaysian star Agilan Thani.
“We have an absolutely stacked card from top to bottom planned for Singapore, and it will be a night fans will not want to miss. Angela Lee, ever the true champion and warrior, just came off a thrilling performance a little over a month ago and she is already raring to get back inside the ONE Championship to perform for her hometown crowd,” said CEO Victor Cui.
Cui added Nunes is ready to give Lee a stiff challenge as the division’s top contender.
Also in the Singapore fight card is former lightweight world champion Shinya Aoki returning to the cage after losing the belt last year to Folayang as he takes on Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Gary Tonon.
Aoki is one of the world’s most decorated mixed martial artists who won the Dream lightweight Champion, Shooto welterweight Champion.
The 33-year-old Aoki is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and has won multiple grappling tournaments across the globe. He also holds a black belt in judo.
A veteran in both MMA and the Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene, Aoki’s reputation as a grappling specialist remains unrivaled as he takes on Tonon in a grappling super match.
Tonon is a No Gi specialist who has clinched multiple world titles at the IBJJF World and Pan American Championships. At age 14, Tonon fell in love with wrestling and grappling and has developed into a bonafide grappling superstar over the course of his career.
The American is a prominent fixture in submission-only format competitions such as Metamoris, Polaris, and the Eddie Bravo Invitational. (Roderick Osis)