ONE: STATE OF WARRIORS is set for the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar, on 7 Oct. Headlined by ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka Naito defending his title against Joshua Pacio of the Philippines, the card features plenty of local talent alongside some of the hottest MMA prospects from around the world.
One of them is bantamweight Muin Gafurov, who at the age of 20, holds an impressive professional record of 101. A strong grappler, Gafurov is matched against Kevin Belingon (135), a fighter eight years his senior, who hails from the famous Team Lakay in Baguio. Belingon is a wushu practitioner, with equally balanced striking and grappling skills, and is coming back from a loss to ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes via submission.
“I know that this opponent is too weak for me”, says Gafurov about Belingon. “I don’t see him having many strengths. I am pretty confident of winning this bout. I hope it will be a quick one, too.”
Gafurov is a wellrounded fighter with good grappling and striking skills, matched by an aggressive style and excellent cage control. His base is combat sambo, a Russian martial art which name literally translates as “selfdefence without weapons”.