Kevin Belingon hasn’t won a fight in over two years. It represents a dramatic loss of form for the 33 year old but there are mitigating factors.
Belingon has only been in with elite bantamweights. Two of the losses came at the hands of reigning champion Bibiano Fernandes while the most recent was handed to the Filipino by UFC veteran John Lineker.
Despite the lack of recent wins, Belingon says 2020 is a year he will remember for all the right reasons,
“2020 for me was still a good year, despite everything that happened. I still have a good career. Most importantly, my family welcomed our beautiful baby daughter to the world. She’s the best thing that happened to me. As for my fighting career, I’m looking to get back to the top in 2021,” he said.
Title time
Having lost to reigning champion Fernandes three times you might think Belingon was bored of fighting the Brazilian. But he still has his sights firmly set on regaining the bantamweight belt,
“My goal in 2021 is to erase the memory of 2020. My eyes are still on the bantamweight belt. That’s what I want, and that’s what I’m after. Aside from that, I just want to raise my daughter well and take care of her.”
His training routine has also been interrupted by Covid-19 and Belingon says life in Baguio is not back to normal,
“I just have to stay strong and stay healthy right now. That’s one of the toughest challenges with all the different restrictions and obstacles we now face in training. There are a lot of moving parts that have been affected. I just need to stay on top of it. I’m keeping the dream in sight,” said Belingon.
Perfect place
Team Lakay have always spent plenty of time training outdoors. Whether it is running in the mountains or on the track and Belingon feels that Baguio is the perfect place to be during a pandemic,
“I am very fortunate that my family and I have been safe from Covid-19. It’s been a blessing to stay in Baguio City where we can enjoy and experience nature. It’s one of the best places in the world to start a family. I want to spend good, quality time with them in the next few weeks,” said Belingon.
There was a big win for Geje Eustaquio recently. But Belingon’s team mates Eduard Folayang and Lito Adiwang are both coming off losses and the former ONE bantamweight champion says they will be working hard to improve their results in the new year,
“We’ll take the time we need to review our past fights and our past performances, so we can learn the lessons we need to learn to move forward. There are still a lot of holes in my game, and I want to fix them all. I can’t wait to go back to the gym and train hard. I want to be ready for whatever challenge I will potentially face next year.”
Point to prove
Losing to Lineker was disappointing. But Belingon feels it was a below par performance from him at ONE: ‘Inside the Matrix’ Part III and he will have a point to prove in the new year,
“Fans can expect a new and improved, much better Kevin Belingon next year. In my last fight, I didn’t feel like I was myself. I want to remind everyone what I am capable of. 2021 will be the year of The Silencer.”
