Asian MMA Update: Folayang Bags SEA Games Gold Medal, Chonan Trains at Evolve, Kanehara Wins US Debut

As always, Here's a quick update on several news, notes, and topics coming out of the Asian MMA circuit.

• Eduard Folayang and Mark Eddiva, who are also MMA fighters coming out of Team Lakay Wushu, once again established their dominance on their martial arts base. The Baguio natives took home Gold medals from the 26th South East Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, when they represented the Philippines on the Wushu SanShou 70kg and 65kg divisions respectively.
  
• Ryo Chonan and Shinya Aoki are in Evolve MMA in Singapore training for their bouts at NYE. Aoki, as reported, is likely to face Satoru Kitaoka, while Chonan will be taking on Hayato Sakurai in what could likely propel him into contention for Marius Zaromski's welterweight crown.
• Former Sengoku / SRC Champion, Masanori Kanehara won his first fight on US soil, when he submitted Brady Harrison to win the XFS Featherweight Championship.
• Stemming from that ONE FC and DREAM partnership, fighters out of Evolve MMA, which is also part of that network, have been invited to compete in future DREAM and DEEP events.
• B.J. Penn and Brandon Vera are both heading to the Philippines on this coming week for separate events. Penn will host an open workout in the Mall of Asia next wednesday, while Vera will be a guest for the PXC event this Saturday.
• As we reported earlier, The URCC and ONE FC co-promoted event in Manila will be pushing through on July, and the venue has already been finalized. Obvious candidates for the event will be ONE FC fighters, Eric Kelly, along with the Team Lakay fighters they have signed such as Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, and Honorio Banario among others. No opponent has been named yet, but sources tell us that former WBA Boxing Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong of Evolve MMA, will also be competing in the event.
• The key players on the ONE FC Network are in an Asian MMA Summit that started last Monday in Singapore.
• Participants on the summit include One FC CEO Victor Cui, along with key members and top executives from several Asian MMA promotions. This was the first time all of these major players from the industry were brought together, as they look towards having that high-level cooperation that could definitely help raise the level of talent and quality of MMA production in the region.
  
• Venue for URCC-ONE FC co-promoted event on July, is the newly built 20,000 capacity SM Arena, which will be the largest arena in the country when it opens early 2012.
  

After the jump, check out more details from Brian Choi of Evolve MMA, DREAM's NYE event, and Jon Tuck who will headline PXC.

• Details are sparse, but sources close to the situation tells us that Mark Fisher, the head of UFC operations in Asia, will by flying in to Singapore this week to meet with ONE FC CEO Victor Cui. It's worth noting that Fisher generally meets with everyone in the Asian MMA scene, so this might not really mean anything big is in the works.
• DREAM just released the promo video for their NYE show that focuses on Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Takeshi Inoue. Check it out as they also feature several of their key featherweight bouts of the year:
  
  
• Evolve MMA released a video blog that features Brian Choi as he prepares for his Road FC 005 fight against Bae Young Kwon. Barring any injuries, Choi's next fight is likely to be on the ONE FC card in Jakarta, this February. No opponent has been named as of this writing.
  
   
• Jon Tuck, who will be headlining PXC 28 against Tristan Arenal this weekend, talks to Zike Sugawara about being absent from the MMA scene for the past two years, "I never took off from MMA. I was not able to land any fights. I kept active by dedicating more time to Jiu Jitsu by competing and exploring the world, evolving as a martial artist and as a person."
  
  As always, follow me on twitter, and stay tuned for more updates from the news coming out of the region.