5 reasons why Filipino MMA will never be the same again after 2015

On both ends of the globe, the world of combat sports just saw one of the most action-packed and historic years yet. In Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), title fights, territorial expansion, and rising stars filled the headlines of 2015.

In Asia, the growth of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) have been remarkable with regional leader ONE Championship bringing the sport into cities in China and Southeast Asia where no major international promotion has held an event at yet.

Fight fans will agree that the year have been a wild ride. Among those that will always look back on how huge the year was would be Filipino MMA followers.

Sure, 2016 brings in a whole new set of possibilities, but here are 5 things that happened to Filipino MMA which makes it the year the beat.

1) First heavy world champion: Brandon Vera

Filipino-American MMA icon, Brandon Vera, brought the sport to the greater consciousness of the Filipino public when he entered combat sports stardom in 2005-2006.

The local attention he rallied for the sport was so immense that his Philippine debut—that took place almost a decade after, on December 2014 for ONE Championship 25: Warrior’s Way—is considered the biggest milestone in the Filipino MMA history.

Every Filipino fight fan followed his career through all its ups and downs, carrying along the hope that one day he will be hailed as a world champion and elevate ‘Filipino Pride’ to a whole new level.

All that hoping reached realization on the night of December 11, 2015 when Vera claimed the inaugural ONE Championship Heavyweight World title upon knocking out Paul Cheng in 26 seconds on an event aptly tagged as ONE Championship 38: “Spirit of Champions.”

The most memorable moment of that night was when Vera clutched his championship belt, smiled at the camera, and slowly delivered these words in a sweet tone for emphasis: “Philippines, you now have a heavyweight world champion.”

Filipino MMA fans will never forget that night.

2) Filipino Stars on the Rise

True to their ways to maintain dominance over the regional fanbase, ONE Championship assures that local fighters see action and take center stage in events held in their respective countries. With a deep talent pool, the Philippines benefits a lot from this.

After being one of rising stars Asian MMA scene, former Pacific Xtreme Combat Champion, Mark Striegl was acquired by the globally-renowned Evolve MMA team, which was instrumental for his Philippine debut in April and was victorious against a very crafty Casey Suire in a Bantamweight contest.

Flyweight star Eugene Toquero took wins number 2 and 3 for ONE Championship at his home soil beating Brianata Rosadhi and Li Wei Bin in two separate events while etching his mark as an entertaining fighter with his hair-preening humor and comic post-fights interviews. These antics made him loveable not just to the local crowd but to the entire MMA world in general.

Long-time local contender and former PXC standout, Roy Doliguez, was gifted with a title shot in his promotional debut—it was for the inaugural Strawweight title against Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke. Although he dropped to a unanimous decision, his inclusion in ONE is still a positive milestone as it indirectly shows the cohesive forward push that is going on right now in the Asian MMA scene.

3) ONE Championship keeps MOA Arena active

True to its established ways in consistently providing world-class MMA action to the Philippines, ONE staged two blockbuster events in 2015—one in April and another in December—at the best sporting venue in the country, the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

In the recent years, the venue has already witnessed in action some top known names in combat sports like Vera, Bibiano Fernandes, Shinya Aoki, Ben Askren, and Ana Julaton. MOA Arena is well on its way in eclipsing the iconic Araneta Coliseum that was made globally famous by the "Thrilla in Manila" Ali-Frazier clash in 1975.

4) UFC held its first event in Manila

After years of only sending top fighters for visits and media trips, UFC finally held a fight event in Manila in May 16, 2015. Their Philippine debut card was labelled "UFC Fight Night Manila" and five out of the 12 bouts featured Filipino fighters.

The highlight of the night was the retirement bout of Filipino-MMA superstar, Mark Muñoz. He defeated his American opponent, Luke Barnett, via unanimous decision snapping a three-fight losing streak.

Muñoz touched the hearts of every fight fan when he stripped his gloves and left them in the center of the cage while delivering a heartfelt message of thanks.

5) Record number of MMA events

ONE and UFC were not alone in creating spikes of interest and attention in the name of MMA in the Philippines, as other promotions chipped in as well.

PXC held one numbered event, PXC 48, (all bouts are professional) and three events under their Laban MMA brand (all bouts are considered pro-am). Laban MMA is easily the country's leading amateur fight league now capturing the fan base once solely held by Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC).

URCC, for its part, held one major card and four minor cards.

There were also a lot of minor provincial events from the northern and southern parts of the country which all contributed to the mainstream recognition of the sport in a country that was just initially all about boxing when it comes to combat sports.

To be fair, 2016 seems loaded with potential as its turn under the spotlight rolls.

First item to look into is Kevin Belingon's much-awaited title shot against Bibiano Fernandes. Belingon is the only Filipino MMA star who did not have his turn in 2015, but will have the most important match in his career as he headlines ONE's first card of the year, "Dynasty of Champions" on January 23rd at Changsha, China. —Reuters