A lightweight matchup that has been in the works for nearly a year will finally happen at ONE: ‘Dawn of Heroes’ next month. Honorio Banario faces Dae Sung Park as part of a reshuffle following Timofey Nastyukhin’s withdrawal.
Banario had been scheduled to face Nastyukhin in the semi final of the Lightweight Grand Prix. But that matchup has been scrapped after the Russian suffered an injury with the Filipino removed from the tournament.
Instead Banario (14-8) finds himself facing Park (9-2) in a matchup that was initially scheduled for ONE: ‘Conquest of Champions’ last November. Since then the Korean has underlined his title credentials with a rematch win over Kimihiro Eto.
Meanwhile Banario was stopped by Lowen Tynanes in the first round of their fight at ONE: ‘Hero’s Ascent’. The Hawaiian was one of three winning quarter finalists in the Lightweight Grand Prix to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
As previously announced ONE: ‘Dawn of Heroes’ will be headlined by a featherweight title fight pitting champion Martin Nguyen against challenger Koyomi Matsushima. Meanwhile Eduard Folayang and Eddie Alvarez face off in a bout that has now been designated as a Grand Prix semi final.
The card will also feature a Muay Thai fight with Jonathan Haggerty making the first defence of the flyweight title he won at ONE: ‘For Honor’ against Rodtang Jitmuangnon. Meanwhile Demetrious Johnson faces Tatsumitsu Wada and Danny Kingad takes on Reece McLaren in the Flyweight Grand Prix semi finals.
ONE: ‘Dawn of Heroes’, Manila, August 2nd
Martin Nguyen (c) vs. Koyomi Matsushima (For Featherweight Title)
Muay Thai: Jonathan Haggerty (c) vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon (For Flyweight Title)
Eduard Folayang vs. Eddie Alvarez (Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Final)
Demetrious Johnson vs. Tatsumitsu Wada (Flyweight Grand Prix Semi-Final)
Danny Kingad vs. Reece McLaren (Flyweight Grand Prix Semi-Final)
Honorio Banario vs. Dae Sung Park (Lightweight)
Mauro Cerilli vs. Arjan Bhullar (Heavyweight)
Geje Eustaquio vs. Yuya Wakamatsu (Flyweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout)
Leandro Issa vs. Daichi Takenaka (Bantamweight)
Muay Thai: Neunglanlek Jitmuangnon vs. Chris Shaw (Bantamweight)
Yushin Okami vs. James Nakashima (Welterweight)
Pongsiri Mitsatit vs. Miao Li Tao (Strawweight)
Edward Kelly vs. Xie Bin (Featherweight)
Ayaka Miura vs. Samara Santos (Atomweight)
Muhammad Aiman vs. Sunoto (Bantamweight)
