Saturday, May 10, 2014

Honorio Banario Eyes Redemption In ONE FC: Honor And Glory

2013 was a bittersweet year for Honorio Banario. In February of that year, he fought for the ONE Fighting Championship's featherweight belt and won. It was just his third fight under the ONE FC banner.

Four months later, he lost the belt in his first defense against Koji Oishi of Japan. In that fight, most people had Banario winning the exchanges prior to getting knocked out in the second round. Banario and Oishi met again at the end of the year for a rematch. The result was identical to their first meeting - Oishi via knockout.

With this series of events in mind, there's a lot at stake when Banario returns to the ONE FC cage on May 30, 2014. He will be fighting in the undercard of an event dubbed Honor and Glory which will be staged at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. If he fails to secure a victory, his stock will definitely plummet.

Losing three in a row may not be a deathblow to his career as a mixed martial artist but it will surely put him in a very bleak situation. Fortunately, ONE FC is still an organization that's in its infancy. That said, cutting fighters with losing streaks is still not a common practice unlike in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).

Honorio Banario fighting Koji Oishi in their rematch last year. He lost via knockout. Photo: ONE FC
Banario will be facing Jadamba Narantungalag, a new acquisition of the ONE FC. A fighter from Mongolia, Narantungalag at 38 years old is 14 years older than Banario. His current record of 8-3-0 (win-loss-draw) is identical to that of his Cordilleran foe. Like Banario, he is also coming off a loss. He last fought in April 2013 in a losing effort against Koji Ando under the Legend Fighting Championship.

With regards to their fighting styles, Banario and Narantungalag don't differ much. They are both good in the ground evidenced by the fact that most of their wins came via submissions. Banario seem to have the upper hand in the power department. He has 3 KO wins compared to Narantungalag's 1 KO victory.