Last week, I was surprised – and definitely chuffed – to find in my email inbox an invitation to ONE Fighting Championship’s press conference on its first big mixed martial arts (MMA) event in Manila. As the elevator doors opened on the 41st floor of the Discovery Suites yesterday, the first person I saw at the press con was my older brother, Ricky. While I sort of expected him to be there (- he is, after all, a sports writer), he was definitely surprised to see me. I am, after all, just a UFC fan.

I was totally stoked to be there though.

That’s me in the third row on the left, next to the guy in yellow. The press con started just before noon, yesterday, at the Discovery Suites, the official hotel of ONE FC in Manila. (Photo c/o ONE FC.)

Singapore-based, ONE FC, is the biggest MMA organization in Asia and they’ve just inked a 10-year deal with ESPN Star Sports, which means that MMA fans can now follow ONE FC’s fights in 24 countries in the region.

And, on Friday, August 31, ONE FC is bringing the fight to Manila, in what they are touting to be “the greatest card in ONE FC history.”

Check out who’s on the roster, so far:

Former UFC heavyweight champion, Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski. He holds the distinction of being the only man to knockout Roy “Big Country” Nelson. For that alone, I would kneel, beat my cheat and cry, “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!”

Arlovski, 33, is from Minsk. He is trained in Sambo and kickboxing.

Hear what Freddie Roach has to say about him:

Arlovski is slated to go up against Soa “The Hulk” Palelei. While they are both 6’4" (193 cm.), Arlovski is 240 lbs. (108 kg.), while Palelei is a whopping 290 lbs. (131.54 kg.). He also looks like this:

That’s going to be one brutal fight.

Next up is Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, Japan’s “number one fighter”.

Aoki, 29, has black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo and, if DREAM, the Japanese MMA promoters, were still alive, he would be their current reigning lightweight champion. Aoki’s nickname, Tobikan Judan , means “Master in Flying Submissions”. (Judan means “tenth degree” or “tenth level” and tobikan is “flying submissions”.)

In one particular fight in 2009, he caught Mizuto Hirota’s arm in a hammerlock and when Hirota, refused to tap-out, Aoki broke his arm. (Hirota resumed fighting in 2011.)

Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes, 32, from Brazil is another champ ONE FC snatched up from DREAM. He holds their belt for the bantamweight division.

Fernandes was supposed to make his UFC debut this July 21, but he chose to sign with ONE FC instead. He will make his debut with them in Manila this August 31.

Fernandes is reportedly a natural born fighter. If the Fernandes lore is to be believed, he supposedly sat and watched fighters train everyday in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu training camp. One day, he was invited to spar with the fighters and, one by one, he forced them all into submission. The manager was astounded and demanded to know where he had been training. Fernandes replied that he had only learned from watching the fighters train in that camp…

Watch Fernandes’ killer instincts in his last fight against American fighter, Antonio Banuelos here.

On August 31, Fernandes is facing Gustavo Falciroli. Falciroli, 29, is Brazilian but is now an Australian national. He holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is in possession of Cage Fighting Championship’s (Austalia’s premiere MMA org) bantamweight belt.

Whoa! This just in. For me, at least. It turns out that Falciroli won his bantamweight title against Richie Vaculik, whom I actually know! I met him in Siargao, when he was a pro surfer and a Bra Boy, competing in the 2007 Billabong Invitational. I knew that one of the other guys I also met then got into professional wrestling but I never knew that Richie had gotten into MMA and has already carved a name for himself there. Way to go, Richie! (Let’s hope I can wrangle an interview out of him.)

I’d post the video of that title fight but it went five rounds and it was a win by decision. Let’s look at Falciroli’s intense highlights reel instead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK3kBXpqc3s

Finally, representing the Philippines are:

Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang and…

Eric “The Natural” Kelly.

Folayang, 27, used to be a high school teacher in Baguio and is a wushu expert. He is the current welterweight champ of the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), the largest MMA org in the Philippines. And, yes, those cheekbones and movie-star good looks are for real.

Check him out:

30-year old, Kelly is also a wushu practitioner, and the URCC featherweight title holder. So far, he has seven wins under his belt and zero losses. Six of those seven wins were by submission, five of which were via rear-naked choke.

On August 31, you’ll see him go against former UFC lightweight champion, Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver.

Andrei Arlovski, Shinya Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes, ONE FC CEO, Victor Cui (who also happens to be a Filipino; his parents are from Cebu), URCC founder, Alvin Aguilar, Gustavo Falciroli, and Eduard Folayang. (Photo c/o ONE FC.)

And that’s just some of what’s in store for August 31 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. It’s certainly going to be an exciting event! Tickets are on sale from at TicketNet. Get them early before they run out! P4500 gets you the whole VIP experience including a red-carpet entrance and access to the VIP Lounge. Other ticket prices are P2000, P1000, P650, P500, and P200.