One Championship: Eddie Alvarez, Demetrious Johnson back in action on stacked Manila card
- Eddie Alvarez faces former lightweight champion Eduard Folayang in blockbuster bout on August 2
- ‘Mighty Mouse’ faces Tatsumitsu Wada in flyweight grand prix semi-finals
Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson will be back in action in August with One Championship announcing a stacked card for its next show in Manila.
Former UFC lightweight champion Alvarez will look to bounce back from his shock first-round TKO by Timofey Nastyukhin on his One debut in Tokyo.
He has a tough task at the Mall of Asia Arena against Eduard Folayang, who lost his One lightweight title in Tokyo.
“Mighty Mouse” Johnson, the former UFC flyweight champion, made his debut on the same card at Ryogoku Sumo Hall, submitting Yuya Wakamatsu in the second round to reach the semi-finals of the flyweight grand prix. He faces Tatsumitsu Wada next up in the Philippines.
The “One: Dawn of Heroes” show will be headlined by Jonathan Haggerty defending his One flyweight Muay Thai world title against Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
The other flyweight grand prix semi-final, between Danny Kingad and Kairat Akhmetov, is also on the card, along with Nastyukhin’s lightweight grand prix semi-final against Honorio Banario.
Alvarez had to go to hospital in Tokyo after his surprise defeat, writing on social media in a graphic post his eye felt like it had “exploded” when Nastyukhin hit him in the face.
“The Underground King” was one of CEO Chatri Sityodtong’s star signings late last year, and will be determined to erase the disappointing memory of his debut.
Alvarez was in Chicago at the weekend to show his support for Marlon Moraes, who suffered a third-round TKO defeat by new bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, who added the belt to the flyweight strap he took from Johnson.
