Former Featherweight Contender Denies Kevin Belingon's Wish To Arrest Losing Skid
KEY POINTS
- A victory inside the ONE Championship cage remains elusive to Kevin Belingon
- Belingon yields to Kim Jae Woong at ONE on Prime Video 4
- The former ONE bantamweight champion hasn't won a single fight since November 2018
On Saturday morning, November 19 (Friday evening, November 18 in the United States), Kevin Belingon had one goal in mind heading into perhaps the most important bout at this point of his mixed martial arts career—to arrest his four-fight losing skid and place himself back on the winning track.
Unfortunately for the former ONE bantamweight champion, his petition fell short of reaching Lady Luck as he absorbed his fifth consecutive defeat at the hands of Kim Jae Woong on the undercard of ONE on Prime Video 4.
The first round saw a discreet opening sequence with both men seemingly wary of the striking skills of their opposite number. But Belingon seemed to settle the quicker of the two, loosening up with a leg sweep that saw the Filipino momentarily work with his ground and pound on the South Korean.
As soon as Kim was able to escape the clutches of Belingon and spring back to his feet, both men launched a barrage of strikes in rapid-fire fashion.
With the Team Lakay representative continuously pushing for action, the ex-No. 2-ranked featherweight contender stayed composed and waited for an opportunity to pounce.
Kim found the gap that he desired as "The Fighting God" caught a lunging Belingon with a solid left hook, which sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.
It didn't take too long for Kim to swarm on Belingon, raining down a torrent of punches to compel referee Mohamad Sulaiman to save "The Silencer" from further punishment at the 2:33 mark of Round One.
With the impressive victory over Belingon, Kim put a halt to his two-bout slump with an improved professional record of 13-7.
Moreover, Kim also notched his ninth career win by way of knockout at the expense of Belingon, who dropped to a 20-10 slate.
The last time Belingon won a fight inside the ONE Championship cage was when he claimed the bantamweight strap against Bibiano Fernandes in a November 2018 rematch.
Lead Card Results
ONE on Prime Video 4 featured a quartet of preliminary fights to build excitement and anticipation for the marquee matches slated on the main card.
Former ONE flyweight Muay Thai titleholder Jonathan Haggerty prevailed over Vladimir Kuzmin by way of majority decision in a hotly-contested 67.1-kilogram catchweight clash.
In an MMA battle between welterweight heavy hitters, Ruslan Emilbek Uulu eked out a razor-thin split decision to spoil Isi Fitikefu's maiden appearance under the ONE Championship umbrella.
Meanwhile, Danielle Kelly continued her remarkable ascent through the budding women's atomweight submission grappling division, forcing Mariia Molchanova to tap with a wrenching rear-naked choke that earned her a $50,000 performance bonus.
ONE on Prime Video 4 was off to a great start as Liam Nolan willed through heavy fire to beat Eddie Abasolo via unanimous decision in a lightweight Muay Thai tussle.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.